Deportation as a neo-colonial act: how deporting state influence extends beyond the border

Abstract

Contemporary migration patterns and border control practices, including deportation, reinforce colonial histories. However, deporting states also have an ongoing influence following the initial act of removal. This article examines how the deporting state influences the creation of ‘borders behind the border’ within the receiving state, and argues that deportation is ultimately a neo-colonial act. Deporting state influence pervades territorial borders and extends the carceral state, through transferring imaginaries of ongoing criminality and threat; humanitarian bordering; legislative assistance; and security cooperation. However, receiving states are not simply passive, instead refusing and contesting some neo-colonial influence, and reformulating local perceptions of the deporting state as ‘to blame’ for any ‘problems’ that deported people cause. By examining deportations to Oceania, it is evident that both neo-colonial deportation practices and micro-refusals are world-making.