Immigration has emerged as the defining issue of our times. [] The challenge that the immigration issue poses to the future of European democracy is real. Immigration itself is a genuine challenge, but the fundamental challenge that immigration brings to the fore is a domestic one, it is about fundamentally different political visions that cut through the citizenry of Europe's nation states. With that, it becomes critically important how these nation-states, through their democratic institutions, tackle immigration.[] we need both the scholarly analysis and reflection presented in this volume, and we need informed political innovation within and between Europe's nation-states.- from the Foreword by Prof. Dr. Kristian Berg Harpviken, Peace Research Institute Oslo[] In result, Europe, to its series of recent big questions [] had to add another one: migrants stand ante portas and what to do with them?[] We have chosen to look at the extent to which the past, the present and the future of irregular migration to Europe relates to the foundational values and principles on which Europe has been built, namely democracy, the rule of law (Rechtsstaat) and the respect for fundamental rights. We focus on those people who seek in Europe various forms of help, motivated by war or other injustices in the places where they come from.[] the main aim of our book was to join the voluminous professional and academic literature on migration and to offer a few modest suggestion in which direction Europe should go whenever irregular migrants stand ante portas.- from the Preface by the EditorsThis is a timely and elaborate volume interested in the question to what extent the challenge of irregular migration poses a challenge to democracy. The authors approach this issue from different ethical, legal and political angles. They do not shy away from developing concrete recommendations as to what the European Union could do when faced with migratory pressures. Overall, therefore, a highly recommendable contribution.- Prof. Dr. Florian Trauner, Vrije Universiteit Brusse

Unlike many other trans-boundary policy areas, international migration lacks coherent global governance. There is no UN migration organization and states have signed relatively few multilateral treaties on migration. Instead sovereign states generally decide their own immigration policies. However, given the growing politicisation of migration and the recognition that states cannot always address migration in isolation from one another, a debate has emerged about what type of international institutions and cooperation are required to meet the challenges of international migration. Until now, though, that emerging debate on global migration governance has lacked a clear analytical understanding of what global migration governance actually is, the politics underlying it, and the basis on which we can make claims about what 'better' migration governance might look like. In order to address this gap, the book brings together a group of the world's leading experts on migration to consider the global governance of different aspects of migration. The chapters offer an accessible introduction to the global governance of low-skilled labour migration, high-skilled labour migration, irregular migration, lifestyle migration, international travel, refugees, internally displaced persons, human trafficking and smuggling, diaspora, remittances, and root causes. Each of the chapters explores the three same broad questions: What, institutionally, is the global governance of migration in that area? Why, politically, does that type of governance exist? How, normatively, can we ground claims about the type of global governance that should exist in that area? Collectively, the chapters enhance our understanding of the international politics of migration and set out a vision for international cooperation on migration.

This open access book provides an alternative theoretical framework of irregular migration that allows to overcome many of the contradictions and theoretical impasses displayed by the majority of approaches in current literature. The analytical framework allows moving from an interpretation biased by methodological nationalism, to a more general systemic interpretation. It explains irregular migration as a structural phenomenon or contemporary society, and why state policies are greatly ineffective in their attempt to control irregular migration. It also explains irregular migration as a diversified phenomenon that relates to the social characteristics of the context, and why states accept irregular migrants. By providing new comparative, empirical, qualitative material which allows to start filling an evident gap in the current research on irregular migration, this book is of interest to graduate students, scholars and policy makers.

This thorough analysis of immigration governance in Spain explores the dynamics of inclusion and exclusion at play at one of Europe’s southern borders. David Moffette analyzes Spain’s processes of immigration governance and reveals the complicated series of legal obstacles facing many migrants. Differential access to border mobility is a central concern of contemporary politics, and nowhere is this more apparent than in the European Union, where external borders have been strengthened to prevent irregular entry and internal borders have been removed to promote free circulation. Moffette draws on interviews with policymakers and on more than three decades of parliamentary debates, laws, and policy documents to show that culture, labour, and security issues intersect to create a regime of migration governance that is at once progressive and repressive. A detailed empirical analysis of Spanish immigration policy, this book provides a thought-provoking and insightful contribution to debates in socio-legal, border, and citizenship studies.

Eminent political theorist Joseph Carens tests the limits of democratic theory in the realm of immigration, arguing that any acceptable immigration policy must be based on moral principles even if it conflicts with the will of the majority.

Provides a theoretical framework for the analysis of mobility and border crossing in an age of globalization. Focuses on people working in the UK without proper immigration status, the organizations that support immigrants, and the responses of control agencies and public services.

Working from an interdisciplinary perspective that draws on the social sciences, legal studies, and the humanities, this book investigates the causes and effects of the extremities experienced by migrants. Firstly, the volume analyses the development and political-cultural conditions of current practices and discourses of “bordering,” “illegality,” and “irregularization.” Secondly, it focuses on the varieties of irregularization and on the diversity of the fields, techniques and effects involved in this variegation. Thirdly, the book examines examples of resistance that migrants and migratory cultures have developed in order to deal with the predicaments they face. The book uses the European Union as its case study, exploring practices and discourses of bordering, border control, and migration regulation. But the significance of this field extends well beyond the European context as the monitoring of Europe’s borders increasingly takes place on a global scale and reflects an internationally increasing trend.

As far as immigration theory is concerned, the attempt to reconcile concern for all persons with the reality of state boundaries and exclusionary policies has proved difficult within the limits of normative liberal political philosophy. However, the realpolitik of migration in today’s environment forces a major paradigm shift. We must move beyond standard debates between those who argue for more open borders and those who argue for more closed borders. This book aims to show that a realistic utopia of political theory of immigration is possible, but argues that to do so we must focus on expanding the boundaries of what are familiar normative positions in political theory. Theorists must better inform themselves of the concrete challenges facing migration policies: statelessness, brain drain, migrant rights, asylum policies, migrant detention practices, climate refugees, etc. We must ask: what is the best we can and ought to wish for in the face of these difficult migration challenges. Blake, Carens, and Cole offer pieces that outline the major normative questions in the political theory of immigration. The positions these scholars outline are challenged by the pieces contributed by Lister, Ottonelli, Torresi, Sager, and Silverman. These latter pieces force the reformulation of the central positions in normative political theory of immigration. This book was originally published as a special issue of Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy.

Even as the 2013-2017 "migration crisis" is increasingly in the past, EU countries still struggle to come up with alternative solutions to foster safe, orderly, and regular migration pathways, Europeans continue to look in the rear-view mirror. This Report is an attempt to reverse the perspective, by taking a glimpse into the future of migration to Europe. What are the structural trends underlying migration flows to Europe, and how are they going to change over the next two decades? How does migration interact with specific policy fields, such as development, border management, and integration? And what are the policies and best practicies to manage migration in a more coherent and evidence-based way?

Explores the experiences of irregular migrants and refugees crossing borders as they resist global migration controls.