Abstract
Based on interviews with bureaucrats and judges in several Swiss cantons, this article analyzes how bureaucrats decide to order immigration detention and how the judicial review shapes their decisions. The authors argue that discretionary decision-making regarding immigration detention is structured by the web of relationships in which decision-makers are embedded and affected by the practices of other street-level actors. The varying cantonal configurations result in heterogenous bureaucratic practices that affect the profiles and numbers of persons being detained. In particular, differences in judges’ interpretation of legal principles, as well as in their expectations, strongly affect bureaucratic decisions.
Highlights
The detention of noncitizens and asylum seekers for reasons of immigration law enforcement is a coercive measure that is widely used by states to control irregular migration and to facilitate the enforcement of deportations (Bosworth & Turnbull, 2015)
In this country, according to the Foreign Nationals and Integration Act (FNIA), immigration detention is a coercive measure aimed at facilitating the enforcement of removal of noncitizens who are not allowed to stay on the national territory
We focus on one set of actors within this web of relational decision-making: the courts in charge of judicial review of immigration detention and how they interact with bureaucracies
Summary
The detention of noncitizens and asylum seekers for reasons of immigration law enforcement is a coercive measure that is widely used by states to control irregular migration and to facilitate the enforcement of deportations (Bosworth & Turnbull, 2015). Despite the increasing body of literature on immigration detention, we still know very little about how immigration judges or bureaucrats make their decisions to detain noncitizens pending their deportation This article studies the case of immigration detention decision-making in Switzerland. In this country, according to the Foreign Nationals and Integration Act (FNIA), immigration detention is a coercive measure aimed at facilitating the enforcement of removal of noncitizens who are not allowed to stay on the national territory. Based on in-depth interviews with cantonal immigration bureaucrats and judges in several Swiss cantons, this article analyzes how bureaucrats decide to order administrative detention and how the judicial review influences their decisions. This article provides new insights into the understanding of immigration detention in practice and into administrative decision-making and the role of the judiciary in shaping bureaucratic practices
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