Discussions about the ethics of migration require both a realistic approach that focuses on what is possible given the existing realities and an idealistic approach that requires policymakers to assess current reality in light of the nation's highest ideals. Migration issues require a full range of perspectives. (SLD)

In different ways, J. Carens and M. Weiner have overlooked important ethical issues raised by the human migration phenomenon. Weiner avoids moral issues in his conceptualization of alien admissions, and Carens focuses too intensely on the issue of whether national borders can be justified or not. (SLD)

Examines the debate as to whether migration is a basic human right or whether the claims of outsiders are superseded by the principle of national sovereignty and the moral obligation of the state to do the best for its own citizens. Neither approach provides a clear answer. (SLD)

Well-intentioned U.S. immigration policy has two ill effects in that it encourages the belief that emigration can relieve overpopulation in third-world countries, maintaining high fertility rates, and it results in U.S. domestic population growth that threatens employment opportunities and the environment. (SLD)