Our responsibility to respect the rights of others: legality and humanity

Immigration Legality Humanity

States tend to be concerned about self-definition, and immigration law arose as one attempt to mark out territory by establishing a regulatory system which defined who could enter, remain and be removed (with nationality and citizenship laws addressing membership). The risk with migration law, however, is the governmental temptation to nurture a continuing form of communal insecurity by constructing ‘ others’ as a threat. Governments have given into this urge all too often, and the application of migration law often says as much about national communities as it does about those seeking to enter or remain