Border Control, Migration Pathways, and Social Inequality

Abstract Relational egalitarians have increasingly argued that immigration control facilitates social inequality. This ranges from Amy Reed-Sandoval’s account of the socially undocumented, to Désirée Lim’s criticisms of skill selection’s expressive disrespect, to Daniel Sharp’s claim that immigration control exercises power over would-be immigrants. I develop a novel extension of relational egalitarianism principles. Unlike other accounts, I argue that immigration control contributes to inegalitarian relationships that are not: (1) within the receiving state, (2) the result of discrimination, (3) simply the exercise of power-over, and (4) between the receiving state and would-be immigrants. I argue that immigration restrictions can, in the context of cultures of migration, create inegalitarian relationships in sending countries, harming both would-be immigrants and nonimmigrant populations. Cultures of migration respond to and help create changes in values. They lead to a dissatisfaction with local opportunities – including employment, consumption, and cultural practices. When borders are relaxed, these changes promote immigration. But when they are hardened, the changes persist while the dissatisfied are increasingly trapped in a society that they no longer find desirable. And nonimmigrants – who might still endorse local values and desire local opportunities – are left living amidst (often) more privileged compatriots who increasingly denigrate the lifestyles they endorse.