By Nikki Weinstein
FOCUS Director of Policy and Community Engagement

The students got me thinking this week. I presented to a Saint Louis University class on the work FOCUS is doing related to immigrant education. The conversation turned to our advocacy around allowing every immigrant student, regardless of their legal status, to attend college or a university.  One student asked “Aside from social justice, what is the reason you support this?” Well, I reiterated the social justice reasons. I even tried to quote the bible. You know, the part that says we shouldn’t punish the child for the sins of the father, and then I outlined some of the economic reasons why it is a good idea as well.

But do we really need a reason besides social justice?  Isn’t creating a more just society what our policies should be doing? Why can’t that be enough?

 In the class I teach on social policy, we learned about the different theories of social justice. Even if we are all striving for justice, that does not mean we would all come to the same conclusions about how to act. Someone with a libertarian point of view may think that justice exists if everyone is treated the same under the law, even if there are gross inequalities as a result. Someone more inclined to the liberal perspective might instead try to find a way to do the most good for the most people, even if that means that not all are treated the same. These are different perspectives on how to act in a just manner, each with its own pluses and minuses, and each with its own believers and skeptics.

What’s the best approach to making society a just place for everyone to live?  Should we even bother striving for social justice?