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CHAPTER 20 The Ethics of Immigration
CHAPTER OUTLINE
I. Background and Facts about the Ethics of Immigration
A. Laws Passed in the United States
B. Misconceptions about Immigration
C. Cosmopolitanism and Anticosmopolitanism
D. Reasons Given for Restricting Immigration
II. Moral Theories and Immigration
A. Utilitarianism and Immigration
B. Wellman’s Argument from the Right to Freedom of Association
III. Macedo’s Nonconsequentialist Moral Argument about Immigration
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. In 1790, a U.S. law was passed stating the requirements for becoming a naturalized citizen.
In order to be eligible for naturalization, each applicant had to be
a. a person born at some point after the founding of the nation or the parent of such a person.
b. a descendant of someone who had come over on the Mayflower or a person related to an indigenous person.
c. a resident of the United States for two years, a person of good moral character, and a free white person.
d. a Christian person who fought in the Revolutionary War and had at least two hundred acres of land.
2. In 1965, the U.S. Congress passed the Immigration and Nationality Act. While immigration
policy had previously been based on a quota system, the new policy favored
a. skilled immigrants and those who, by immigrating, could help reunite families.
b. unskilled immigrants who would benefit from American education.
c. immigrants from Western Europe.
d. immigrants from Latin America.
3. Americans tend to overestimate immigrants’ share of the population. Many believe that it is
more than twice as large as it actually is, which is around
a. 0.5 percent. c. 14 percent.
b. 3.4 percent. d. 28 percent.
4. Many people, including many politicians, overestimate the number of unauthorized immigrants
living in the United States. In 2015, the number was about
a. 800,000. c. 11 million.
b. 4 million. d. 43 million.
5. Stephen Macedo sums up his perspective on immigration in this way: “If high levels of
immigration have detrimental impact on our least well-off citizens, that is a reason to limit
immigration, even if those who seek admission seem to be poorer than our own poor whose
condition is worsened by their entry.” His view is best characterized as
a. authoritarian. c. cosmopolitan.
b. egalitarian. d. anticosmopolitan.
6. Some argue that a wealthy nation that offers substantial welfare benefits to its citizens
(such as Sweden and other Scandinavian countries) cannot afford to have open borders,
because doing so would
a. result in more civil unrest. c. undermine the purpose of immigration.
b. cause the welfare system to collapse. d. deplete the military’s resources.
7. Which of the following would be a utilitarian reason for limiting immigration?
a. Immigration is not natural.
b. Immigration will disrupt the economy.
c. Immigration violates the rights of natural-born citizens.
d. Immigration treats natural-born citizens as mere means, rather than as ends.
8. Christopher Heath Wellman argues that nations have a right to close their borders, a right
derived from the more fundamental right to ________.
a. freedom of association c. self-defense
b. freedom of religion d. make laws
9. Consider the following premises of a moral argument about immigration:
1. If high levels of immigration by low-skilled workers make it unlikely that we will fulfill our moral obligations to the poorest
2. Currently high levels of immigration by low-skilled workers do make it unlikely that we will fulfill our moral obligations to the
poorest Americans.
Which of the following conclusions would make this argument valid?
a. Therefore, we should encourage immigration, especially from countries with low-skilled workers.
b. Therefore, we should reduce or stop high levels of immigration by low-skilled workers.
c. Therefore, we should not reduce or stop high levels of immigration by low-skilled workers.
d. Therefore, we should try to improve the education systems of countries with low-skilled workers.
10. In 1901 Australia passed the Immigration Restriction Act, which aimed to limit nonwhite
immigration to Australia, particularly Asian immigration, and thereby preserve the
predominance of the British within Australia. Suppose that a large majority of Australians
would have been made happier by passage of this law. Would a utilitarian advocate for such
a law in these circumstances?
a. No, because it is unjust for a country to accept only white Europeans.
b. No, because the safety and welfare of refugees is more important than the happiness of Australians.
c. Yes, because the consequences of passing this law would be better overall than if it were not passed.
d. Yes, because refugees would lack moral status under utilitarianism.
TRUE/FALSE
1. During the Civil War (1862) General Ulysses S. Grant issued an expulsion order for all
Jews within the parts of the territory he controlled.
2. Most people deported from the United States have committed a crime, which is the reason
they are deported.
3. In just a few years, Hispanics will be the majority in the United States, and whites will be a minority.
4. Evidence collected over decades shows that immigrants actually show less propensity toward
crime than native-born citizens and that immigration can even be considered a factor in the
decrease of violent crime in the United States.
5. Immigrants are taking jobs away from American citizens.
6. Undocumented immigrants provide an enormous benefit to the Social Security system because
they pay into the system but are unable to receive anything in return.
7. Those who appeal to utilitarian considerations argue that restricting immigration has adverse
consequences, especially economically, because closed borders restrict trade, waste talents,
and impede prosperity.
8. There is universal agreement on all sides of the immigration debate that that the need to
preserve a nation’s distinctive culture is a good reason to favor closed borders.
9. Libertarians argue for cosmopolitanism by pointing out that restricted immigration interferes
with a citizen’s right to allow foreigners to enter his or her property and infringes on a
foreigner’s right to freedom of movement.
10. In 1939 the United States turned away a ship carrying 900 German Jews persecuted by
the Nazi regime, eventually resulting in the deaths of more than 250 of the refugees.
A cosmopolitan egalitarian would have said this decision was morally acceptable, because
refugees lack the same rights as citizens.
SHORT ANSWER
1. The term ________ is defined by the U.S. government as the formal removal of a foreign
national from the United States for violating an immigration law.
2. The federal government refers to someone who has fled from his or her home country
and cannot return because he or she has a well-founded fear of persecution based on
religion, race, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group
as a(n) ________.
3. ________ is the view that wealthy nations able to ease the suffering of the world’s poor and
oppressed have a moral obligation to do so, and that this obligation is as strong concerning a
nation’s own citizens as it is concerning foreigners.
4. Cosmopolitan ________ contend that everyone, including both compatriots and noncitizens,
is entitled to equal moral rights and consideration and that allowing open borders is the key to
eliminating the vast economic inequalities in the world.
5. Someone who believes that wealthy nations able to ease the suffering of the world’s poor and
oppressed have a moral obligation to do so, but that such nations also have moral obligations to
their own citizens that may be weightier than those concerning foreigners, is referred to as
a(n) ________.
