Sovereign States Control of Immigration: A Global Justice Perspective

Global justice is a relatively new concept that is being developed both by scholars, who belong to the political school of thought, and by others, who define themselves as cosmopolitans. Whereas political scholars believe that the global implications of justice contemplate states or peoples, cosmopolitans refer to the individual as the subject of justice even when dealing with it on a global scale. Despite the differences between the two schools, this Article shows that none has clearly called for the imposition of additional obligations upon states that would force them to allow immigrants to enter those states' territory. Further, our survey shows that the five scholars examined believe that considerations of global justice should compel developed states to offer at least some assistance to burdened or poor states in order to reduce the causes of migration. All differ regarding the type and scope of assistance but agree that the reasons for migration should be reduced in the state of origin. What is missing in the scholarly works on global justice is a solution to the forced migration of masses of people. This problem cannot be solved, at least in the short run, solely by assisting the state of origin. As long as the lives of the migrants are threatened, states must open their gates to save them and agree that an international body will administer this issue and ensure that the burden is shared proportionally among the various states of the world. Such an international body will also be competent to promote programs of assistance to states, which will in turn reduce the need to migrate.