Normative investigations of migration have mostly remained at the level of general principle with little attention to the ethical questions raised by the practices and procedures of organizations that administrate policies. Family-based immigration policies that appear fair in principle leave spouses vulnerable to abusive partners or separate families for many years. Temporary worker programs that seem just on paper may suffer from systematic abuses. Immigration officers wield broad discretion with limited accountability that may harm individuals or systematically discriminate against groups. I contend that an ethics of migration that ignores how organizations and their administrators affect people’s lives is incomplete, leading to the neglect of important injustices. Normative theorists thinking about immigration should engage the literature on the ethics of administration in order to articulate an account of moral responsibility, legitimate authority, accountability, and transparency.
