The environment: one more reason to keep immigrants out?

Some Neo-Malthusians and anti-immigration groups in the United States have recently argued that migration of people to developed countries is damaging to sustainable development and environmental protection. This paper argues that it is inappropriate and ethically indefensible to employ environmental reasons in support of calls for restrictions on immigration to developed countries. Keeping migrants out neither solves environmental problems nor tackles the root causes of migration. Instead, developed countries should prevent armed conflicts and should promote sustainable development at home and in developing countries. If managed competently and fairly, international migration and other forms of globalization present a promise, not a threat, to a more sustainable world.