Japan, the United States, and the Philosophical Bases of Immigration Policy

Abstract

Immigration policy can be understood as variably conforming to three different philosophies: economic utilitarianism, which is geared toward maximizing wealth; rights liberalism, where policy creates legal protections of human dignity, including that of citizens and migrants alike; and communitarianism, where the preservation of the host state’s national culture is paramount. The extent to which these philosophies guides policy depends on the policy in question and also on the state making the policy. Although both the United States and Japan face demographic and economic challenges in the future and make economic utilitarian policy for skilled immigrants, the United States’ tendency toward free-market economic utilitarianism has prepared it for these challenges more so than Japan, where policies more in line with communitarian principles and an economic utilitarianism focused on the costs of low-skilled immigrants have created greater demographic challenges in the future.