Historical injustice in immigration policy

Al Hashmi, R. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5499-9206 (2023) Historical injustice in immigration policy. Political Studies, 71 (4). pp. 1261-1276. ISSN 0032-3217 doi: 10.1177/00323217211065557

Abstract/Summary

The history of immigration policy is marked by the wrongful and discriminatory exclusion of certain groups of people. In this article, I argue that descendants of those who were wrongfully excluded have a pro tanto right to immigrate to the state in question as reparation. I begin by identifying the two main approaches theorists generally take to establish a claim for reparation: the inheritance approach and the counterfactual approach. In the first section, I argue that the inheritance approach does not offer a promising argument for reparations for descendants of those who were wrongfully excluded. In the second section, I argue that the counterfactual approach, by contrast, does. In the third section, I respond to the objection that this prima facie claim for reparation can be undermined by current circumstances. In the fourth section, I show why this reparation should be offered in the form of immigration rights.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/id/eprint/127952
Identification Number/DOI	10.1177/00323217211065557
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	No Reading authors. Back catalogue items Arts, Humanities and Social Science > School of Politics, Economics and International Relations > Politics and International Relations
Publisher	Wiley
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