The Debate Over the Right to Immigrate

In this episode of New Ideal Live, Onkar Ghate and Agustina Vergara Cid discuss the immigration debate from a philosophical perspective. They address questions such as whether foreigners have a right to immigrate to America, whether immigration or its curtailment violates the rights of American citizens, and what role government has in relation to immigration.

Among the topics covered:

Whether immigrants have a right to move to America;
The argument that immigration violates American citizens’ rights;
What is motivating the objection that immigrants allegedly take jobs from Americans or lower their standard of living;
What is the proper role of government in relation to immigration policy;
Whether failure to enforce immigration laws undermines the rule of law;
Illegal immigration as a response to unjust laws;
Why immigrants seeking a better life shouldn’t be smeared as “illegals”;
Why the objection that immigration is destroying American culture is invalid;
Ideological screening as a major threat to intellectual freedom;
Ayn Rand’s views on immigration as flowing from her view of self-interest;
What immigration would look like in a free society.

Recommended in the discussion are Ayn Rand’s writings on individual rights, her statements on immigration (found in Robert Mayhew’s Ayn Rand Answers), ARI’s statement on “The Immigration Debate,” and Harry Binswanger’s “The Case for Open Borders.”

The podcast was recorded on March 17, 2023. Listen to the discussion below. Listen and subscribe from your mobile device on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or Stitcher. Watch archived podcasts here.