Skip to content
Licensed Unlicensed Requires Authentication Published by De Gruyter October 9, 2019

In for a Penny, or: If You Disapprove of Investment Migration, Why Do You Approve of High-Skilled Migration?

  • Lior Erez ORCID logo EMAIL logo

Abstract

While many argue investment-based criteria for immigration are wrong or at least problematic, skill-based criteria remain relatively uncontroversial. This is normatively inconsistent. This article assesses three prominent normative objections to investment-based selection criteria for immigrants: (i) that they wrongfully discriminate between prospective immigrants (ii) that they are unfair, and (iii) that they undermine political equality among citizens. It argues that either skill-based criteria are equally susceptible to these objections, or that investment-based criteria are equally shielded from them. Indeed, in some ways investment-based criteria are less normatively problematic than skill-based criteria. Given this analysis, the resistance to investment-based migration criteria, but not to skill-based criteria, is inconsistent.

References

Abizadeh, A. (2008). ‘Democratic Theory and Border Coercion’, Political Theory 36 (1): 37–65.10.4324/9781315254210-13Search in Google Scholar

Abizadeh, A. 2014. ‘Review of the Ethics of Immigration by Joseph H. Carens’, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews. https://ndpr.nd.edu/news/the-ethics-of-immigration/. (accessed on April 28, 2014)Search in Google Scholar

Abrahamian, A. (2015). The Cosmopolites: the Coming of the Global Citizen (New York, NY: Columbia Global Reports).10.2307/j.ctt1p6jhkjSearch in Google Scholar

Alexander, L. (1992). ‘What Makes Wrongful Discrimination Wrong Biases, Preferences, Stereotypes, and Proxies’, University of Pennsylvania Law Review 141 (1): 149–220.10.2307/3312397Search in Google Scholar

Alexander, L. 2016. ‘Is Wrongful Discrimination Really Wrong?’, San Diego Legal Studies Paper No. 17–257. https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=2909277. (accessed on September 24, 2019).10.2139/ssrn.2909277Search in Google Scholar

Armstrong, C. (2018). ‘The Price of Selling Citizenship’, in R. Bauböck (ed.). Debating Transformations of National Citizenship (Cham: Springer), pp. 25–28.10.1007/978-3-319-92719-0_5Search in Google Scholar

Barry, B. (1995). ‘Spherical Justice and Global Injustice’, in D. Miller and M. Walzer (eds.). Pluralism, Justice, and Equality (Oxford: Oxford University Press), pp. 67–80.10.1093/0198280084.003.0004Search in Google Scholar

Becker, G. and Lazear, E.P. (2013). ‘A Market Solution to Immigration Reform’, Wall Street Journal sec. Opinion. http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887323375204578271531542362850. (accessed on March 2, 2013).Search in Google Scholar

Blake, M. (2002). ‘Discretionary Immigration’, Philosophical Topics 30 (2): 273–289.10.5840/philtopics200230219Search in Google Scholar

Blake, M. (2008). ‘Immigration and Political Equality’, San Diego Law Review 45: 963–980.Search in Google Scholar

Borjas, G. (2014). Immigration Economics (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press).10.4159/harvard.9780674369900Search in Google Scholar

Borna, S. and Stearns, J.M. (2002). ‘‘the Ethics and Efficacy of Selling National Citizenship’’, Journal of Business Ethics 37 (2): 193–207.10.1023/A:1015070022625Search in Google Scholar

Boucher, A. (2016). Gender, Migration and the Global Race for Talent (Oxford: Oxford University Press).10.7765/9781784997137Search in Google Scholar

Brennan, J. and Jaworski, P.M. (2015). ‘Markets without Symbolic Limits’, Ethics 125 (4): 1053–1077.10.1086/680907Search in Google Scholar

Brock, G. and Blake, M. (2014). Debating Brain Drain: May Governments Restrict Emigration? (Oxford: Oxford University Press).Search in Google Scholar

Caney, S. (2001). ‘Cosmopolitan Justice and Equalizing Opportunities’, Metaphilosophy 32 (1–2): 113–134.10.4324/9781315254210-8Search in Google Scholar

Card, D. and Peri, G. (2016). ‘Immigration Economics by George J. Borjas: A Review Essay’, Journal of Economic Literature 54 (4): 1333–1349.10.1257/jel.20151248Search in Google Scholar

Carens, J. (2013). The Ethics of Immigration (New York, NY: Oxford University Press).Search in Google Scholar

Cole, P. (2014). ‘Beyond Reason: the Philosophy and Politics of Immigration’, Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy 17 (5): 503–520.10.1080/13698230.2014.919058Search in Google Scholar

