Chapter 24 Chapter Summary

In this article, David Miller examines three popular arguments favoring an unrestricted human right of migration between states. The first concerns the right to freedom of movement, which he regards as basic but not sufficient to generate an unlimited right to migrate. He observes that the right is far from absolute even within states, which do much to regulate public space and constrain the movement of their own members. At most, Miller believes all persons have an interest in unlimited free movement, but this only ground the right to an adequate range of options, not to migrate wherever one chooses. He next considers the right of exit, finding it a basic human right, too, but also no grounds for the right to enter any society of one’s choice. His reasoning relies on an analogy with the right to marry, which though basic, does not impose an obligation anyone in particular to meet it. He finally entertains reasons of distributive justice for grounding a basic right to relocate to states able to provide better opportunities and resources to the unfortunate. He concludes that the obligation to meet everyone’s basic needs is better met by states addressing the root causes of injustice in other countries, rather than counter-productively fueling a mass exodus of needy migrants.

Next, Miller outlines two reasons why states may justifiably limit immigration: the importance of ensuring the continuity of their own political culture and of controlling their population according to their own political priorities. Both are issues of collective self-determination. He concludes by stating that states have a prima facie obligation to admit refugees, namely those deprived of basic rights. But he qualifies this by arguing that states are entitled to weigh the rights of refugees to asylum against their own admissions criteria, including volume of applicants, expected burdens on their own citizens, and cultural compatibility. Miller adds that immigration controls must ethically be combined with efforts to prevent the formation of a permanent non-citizen underclass.