Authority and Immigration

Abstract

States claim to have authority over prospective immigrants who have not yet been admitted but are nonetheless expected to comply with immigration law. But what could ground such an authority claim? The service conception of authority defended by Raz appears not to apply in this case. Nor can it be argued that immigrants give their consent to the state by applying for admission. Another approach appeals to the practice of reciprocity between states in respecting each other’s immigration regimes, but many immigrants will fall outside of its scope. Instead, the article defends the view that the natural duty of justice requires immigrants to comply with the state’s immigration regime provided that it is reasonably just. This does not require that the immigrant herself should have authorised the regime through democratic participation. However, the natural duty argument has to be qualified by recognising that some migrants can legitimately appeal to necessity as grounds for breaching the duty and entering unauthorised.