Liberal Self-Determination, Discrimination, and the Right to Exclude

Abstract

This chapter defends one of the building blocks of a complete liberal theory of immigration by defending an account of the state’s prima facie right to exclude that has the resources to explain what is wrong with “discriminatory” exclusion in the area of immigration—that is, exclusion on the basis of morally arbitrary features, such as sex, sexuality, and race. Like other statist accounts, the chapter appeals to a right to self-determination to justify a state’s right to exclude. But unlike these other theories, it does not appeal to the psychological harm of insult. The focus is instead on the liberal aspect of self-determination and the surprising ways in which liberal principles constrain the state’s right to both include and exclude prospective new members.