Poverty and Immigration Policy

Kieran Oberman

doi:10.2139/ssrn.2362011

Abstract

What are the ethical implications of global poverty for immigration policy? This article finds substantial evidence that migration is effective at reducing poverty. There is every indication that a fairly open immigration policy, coupled with selective use of immigration restrictions in cases of deleterious brain drain, offers an effective tool to counter global poverty. Empirically there is nothing wrong with using immigration policy to address poverty. The reason we have to reject such an approach is not empirical but normative. People have human rights to stay in their home country and to migrate elsewhere. Counter poverty measures that require people to move or to stay are likely to violate these rights. Everyone should be free to migrate but no one should be forced to migrate. Using immigration policy to address global poverty, in place of alternatives, fails on both these counts.

Highlights

What are the ethical implications of global poverty for immigration policy? In a world in which 1.2 billion people live at the margins of survival, on less than $1.25 (PPP) a day, poverty is arguably humanity’s most pressing problem (United Nations, 2014, 9)
The principal proposal is that rich states lower their immigration restrictions to open up their labour markets to workers from poor countries
This article seeks to answer both these questions. It argues that the available empirical evidence suggests that a fairly open immigration policy, coupled with selective use of immigration restrictions in cases of deleterious brain drain, offers an effective tool to counter global poverty

Summary

Introduction

What are the ethical implications of global poverty for immigration policy? In a world in which 1.2 billion people live at the margins of survival, on less than $1.25 (PPP) a day, poverty is arguably humanity’s most pressing problem (United Nations, 2014, 9). It contends that if people are to decide for themselves whether to stay in their home country or migrate abroad, rich states must seek alternative means to alleviate poverty. Rich states could allow people from poor countries to access higher paying jobs and remit money to their families back home.

Results

Conclusion