Immigration Ethics and ESG

Immigration ethics intersects with ESG criteria for evaluating companies in a number of ways. Most directly, on the Social lens, companies can be assessed on how well and how fairly they treat immigrants and noncitizens, including their employees, consumers, and members of their local communities. This includes immigrants of all different statuses, such as workers on H-1B visas, undocumented immigrants, refugees, and naturalized immigrants. A company’s environmental record can also be examined in terms of its impact on immigration since environmental harms such as pollution can displace individuals and even cause environmental refugees. Finally, on the Governance lens, companies can be evaluated, for example, on whether they are fairly compensating immigrant and noncitizen workers and providing their lowest-paid workers with a living wage.