Territorial rights and open borders

Territorial rights consist of the right to jurisdiction, the right to resources and the right to exclude immigrants and are assumed to be essential to state sovereignty. Scholars who have discussed the justification of these rights have mostly focused on the right to jurisdiction. Few engage with the implications of such justification for the right to exclude immigrants. This paper argues that the justification for territorial rights cannot justify the right of states to exclude immigrants. Allowing immigrants to settle within the territory does not undermine any of the interests territorial rights are meant to protect. In addition, the interests of current inhabitants do not provide sufficient reasons to grant the state the right to exclude immigrants from the territory that everyone has equal right to in an original situation. State sovereignty is therefore seen as compatible with open borders.