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Mainly law professors| Sometimes the tide| Often libertarian| always independent
In my last message, I highlighted David Bier’s helpful summary of the key tactics that Biden’s management has taken a step forward on immigration policy. But one domain in which Biden has failed extraordinarily is the remedy for Russians fleeing Vladimir Putin’s increasingly repressive dictatorship. The Times article reports that Russian political dissidents who enter the United States to seek asylum are subject to prolonged and merciless detention:
Without more complete data, it is not transparent whether Russian asylum seekers are subject to a bad remedy because of their nationality, or whether they are “simply” abused at the same rate as other asylum seekers. But, in any case, the scenario is unacceptable.
The ultimate solution to the plight of asylum seekers is a primary general liberalization of immigration policy that would make the procedure for legal access to the United States much easier, more available and faster. But even within the confines of the existing system, there are far more humans to prolonged immigration detention.
In previous writings, I explained in detail why opening Western doors to Russians fleeing Putin is the right policy for moral, strategic and economic reasons (see here, here and here). expansion and clinical innovation, depriving Putin of valuable work and giving us an advantage to start in the foreign war of concepts opposed to the Putin regime. The case has been reinforced by Putin’s “partial mobilization” order, which subdues thousands of Russians. to the grave injustice of conscription to pay for an unjust war. The main beneficiary of the mistreatment of Russian refugees through the United States is Vladimir Putin, who can use it to bolster his claims that the West is hostile to Russians as such.
I also criticized the argument that we exclude the Russians because they are guilty of the war in Ukraine. The same goes for the more general statement that citizens of unjust regimes have a duty to stay at home and “fix their own country. “
Because I myself am a Russian Jewish immigrant, some would possibly suspect that I am protecting Russians fleeing Putin out of ethnic or racial sympathy or prejudice. Not so. I have also long advocated openness to Ukrainian refugees. In a previous article, I indicated some of my many writings advocating opening Western doors to predominantly non-white immigrant and refugee groups. Since then, I have also written this article about the case of the opening of Western doors to Chinese fleeing the ruthless policies of their “Covid Zero” governments and other repressions.
Ilya Somin is a professor of law at George Mason University and of Free to Move: Foot Voting, Migration, and Political Freedom and Democracy and Political Ignorance: Why Smaller Government is Smarter.