Limiting the National Right to Exclude

While acknowledging the political challenges involved in convincing others of her point of view, the author of this essay argues that climate change is creating a strong rationale to limit the state's right to exclude certain people from crossing its borders. She sees an analogy with private property owners whose right to exclude others from entering their property is limited by the state. Indeed, there are many more restrictions on the right of private property than on the prerogatives of the state. The courts, for example, have ruled that individuals can legally "trespass" on someone else's land when in imminent danger; owners of public accommodations such as inns, stores, or restaurants, are barred from discriminating based on race, religion or national origin; and states may expropriate property through eminent domain to achieve a valid public purpose. In light of the climate crisis slowly engulfing the world, including the probable disappearance of several island nations, governments "might be better protected against threats to their national security by creating more legal avenues of immigration" in order to "provide an orderly safety valve for people to leave fragile states that lack the resources to adapt to climate change." (Diversity Dynamics)

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