Cox, A. (2004). ‘Citizenship, Standing, and Immigration Law’, California Law Review 92 (2): 373–424.10.2307/3481428Search in Google Scholar

Czaika, M. and Parsons, C.R. (2017). ‘The Gravity of High-Skilled Migration Policies’, Demography 54 (2): 603–630.10.1007/s13524-017-0559-1Search in Google Scholar

Džankić, J. (2019). The Global Market for Investor Citizenship (Cham: Springer).10.1007/978-3-030-17632-7Search in Google Scholar

Ellermann, A. (forthcoming). ‘Human-Capital Citizenship and the Changing Logic of Immigrant Admissions’, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies.10.1080/1369183X.2018.1561062Search in Google Scholar

European Parliament. 2014. ‘Resolution on EU Citizenship for Sale, 2013/2995(RSP).’Search in Google Scholar

Ferracioli, L. (2017). ‘Citizenship Allocation and Withdrawal: Some Normative Issues’, Philosophy Compass 12 (12): e12459.10.1111/phc3.12459Search in Google Scholar

Fine, S. (2016). ‘Immigration and Discrimination’, in S. Fine and L. Ypi (eds.). Migration in Political Theory: the Ethics of Movement and Membership (Oxford: Oxford University Press), pp. 125–150.10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199676606.003.0007Search in Google Scholar

Fine, S. and Ypi, L. (2016). Migration in Political Theory: the Ethics of Movement and Membership (Oxford: Oxford University Press).10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199676606.001.0001Search in Google Scholar

Goodin, R.E. (2007). ‘Enfranchising All Affected Interests, and Its Alternatives’, Philosophy & Public Affairs 35 (1): 40–68.10.1111/j.1088-4963.2007.00098.xSearch in Google Scholar

Hainmueller, J. and Hiscox, M.J. (2010). ‘Attitudes toward Highly Skilled and Low-Skilled Immigration: Evidence from a Survey Experiment’, American Political Science Review 104 (1): 61–84.10.1017/S0003055409990372Search in Google Scholar

Hellman, D. (2008). When Is Discrimination Wrong? (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press).Search in Google Scholar

Hidalgo, J. (2016). ‘Selling Citizenship: A Defence’, Journal of Applied Philosophy 33 (3): 223–239.10.1111/japp.12117Search in Google Scholar

Higgins, P. (2013). Immigration Justice (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press).10.3366/edinburgh/9780748670260.001.0001Search in Google Scholar

Johnston, L. 2013. ‘A Passport at Any Price? Citizenship by Investment through the Prism of Institutional Corruption’. ID 2324101. Edmond J. Safra Research Lab Working Papers. (Harvard, MA: Endmond J. Safra Center for Ethics). https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=2324101. (accessed on September 24, 2019).10.2139/ssrn.2324101Search in Google Scholar

Joppke, C. (2005). Selecting by Origin: Ethnic Migration in the Liberal State (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press).10.2307/j.ctv22jnsfnSearch in Google Scholar

Kofman, E. (2018). ‘Family Migration as a Class Matter’, International Migration 56 (4): 33–46.10.1111/imig.12433Search in Google Scholar

Lenard, P.T. (2018). ‘Democratic Citizenship and Denationalization’, American Political Science Review 112 (1): 99–111.10.1017/S0003055417000442Search in Google Scholar

Lim, D. (2017). ‘Selecting Immigrants By Skill: A Case Of Wrongful Discrimination?’, Social Theory & Practice 43 (2): 369–396.10.5840/soctheorpract20172157Search in Google Scholar

Lim, D. (forthcoming). ‘The Indirect Gender Discrimination of Skill-Selective Immigration Policies’, Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy.10.1080/13698230.2018.1479812Search in Google Scholar

Lindauer, M. (2017). ‘Immigration Policy and Identification across Borders’, Journal of Ethics and Social Philosophy 12 (3): 280–303.10.26556/jesp.v12i3.248Search in Google Scholar

Lippert-Rasmussen, K. (2014). Born Free and Equal?: A Philosophical Inquiry into the Nature of Discrimination (New York, NY: Oxford University Press).10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199796113.001.0001Search in Google Scholar

MacKay, D. (2016). ‘Are Skill-Selective Immigration Policies Just?’, Social Theory and Practice 42 (1): 123–154.10.5840/soctheorpract20164216Search in Google Scholar

Manfredi, C.P. (1998). ‘Judicial Review and Criminal Disenfranchisement in the United States and Canada’, The Review of Politics 60 (2): 277–306.10.1017/S0034670500041206Search in Google Scholar

Miller, D. (1992). ‘Deserving Jobs’, The Philosophical Quarterly (1950-) 42 (167): 161–181.10.2307/2220213Search in Google Scholar

