title: Immigration Justice and the Grounds for Mandatory Vaccinations.
abstract: For over a century, a foreign national seeking permission to immigrate to the U.S. could have her application for immigration denied on the ground that she suffers from a serious contagious disease. For just under two decades, a foreign national seeking permission to immigrate could also have her application denied on the ground that she has not been vaccinated against each of a list of vaccination-preventable diseases. Two recently developed moral justifications for the use of such "vaccination-related exclusion criteria" have focused on (a) the right and need of a society to prevent the spread of disease to others and (b) the public good of developing and protecting herd immunity. Herein I accept these two general justifications-especially as they are developed by Mark Navin-and explore their limits. In particular, with a focus on the recently developed vaccine against several strains of HPV, as well the short-lived requirement by the CDC that it, too, be required of prospective immigrants, I argue that neither of the two main justifications for the use of vaccination-related exclusion criteria support their use for diseases such as HPV (or even HIV), the transmission of which, unlike airborne diseases such as measles, pertussis and polio, is subject to a considerable degree of individual control.
authors.forename: Heidi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Malm
mesh_terms: D002487:Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S.; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D004641:Emigration and Immigration / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D030361:Papillomavirus Infections / Q000517:prevention & control*; D053918:Papillomavirus Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D012935:Social Justice; D014481:United States; D014611:Vaccination / Q000941:ethics* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000639:trends
chemical_list: D053918:Papillomavirus Vaccines