This article considers the question of what legal rights should be possessed by those who reside and work in a democratic state without the legal authorization of the state, given the background assumption that the state is morally entitled to exclude such migrants. I argue that irregular migrants are morally entitled to a wide range of legal rights, including basic human and civil rights, but also rights to wages, workplace protections, and even rights to public education for their children. In order for these rights to be realized in practice, I argue, states ought to create a firewall between those charged with protecting and enforcing these rights and those charged with enforcing immigration laws.
To read or purchase the full text of this article, click here.
More in this issue
Summer 2008 (22.2) • Essay
Immigration Policy and "Immanent Critique"
Carens's use of 'immanent critique' to ground his moral prescriptions on the not yet realized normative purposes of the immigration policies of liberal democratic states ...
Summer 2008 (22.2) • Review
The One and the Many: Reading Isaiah Berlin edited by George Crowder and Henry Hardy
This is a collection of 13 essays, all but two of which are newly commissioned, covering Berlin's multifaceted oeuvre as much as a single book can. ...
Summer 2008 (22.2) • Essay
Migrants and Work-related Rights
Carens's discussion of the work-related rights of irregular migrants fails to consider the differentiated employment rights of legal temporary migrants, permanent residents, and citizens.