The Ethical Case For Migration

the AZEL PERSPECTIVE Commentary on Cuba's Future, U.S. Foreign Policy & Individual Freedoms - Issue 432 B

José Azel's latest books "On Freedom" and "Sobre La Libertad" are now available on Amazon.  The Ethical Case for Migration (Previously published) Share Tweet Forward

In an earlier article, I argued that migration is an individual right; an expression of a desire for the liberty to improve one’s quality of life. I sought then to outline the libertarian case for open immigration being careful to clarify that open immigration is not equivalent to unmonitored immigration. It does not have to grant a right to eligibility for citizenship, welfare benefits, or other government services.  I defined open immigration only as the right of individuals to freedom of movement to enter a country at designated check points where objective screenings are conducted to protect the nation from diseases, enemies, and criminality. Individuals have the right to put one foot in front of another and cross a border in pursuit of freedom and happiness. Yet, borders mean something.  Here I want to focus on the ethical case for open immigration borrowing from Michael Huemer’s book Ethical Intuitionism. Let’s start with a thought experiment.  Imagine that Juan, who is hungry and poor, is walking to his local market to purchase some food with the little money he has. There, the retailer is happy to do business enabling Juan to satisfy his needs.  You learn of Juan’s intentions and you intersect Juan’s walk to forcibly prevent him from reaching the marketplace. Unable to reach the store, Juan remains hungry.  Your behavior is morally wrong as you are now responsible for Juan’s hunger. This thought experiment offers an analogy to a government’s restriction on immigration.  Notice that potential immigrants would like to travel to a country where there are employers willing to hire them to their mutual benefit. And, governments use armed border guards to forcibly prevent these individuals from entering the country to work. But notice further, that your treatment of Juan would not be morally permissible even if any of the following considerations were present.  If you wanted to protect the people already in the marketplace from having to compete with Juan for the store’s hunger satisfying products.  If you were concerned that Juan would influence the culture of the marketplace in ways you would disapprove.  If you were worried that, since you run a program to aid the poor, you would have to give Juan some free food taking away from those in your program.  These considerations are analogous to: (1) Immigrants take jobs away from low-skill native workers. (2) Immigrants change the local culture. (3) Immigrants consume government services. These considerations do not justify your actions that prevent Juan from reaching the marketplace. Your actions are immoral from the point of view of moral realism. However, there are other moral viewpoints.  Moral realism holds that there are some values that are objectively true. That is, the truth of these values does not depend on someone’s attitudes. But not everyone agrees with moral realism. Relativists, for example, believe that what is right or wrong must be determined by what society approves or disapproves. To a relativist, what is true depends on one’s culture. Others, like subjectivists, believe that what is good, bad, right, or wrong, depends on the attitudes of the individual.  Libertarians, always distrustful of authority, argue for open immigration on the premise that governments should be held to the same ethical standards as individuals. In contrast, based on some variant of “social contract” theory, non-libertarians believe that government is exempted from the moral constrains that apply to individuals. Under social contract theory we have all implicitly consented to grant government the right to the monopolistic use of coercive force in exchange for the government’s protection. We have agreed, in an implicit contract, to permit the government to act immorally.  But social contract theory offers no satisfactory explanation as to why government should be exempt from the moral rules that apply to the rest of us. These rules embody a commitment to the moral equality of persons, a supreme respect for the dignity and rights of the individual, and reluctance to use force or coercion. In other words, these libertarian values call for letting Juan reach the marketplace unimpeded. Please let us know if you  this article. We welcome your feedback. Abrazos, Lily & José (click on the name to email Lily or Jose) José Azel, Ph.D. José Azel left Cuba in 1961 as a 13 year-old political exile in what has been dubbed Operation Pedro Pan - the largest unaccompanied child refugee movement in the history of the Western Hemisphere.   He is currently dedicated to the in-depth analyses of Cuba's economic, social and political state, with a keen interest in post-Castro-Cuba strategies. Dr. Azel was a Senior Scholar at the Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies (ICCAS) at the University of Miami, Jose Azel has published extensively on Cuba related topics. In 2012 and 2015, Dr. Azel testified in the U.S. Congress on U.S.