Reconsidering the Claim to Family Reunification in Migration

A high proportion of legal immigration is based on family reunification. On one view, this is based on a partialist preference towards citizens, and the universally grounded claims of refugees should be given at least equal consideration. This article focuses on reconsidering the justification for considering family reunification a particularly important criterion for admission and residence, without attempting to establish how exactly family and refugee claims should be balanced. It first considers arguments for and against giving substantial weight in migration to family members with respect to citizens and denizens, the state and incomers. These include, on the one hand, the intrinsic value of and right to family life, the possibility of integration and the agent-specific nature of the obligations involved, and, on the other, the anachronistic nature of the family claim, the extent to which migration is voluntary, the contemporary prevalence of transnational family relationships, the inheritance of privilege and the multiplier effect of family reunification. It next considers the justification for discriminating among family applicants in order to reduce family migration numbers by restricting admission to the immediate nuclear family, and examines whether this represents unwarranted cultural discrimination or runs counter to the fundamental reasons for respecting family life. It is argued that family reunification is best justified in terms not of a partialist preference towards fellow citizens, but of a universal obligation to allow those subject to the state's authority to maintain intimate relationships that entail agent-specific obligations of care. This justifies very substantial consideration for at least certain kinds of family reunification. If, in order to meet other claims, we should discriminate among family members, priority should attach to family relationships of care at 'critical times', rather than to nuclear family membership per se.