What’s Wrong with Excluding Immigrants by Nationality?

Speaker: Dr Rufaida Al Hashmi (University of Reading)

Chair: Prof. George Letsas (UCL Laws)

Please note that the time allocated for this colloquia will be devoted to discussion.

About the Talk:

Nationality is arguably the most significant determinant of international mobility. This is evident in states’ visa waiver policies, which permit visa-free travel only for nationals of certain countries, and in the visa bans that states are increasingly introducing. Exclusion based on nationality is assumed to be morally problematic only insofar as it tracks other, more clearly morally problematic criteria, such as race or ethnicity. This paper challenges this assumption and argues that nationality is morally significant in its own right, specifically because of its connection to global influence. Drawing on dominant views of the global order, I outline an account of the concern with inequalities in global influence. Since such influence is entrenched not only at the global level but also from within states, I argue that migration policy should play a role in levelling these inequalities. States therefore have a duty to admit migrants from countries with comparatively less power and influence.

About the Speaker:

Rufaida Al Hashmi is a a Lecturer in Political Theory at the University of Reading. Her work focuses on the political theory of migration. She is currently working on a book on the ways in which states select immigrants.

About the Institute:

ILPP brings together political and legal theorists from Law, Political Science and Philosophy and organises regular colloquia in terms 2 and 3. Read more about the Institute's work.

If you would like to be added to the ILPP mailing list, register here: https://mailchi.mp/ucl/join-the-ilpp-mailing-list

Photo by Kit (formerly ConvertKit) on Unsplash