La protección de los inmigrantes irregulares en los Estados Unidos y la libertad de circulación en una «Unión Americana»

Abstract

This article is a continuation and expansion of the proposal I put forth in 2009, and asks if —and how— the United States can move away from its current punitive, quasi-criminal, enforcement-heavy system of immigration regulation. Is it possible for the United States and its neighbors to move toward a system of protection for refugees and other irregular migrants from the rest of the Americas modeled on the European Union’s concept of «Freedom of Movement»? If so, what would such a system look like? Would allowing all citizens of an «American Union» the right to travel, live, and work in North America without the dangers inherent in the current nation-state system of militarized borders forge new and stronger alliances between the United States, Canada, and Mexico? Can —and should— such an «American Union» be expanded beyond the nation-states of North America to include the rest of the Americas and the citizens of Central and South America?