Topic: Immigration

This is a complex topic and can best be discussed in the context of concrete examples. In general, immigration is the movement of people from one tribe or nation to another. Immigration has been occurring since humans appeared on the planet and has always been viewed through different lens. 

Background 

Some brief historical examples:

• Ancient Egyptians allowed immigration but often saw these people as workers, not of the same class as “native Egyptians.”
• The Ancient Greeks were very ethnocentric and while those from other lands could come to Athens, for example, they could not become citizens nor participate in the privileges of such. 
• Some countries close their borders and both discouraged and rejected people from outside: China and Japan were both shut off from Western countries until the Middle Ages and even beyond.
• Other examples from history?

The situation in the United States of America

From the arrival of the first settlers from Holland, England, Spain, the “New World” became a colonial center where nations fought over who “owned” land—land that was already inhabited by people who had arrived millennia before from Asia. 

After the US became free from Britain it struggled to grow and develop and throughout the nineteenth into the twentieth century immigration from Europe as a major factor in that growth. There is a “push/pull” theory of immigration that references the pressure from economic and social/politic/religious forces that lead people to leave a country, a homeland, and the pull of new opportunities and fresh starts in another nation. The first wave into the Us was from northern Europe and the British Isles, followed later by immigrants from southern Europe and on the west coast from Asia. 

See the Pew Research report for details:
https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/07/22/how-the-origins-of-americas-immigrants-have-changed-since-1850/#:~:text=The%20first%20large%20wave%20of,70%25%20of%20the%20new%20arrivals

New York City was the first stop for many new arrives and Ellis Island was built as a center for processing these people. 
https://www.statueofliberty.org/ellis-island/overview-history/

Each wave was greeted with suspicion and rejected and often expected to work for little pay and treated poorly.  Speaking a language other than English was one justification for rejection but even speaking English was not enough for immediate acceptance if you were Irish.  In New York immigrants often settled in communities from the home country, creating ghettos for Irish, Italian, and Spanish. However, children born in the US quickly became acclimated to the culture and over time were integrated in the mainstream of American life, only to reject the next wave of immigrants from a different region. Some immigrants left New York to farm out west and today you can find communities in the Midwest and northern Midwest that share a common ancestry from Nordic countries. 

For example, in Minnesota: https://www.mnhs.org/newspapers/swedishamerican-migration#:~:text=The%20Settlements%20in%20America&text=The%20agricultural%20areas%20in%20western,further%20movement%20across%20the%20Atlantic.

This introduction wants to remind the readers that immigration is both essential to the growth of America but can cause friction and consequently was not always welcomed. 

Ethical and Political Debates

Today the debates rage over immigration and the community of inquiry will want to first acquaint themselves with the nature and process of immigration and then explore these political and ethical debates.

Note that there are debates about immigration in general and immigration through non-orthodox means (“illegal immigration.”) To foster an open discussion about immigration, consider the following steps or process:

Background and Personalizing stories

1. Have the participants research their own families to discover from where they came. Some may be recent immigrant families but others may have come as far back as the Mayflower.  Have the students share their family story and if they can find out, why their family came here. Drawing a map of the world and highlighting origins could be a fun and instructive activity. 

2. Do any of the participants know of recent immigrants in their communities? If possible can they interview them to get their stories? This step may not work for all groups and the facilitator will have a good idea of its feasibility.

What are the ethical issues?

The facilitator can solicit concerns about immigration and creating a pro/con chart for both legal immigration and illegal immigration can start the process of reflection.

An illustrate example [but create your own]

For some more examples see: https://www.economicshelp.org/blog/152453/economics/pros-and-cons-of-immigration/

To explore this topic through the lens of philosophy, consider the following prompt questions:

1. What do we owe other people?  Anything?  Why or why not?
2. Following laws is important to keep order in a society but should there ever be a time or situation where a law can ethically be broken? If yes, when. If not, why not.  Apply to immigration. 
3. How might the following ethical theories approach the question of immigration”
   1. Deontological Ethics: Kant’s Categorial Imperative
   2. Utilitarian Ethics: Mill’s the Greatest Happiness principle
   3. Virtue Ethics: Aristotle’s classic statement of virtue and Nel Noddings ethics of care and concern. 
4. How has immigration impacted your own community—negatively? Positively? 

Brainstorming

• What solutions can the community craft to support immigration but also recognize some potential negative effects? What policies does your state have regarding immigration and immigration status? 
• What is the best argument on the other side of the debate from where you stand?
• What might change your mind and why?

Resources

There are many resources on immigration, its history, the current status, and policies both pro and con. An internet search will reveal many options.  Look for discussions that are not simply taking one side and ignoring the opposite but that approach this as the complex issue it is.