Lea Ypi: "Amnesty For Immigrants" - Royal Institute of Philosophy, The London Lectures

Unconditional amnesty and naturalization for all irregular migrants are morally necessary because the territorial rights of modern states are historically tainted by colonial violence and exploitation. These states function like illegitimate occupiers, yet they demand compliance from migrants while ignoring their own historical and structural injustices. Applying the theory of supersession—which suggests past wrongs can be mitigated over time—reveals that if states require migrants to prove "good character" or compliance, states must similarly prove their own adherence to global justice and the rectification of colonial legacies. Because current political institutions remain continuous with these unjust patterns of accumulation, the right of states to exclude migrants cannot supersede the rights of individuals to remain. Consequently, amnesty should be automatic and unconditional, serving as a necessary step toward dismantling the structural inequalities that render migration a problem in the first place.