Seminar Invitation: Borders and Belonging – Toward a Fair Immigration Policy
Seminar Invitation: Borders and Belonging – Toward a Fair Immigration Policy
Date: June 12, 17:00 – 21:00
Location: International Institute for Social Studies (ISS), The Hague
Please join us on June 12 for a seminar featuring UCLA Law Professor Hiroshi Motomura, who will present his most recent book:
Borders and Belonging – Toward a Fair Immigration Policy
In this book, Professor Motomura challenges conventional wisdom and narrow perspectives in immigration policy research. He lays a foundation for thinking both creatively and realistically about the complexities of immigration and national borders, proposing fresh approaches and solutions for fairer policies.
Keynote Speaker:
Professor Hiroshi Motomura is Susan Westerberg Prager Distinguished Professor of Law, and Faculty Co-Director of the Center for Immigration Law and Policy at University of California School of Law
Professor Motomura is a renowned teacher and scholar of immigration and citizenship. His work brings critical insights into how immigration policies can be reimagined to reflect fairness and belonging.
Panel Discussion:
The keynote will be followed by a panel discussion with:
Dr. Zeynep Kaşlı
Amanda Brown
Dr. Sandra Mantu
All three panellists are experts in migration, citizenship, and discrimination. They will share their perspectives, drawing from both academic research and practical experience.
This evening promises to be inspiring and insightful, offering valuable perspectives on one of today’s most important societal challenges.
📍 Location: International Institute for Social Studies (ISS), The Hague
📅 Date: June 12
Organized by:
UCLA Law – The Promise Institute Europe
ISS Legal Mobilization Platform (LMP)
ISS Development Research Seminars (DRS)
More about Motomura’s Book:
A uniquely broad and fair-minded guide to making immigration policy ethical.
Immigration is now a polarizing issue across most advanced democracies. But too much that is written about immigration fails to appreciate the complex responses to the phenomenon. Too many observers assume imaginary consensus, avoid basic questions, or disregard the larger context for human migration.
In Borders and Belonging, Hiroshi Motomura offers a complex and fair-minded account of immigration, its root causes, and the varying responses to it. Taking stock of the issue's complexity, while giving credence to the opinions of immigration critics, he tackles a series of important questions that, when answered, will move us closer to a more realistic and sustainable immigration policy. Motomura begins by affirming a basic concept—national borders—and asks when they might be ethical borders, fostering fairness but also responding realistically to migration patterns and to the political forces that migration generates. In a nation with ethical borders, who should be let in or kept out? How should people forced to migrate be treated? Should newcomers be admitted temporarily or permanently? How should those with lawful immigration status be treated? What is the best role for enforcement in immigration policy? To what extent does the arrival of newcomers hurt long-time residents? What are the "root causes" of immigration and how can we address them?
Realistic about the desire of most citizens for national borders, this book is an indispensable guide for moving toward ethical borders and better immigration policy.
Borders and Belonging will be published on the 24th of May 2025. More information here.