Friday Reading

I don't think this is going to convince anyone who doesn't already believe in a more relaxed immigration regime, but this lengthy piece in Boston Review makes a pretty good moral case for amnesty for longstanding foreign illegal residents of any nation, in this case the US. Here's a taste:

How can migrants become members of society without legal authorization? Because social membership does not depend upon official permission: this is the crux of my argument. People who live and work and raise their families in a society become members, whatever their legal status: that is why we find it hard to expel them when they are discovered. Their presence may be against the law, but they are not criminals like thieves and murderers. It would be wrong to force them to leave once they have become members, even when we have good reasons for wanting them to go and for preventing others like them from coming.