Inhabiting the Land

By Andrew Yuengert

John Paul II asserts the right to migrate and this monograph presents a defense for this case. But the meaning of right employed in this defense is wholly distinct from that employed in the contemporary rights language of public policy debates. Rather, the meaning of right in Catholic natural law tradition is analogous to the right to property, and not to the right to life. Accordingly, the burdens of migration on host countries is fundamental to the analysis. Indeed most of the examinations of the right to migrate in Catholic social thought are conducted in the context of the economic motives for immigration public policy, as well as for emigration decisions on the part of individuals. This monograph thus presents an economic analysis of migration that is consistent with the Christian concern for the dignity of persons.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Acton Institute
• Release date: May 23, 2012
• ISBN: 9781880595657

Book preview

Inhabiting the Land

The Case for the Right to Migrate

Andrew Yuengert

Christian Social Thought Series

Smashwords Edition

Copyright © 2012 by Acton Institute

An imprint of the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion & Liberty

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CONTENTS

Foreword

I. Introduction

II. The Right to Migrate According to Catholic Social Teaching

III. The Economic Impact of Immigration in the United States

IV. The Foundations for the Right to Migrate: Solidarity and Subsidiarity

Notes

References

About the Author

FOREWORD

Immigration is the subject of this first essay of the 2003 Christian Social Thought Series. The United States is without a doubt the best exemplar for immigration, since it is a nation that has been and continues to be shaped by its immigrants who come from every corner of the world. The plaque at the base of the Statue of Liberty in Ellis Island, New York, reads

Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me:

I lift my lamp beside the golden door.

And the United States has indeed welcomed the poor, tired, huddled masses yearning to be free. The intercultural and interracial adjustments have been problematic at times, such that each new wave of immigrants has taken its turn at being the least accepted. At other times, the intercultural and interracial adjustments have been less than morally acceptable, such as the case of black segregation in the American south, among others. But challenges to harmony and mutual respect have been always overcome. The result of this experiment in diversity is palpable in the cultural climate in the largest cities of the United States, a cultural climate as rich as these cities’ demographics.

Persons who decide to leave their home country to seek citizenship elsewhere, do it for a variety of reasons. Some emigrate because of political coercion, injustice, or the risk of death. Some emigrate because they seek liberty and greater choices from which to select a course for life. Some emigrate not because of need, but because of the desire to live in a particular place in the world. The United States attracts many foreigners who perceive it as a vibrant nation of ethnic diversity that offers a relatively open door to immigrants.

Other developed countries in the world that also enjoy a demand on the part of immigrant-hopefuls have employed in the past a narrow selective criterion in order to maintain cultural and ethnic homogeneity. Germany, for example, has been populated by millions of Turkish residents, most of whom are born and raised, second- and third-generation Turkish-Germans. The first generation arrived in Germany to assist by means of labor in its reconstruction following the second world war. Until recently, only bloodline relations to German citizens were permitted Germany citizenship, but the new law replaces ethnicity with place of birth as the main criterion. Another example is Australia, in which the Immigration Restriction Act of 1901 established a national policy of excluding non-whites by accepting only those who could write in a European language. This strategy was called the Natal formula and it originated in the Natal Assembly of 1897 in South Africa. The passing of the Nationality and Citizenship Act in 1948 solidified Australia’s assimilationist policy in the direction of the dominant Anglo-Celtic ethnicity and culture. In the last few decades, new policies of multiculturalism have replaced policies of white homogeneity. Despite all past, present, or future obstacles placed by public officials of developed nations, man cannot be stopped from seeking new horizons and to inhabit the land as commanded by God.

The author of this essay, Andrew Yuengert, is a prominent Catholic economist specializing in the economics of immigration and Catholic social teaching. He begins his analysis by pointing out the historical upheavals in American society resulting from immigration. In recognition of past problems and the very recent threat against national security at the hands of terrorists on September 11, 2001, greater restrictions on immigration policy are being considered by American public officials. John Paul II, too, has dedicated much thought to the problems of immigration. Professor Yuengert defends the position that a right to migrate does not only addresses the concerns of American immigration policy and national security but, arguably, it is consistent with the body of authoritative documents in Catholic social thought.

Although the right to migrate is not the authoritative position of the Church, it is a defensible position that Professor Yuengert embraces from the perspective of economic analysis as well. But it is important to state that the right to migrate presented in this essay is not an automatic right granted to all persons absolutely by the mere wish to migrate. This non-absolutist approach to rights is a fundamentally Catholic point of view that expresses the belief in