Honors Theses
Date of Award
2018
Document Type
Undergraduate Thesis
Department
Public Policy Leadership
First Advisor
Jody Holland
Relational Format
Dissertation/Thesis
Abstract
Due to the current discussion surrounding immigration policy, I found it prudent to research the ethics behind the policies we have had in the past in order to make better policy decisions in the future. These policy decisions in the past have shaped America, and will continue to do so. Having this in mind, I decided to ethically evaluate the immigration policy of the 20th century using four acts implemented during this time: the Immigration Act of 1924, the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, the Immigration Act of 1965, and the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. To evaluate these four acts I laid out the ethical framework that philosopher John Rawls provides and used that as a guiding factor. I divided the framework into four parts so that it would be clear and easy to understand: his principles of justice, justice as fairness, the original position and duty and obligation. I found that the policies over time started to reach a more and more ethical tone to them. The quota system in place, over the history of policy, has not been particularly ethical according to the Rawlsian framework. Overall, however, I came to the conclusion that due to the fact that the framework from John Rawls I used is only within the confines of a closed state it is not the most effective way to evaluate this sort of policy. I suggest further research and evaluation using a Jeremy Bentham Utilitarian framework or Kantian Deontological framework.
Recommended Citation
Linginfelter, Elizabeth J., "Unraveling the Veil: An Evaluation of American Immigration Policy in the 20th Century using John Rawls's Ethical Theory" (2018). Honors Theses. 288.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/hon_thesis/288
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