Amnesty in Immigration: Forgetting, Forgiving, Freedom

Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy (CRISPP), Volume 16, No. 3 (2013) (Special Issue: The Margins of Citizenship):344-365

23 Pages Posted: 1 Feb 2013 Last revised: 24 Jun 2013

Date Written: June 24, 2013

Abstract

Whether or not to grant ‘amnesty’ has been a contentious policy issue in a wide range of settings, from human rights violations to draft avoidance to library fines. Recently, the idea of amnesty has come to structure many debates over irregular immigration. While amnesty’s meaning is usually treated as self-evident, the term in fact signifies in a variety of normative directions. This article employs amnesty as an optic to examine accountability questions that structure normative debates over irregular immigration in liberal states. It distinguishes among conceptions of amnesty emphasizing forgiveness, erasure and vindication, and argues that developing a vindicatory account of amnesty is both particularly difficult and particularly necessary in the immigration setting.

Keywords: Accountability, Immigration, Citizenship, Marginality, Apology, Vindication, Forgiveness, Ethical realism/idealism

Suggested Citation

Bosniak, Linda S., Amnesty in Immigration: Forgetting, Forgiving, Freedom (June 24, 2013). Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy (CRISPP), Volume 16, No. 3 (2013) (Special Issue: The Margins of Citizenship):344-365, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2209361

Linda S. Bosniak (Contact Author)

Rutgers University School of Law ( email )

Fifth and Penn Streets
Camden, NJ 08102
United States
856-225-6403 (Phone)
856-225-6516 (Fax)

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