The time politics of migrant deportability: an intersectional analysis of deportation policy for non-citizen children in Belgium and the Netherlands

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article examines the use of time as a technology of migration control for the deportation of non-citizen children in Belgium and the Netherlands. The scarce literature on the ‘time politics’ of migration enforcement shows that states are under increasing pressure to speed up deportations, especially for non-citizens convicted of criminal offences. However, as immigration is increasingly linked to social, political and economic categories of personhood, making different immigrant groups subject to the logic of deportation in very specific ways, it is important to inquire separately how the positioning of children affects the policy measures taken towards them. This article is therefore based on an intersectional analysis of parliamentary inquiries, policy guidelines and 25 interviews with immigration officers. It shows that the pace of children's deportation procedures is highly asymmetrical and that it is premised on the intersectional markers of difference that are invoked in these policies, debates and implementation efforts. The intersections of age and parenthood, imbued with gender norms, racialisation and class, impact the sense of urgency or meticulousness devoted to individual cases and in turn the concrete measures taken to justify minors' deportation.