Miller on immigration
According to David Miller, a country can choose to close its borders for reasons of preserving a country’s distinctive culture. Since the people in a particular country has an interest in their cultural preservation, mainly on shaping the development of a nation and controlling the values associated with a specific culture. Since such a culture can be eroded by people coming from other regions, then it is wise to close the border and prevent immigration. For instance, opening the US border to either Canadian or Mexican would have a great impact in United States culture. Therefore the right to preserve United States culture outweigh any right by foreigners to enter a country.
According to Miller, the definition of refugees under international laws is shallow from a philosophical perspective. Nations thus have specific obligations to refugees whose plight is associated with that nation. States can also reasonably offer asylum to refugees who had been granted asylum elsewhere. Refugees with valuables skills and who will end up developing the country can also be accepted into a country. Refugees may also be granted asylum if their acceptance will not bring conflicts in the nation.
Immigration restriction, according to Huemer is prima facie rights violation since they are implemented through coercive force by armed guards, border patrols and armed forces who punish people who are found to be entering a country illegally. Immigration laws also interfere with human autonomy by declining them wish to live in their area of choice. Finally, Huemer argues that the laws forcing illegal immigrants back to third world countries are harmful to the lives of the individuals. The conditions in these third world countries are so dangerous that many American would not live under such circumstances.
Huemer disagrees on the restriction of immigration on reasons of cultural preservation. Instead, Huemer argues that it is the United States that have influence other cultures throughout the world. Therefore immigration into the United States may not lead to the erosion of culture. Thus it is not valid to prevent people from getting into the United States on cultural preservation basis. Therefore it is immoral for American to restrict immigrants from various regions such as Mexico on cultural conservation basis.