Miller, D. (1995). ‘Complex Equality’, in D. Miller and M. Walzer (eds.). Pluralism, Justice, and Equality (Oxford: Oxford University Press), pp. 197–225.10.1093/0198280084.003.0010Search in Google Scholar

Miller, D. (2016). Strangers in Our Midst (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press).10.4159/9780674969827Search in Google Scholar

Mills, C. (2015). ‘Race and Global Justice’, in B. Buckinx, J. Trejo-Mathys and T. Waligore (eds.). Domination and Global Political Justice: Conceptual, Historical and Institutional Perspectives (New York, NY and Abingdon: Routledge), pp. 181–205.Search in Google Scholar

Ochoa, P. (2018). ‘What Money Can’t Buy: Face-to-Face Cooperation and Local Democratic Life’, in R. Bauböck (ed.). Debating Transformations of National Citizenship (Cham: Springer), pp. 43–46.Search in Google Scholar

Parker, O. (2017). ‘Commercializing Citizenship in Crisis EU: the Case of Immigrant Investor Programmes’, JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies 55 (2): 332–348.10.1111/jcms.12462Search in Google Scholar

Pevnick, R. (2011). Immigration and the Constraints of Justice: between Open Borders and Absolute Sovereignty (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).10.1017/CBO9780511975134Search in Google Scholar

Rawls, J. (1971). A Theory of Justice (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press).10.4159/9780674042605Search in Google Scholar

Reiman, J. (2005). ‘Liberal and Republican Arguments against the Disenfranchisement of Felons’, Criminal Justice Ethics 24 (1): 3–18.10.4324/9781315089461-11Search in Google Scholar

Sager, A. (2016). ‘Methodological Nationalism, Migration and Political Theory’, Political Studies 64 (1): 42–59.10.1111/1467-9248.12167Search in Google Scholar

Segall, S. (2012). ‘What’s so Bad about Discrimination?’, Utilitas 24 (1): 82–100.10.1017/S0953820811000379Search in Google Scholar

Shachar, A. (2016). ‘Selecting By Merit’, in S. Fine and L. Ypi (eds.). Migration in Political Theory: the Ethics of Movement and Membership (Oxford: Oxford University Press), pp. 165–204.10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199676606.003.0009Search in Google Scholar

Shachar, A. (2017). ‘Citizenship for Sale?’, in A. Shachar, R. Bauböck, I. Bloemraad and M.P. Vink (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of Citizenship (Oxford: Oxford University Press), pp. 786–816, 789–815.10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198805854.001.0001Search in Google Scholar

Shachar, A. (2018). ‘Dangerous Liaisons: Money and Citizenship’, in R. Bauböck (ed.). Debating Transformations of National Citizenship (Cham: Springer), pp. 7–16.10.1007/978-3-319-92719-0_2Search in Google Scholar

Shachar, A. and Hirschl, R. (2014). ‘On Citizenship, States, and Markets’, Journal of Political Philosophy 22 (2): 231–257.10.1002/9781119110132.ch9Search in Google Scholar

Tanasoca, A. (2018). The Ethics of Multiple Citizenship (Cambridge, New York, NY: Cambridge University Press).10.1017/9781108554176Search in Google Scholar

Tannock, S. (2011). ‘Points of Prejudice: Education-Based Discrimination in Canada’s Immigration System’, Antipode 43 (4): 1330–1356.10.1111/j.1467-8330.2010.00864.xSearch in Google Scholar

Van Fossen, A. (2007). ‘Citizenship for Sale: Passports of Convenience from Pacific Island Tax Havens’, Commonwealth & Comparative Politics 45 (2): 138–163.10.1080/14662040701317477Search in Google Scholar

Walzer, M. (1983). Spheres of Justice: A Defense of Pluralism and Equality (New York, NY: Basic Books).Search in Google Scholar

Wellman, C.H. and Cole, P. (2011). Debating the Ethics of Immigration: Is There a Right to Exclude? (New York, NY: Oxford University Press).10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199731732.001.0001Search in Google Scholar

Yong, C. (2017). ‘Immigration Rights and the Justification of Immigration Restrictions’, Journal of Social Philosophy 48 (4): 461–480.10.1111/josp.12212Search in Google Scholar

Ypi, L. (2018). ‘Borders of Class: Migration and Citizenship in the Capitalist State’, Ethics & International Affairs 32 (2): 141–152.10.1017/S0892679418000278Search in Google Scholar

Published Online: 2019-10-09
Published in Print: 2021-04-27

© 2019 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Downloaded on 6.6.2023 from https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/mopp-2018-0083/html
Scroll to top button