ABSTRACT
I will begin this essay, though, by considering a few arguments to the effect that we do not need to supplement the theory of exclusion; we need, instead, to abandon it entirely.
1. Open borders
The idea that liberal states do not have the right to exclude unwanted outsiders – that the liberal state cannot, consistent with its liberalism, coercively prevent outsiders from entering into that state’s territory – is conventionally referred to as the open borders view (Wilcox 2009). The view is not reducible to a single argument; there are a variety of arguments that have been deployed to defend the proposition that border controls ought to be abolished (see also Carens 1987, Abizadeh 2008, Huemer 2010). I will not try to canvas all possible arguments in favor of abolition here. I will, instead, focus on three plausible arguments in favor of open borders: the argument from symmetry between domestic and international mobility; the argument from symmetry between entry and exit rights; and the argument from international distributive justice. I will discuss these in turn.