-Cuba Policy, and U.S. National Security.  He is a frequent speaker and commentator on these and related topics on local, national and international media.  He holds undergraduate and masters degrees in business administration and a Ph.D. in International Affairs from the University of Miami. José along with his wife Lily are avid skiers and adventure travelers.  In recent years they have climbed Grand Teton in Wyoming, trekked Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and Machu Pichu in Peru.  They have also hiked in Tibet and in the Himalayas to Mt. Everest Base Camp. They cycled St. James Way (El Camino de Santiago de Compostela) and cycled alongside the Danube from Germany to Hungary and throughout southern France.  They have scuba dived in the Bay Islands off the Honduran coast and in the Galapagos Islands. Most recently, they rafted for 17 days 220 miles in the Grand Canyon.  Their adventurers are normally dedicated to raise funds for causes that are dear to them.  Watch Joe & Lily summit Kilimanjaro. Books by Dr. José Azel José Azel’s writings are touched with the wisdom of a master, and the charm of an excellent communicator. Anyone who wishes to understand why countries do, or do not, progress will find in this book the best explanations. And, from these readings emerge numerous inferences: How and why do the good intentions of leftist collectivism lead countries to hell? Why is liberty not a sub product of prosperity, but rather one of its causes? If it was in my power, this work would be required reading for all college and university students, and I would also recommend its reading to all politicians, journalists, and policymakers. With his writings Azel accomplishes what was achieved in France by Frédéric Bastiat, and in the United States by Henry Hazlitt: Azel brings together common sense with intelligent observation, and academic substance. Stupendous, Carlos Alberto Montaner                                                                    BUY NOW Los escritos de José Azel están tocados por la sabiduría de un maestro y la amenidad de un excelente comunicador. Cualquiera que desee entender por qué los países progresan, o no, encontrará en este libro las mejores explicaciones. De estas lecturas surgen numerosas inferencias: ¿Cómo y por qué las buenas intenciones del colectivismo de izquierda llevan a los países al infierno? ¿Por qué la libertad no es un subproducto de la prosperidad, sino una de sus causas? Si estuviera en mis manos, esta obra sería de obligada lectura de todos los estudiantes universitarios, pero además, le recomendaría su lectura a todos los políticos, periodistas y policy makers. Con sus escritos Azel logra lo que Frédéric Bastiat consiguiera en Francia y Henry Hazlitt en Estados Unidos: aunar el sentido común, la observación inteligente y la enjundia académica. Estupendo. Carlos Alberto Montaner                                                            Compre Aqui "Liberty for beginners is much more than what the title promises. It is eighty themes touched with the wisdom of a master, and the charm of an excellent communicator. Anyone that wishes to understand why countries do, or do not progress, will find in this book the best explanations. Stupendous" Carlos Alberto Montaner Buy Now "Libertad para novatos es mucho más de lo que promete el título. Son ochenta temas tocados con la sabiduría de un maestro y la amenidad de un excelente comunicador. Cualquier adulto que desee saber por qué progresan o se estancan los pueblos aquí encontrará las mejores explicaciones. Estupendo." Carlos Alberto Montaner Compre Aqui In Reflections on Freedom, José Azel brings together a collection of his columns published in prestigious newspapers.  Each article reveals his heartfelt and personal awareness of the importance of freedom in our lives.  They are his reflections after nearly sixty years of living and learning as a Cuban outside Cuba. In what has become his stylistic trademark, Professor Azel brilliantly introduces complex topics in brief journalistic articles. Buy Now En Reflexiones sobre la libertad José Azel reúne una colección de sus columnas publicadas en prestigiosos periódicos. Cada artículo revela su percepción sincera y personal de la importancia de la libertad en nuestras vidas. Son sus reflexiones después de casi sesenta años viviendo y aprendiendo como cubano fuera de Cuba.  En lo que ha resultado ser característica distintiva de sus artículos, el Profesor Azel introduce con brillantez complejos temas en  breves artículos de carácter periodístico. Compre Aqui Mañana in Cuba is a comprehensive analysis of contemporary Cuba with an incisive perspective of the Cuban frame of mind and its relevancy for Cuba's future. Buy now Pedazos y Vacíos is a collection of poems written in by Dr. Azel in his youth. Poems are in Spanish. Buy now

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