Migration and the shared world: a defense of rights of entry for cultural migrants

Many who defend immigration restrictions do so on the grounds that communities have a right to seek to preserve their cultures. The importance of preserving culture is said to reside in the meaningful connections that individuals form with their fellows and places. We ask what conclusions regarding immigration can be drawn from appeals to the importance of culture. We focus our argument on the search for meaning as a motivating factor prompting immigration and call migrants who do so for this reason ‘cultural migrants.’ We argue that human beings share the need to create meaningful relations. The ‘fellow creatures ethic’ that we develop thus puts culture at the centre of our argument. Contrary to critics of open borders, however, we argue that, in recognition of our shared humanity, we should show hospitality to potential immigrants and share the world with them physically. This is because such migration leaves it possible for current residents to continue developing their meaningful relationships, whereas closed borders prevent this for immigrants. We argue that the preservation of culture does not outweigh this quest for cultural meaning. Sharing the world with fellow creatures involves acknowledging the risk – indeed inevitability – that cultures continually change.