Every person has the right to choose his home and no one has the right to prevent others from this human right. Unless allowing immigrants will have a serious negative impact, societies and nations should not prohibit people’s right in immigrating.
Countries and societies in this era, are much complicated than the past. Governments are responsible for maintaining a complex system that can only be managed appropriately within certain limits and capacities; open borders must not be an acceptable policy. Systematizing immigration is the government’s responsibility that should require establishing laws that ensure the continuation and the enhancement of government’s services, security, quality of life, healthcare system, living wages and employment affairs, education, civil rights and justice, and safety.
People immigrate for various and different reasons that generally can be reduced to one of three categories: asylum seekers, dreamers and relatives. 1) An asylum seeker is a person who is forced to leave his home for reasons that include but not limited to: life endangerment, physical violence, extreme poverty, natural disaster and unbearable oppression. Ethically, nations are obligated to offer asylum seekers the help they need to the best of their ability. Asylum seekers have the priority for the admission. 2) Relatives and families of residents should not be denied entry to the country when no threat is found. Governments are obligated to allow children to reunite with their biological parents or at least two grandparents or relatives in the case of the absence of parents. 3) Dreamers are the people who immigrate to enhance the quality of their lives. Examples of life enhancements include but not limited to poverty, healthcare, justice, safety, education, and career. There is no ethical obligation toward dreamers: governments can choose to prioritize the admission of who can potentially participate in developing the country.
The unexpected increase of residents could lead to negative consequences; therefore, entering the country must be through the legal process. Illegal entry must not be considered a crime if the person is of the first category. The option of deporting people of the second category must not lead to the separation of the family members; parents must have the option of leaving with their children, even when the kids are citizens if authorities determined that the parents should not be allowed to remain in the country.
Detention is a form of imprisonment; no one should be detained for his desire to immigrate. Detention centers must be converted to refugees camps that provide the needed help for asylum seekers until the process of documentation is done. No one should be held against his will, if the refugee chooses to leave the country, his will must be respected without any record that could deny him an entry in the future. Immigrants of the second and third categories should not be able to use the refugees’ camps, they have to apply for immigration from their country. The speed of the process is essential to provide the help the refugees need and to reduce the numbers of illegal entries.
Read Article 13, 14 & 15 of the UDHR.
Original source can be found here.
