Immigration Regulations Research Articles

State and immigration regulations: shared experiences of foreign domestics in Singapore, Saudi Arabia, and Canada

This paper examines female migrant domestic workers in Singapore, Saudi Arabia, and Canada, and the way the foreign labor policy of these countries shapes these women’s experiences of migration and employment. It demonstrates that tying live-in domestics to their employers for employment and immigration status makes these women vulnerable to potential abuse and exploitation. The passage of both state and international labor standards demonstrates the success of domestic workers’ decades-long activism at local, national, and transnational levels.

“I Am Standing Still”: The Impact of Immigration Regulations on the Career Aspirations of Wives of International Students in the USA

This paper utilizes Institutional Ethnography, a feminist research method, to examine the impact of immigration policies on the professional aspirations and career trajectory of wives of international students. The research process included interviews with thirtytwo wives who came to the US on a F-2 visa, along with analysis of immigration policies. Immigration regulations, which prohibit wives from accessing educational and employment opportunities, are reported to be a significant problem. F-2 wives not only confront the loss of professional identity but also irreparable damage to their long-term career prospects. The opaque organization of immigration regulations makes it very difficult for them to make an informed decision about the consequences of moving to the United States. The findings of this study contribute to the growing body of feminist research on how the migration practices of the US state contain hidden gender biases.

Book review: Crimes of Mobility. Criminal Law and the Regulation of Immigration, written by Ana Aliverti

Book review: Crimes of Mobility. Criminal Law and the Regulation of Immigration, written by Ana Aliverti

Norms Matter! The Role of International Norms in EU Policies on Asylum and Immigration

Abstract This Article investigates how international norms impact on eu asylum and immigration policy. To this end we scrutinize the assumption that the robustness of international norms indicates the quality of eu integration. Drawing on international norms literature we argue that four characters define an international norms’ robustness: specificity in definition, binding force, coherence with domestic law and international law, and concordant understanding among actors. Our analysis covers three eu policy areas, asylum policy, family reunification policy, and labour migration policy. Across the three areas international norms had varying degrees of robustness at the time of eu negotiations. The findings show that presence and robustness of international norms on asylum or immigration regulation are reflected in eu legislation. Given that there are more robust norms available on questions of status than on reception conditions or asylum procedures, the qualification directive was much easier to agree on than the reception conditions or the asylum procedures directive which were much more characterized by hard bargaining. The international norm, right to family life, was sufficiently robust and was codified in eu law. However, both the international norm and the eu law do not provide for clear admission criteria. On labour migration, robust international norms with regard to equality provisions for migrant workers are mirrored in eu legislation on residence rights of migrants. With regard to conditions of admission, the absence of international norms indicates little to no eu legislation.

La consolidación histórica de la migración irregular en Europa: leyes y políticas migratorias defectuosas

This paper analyzes the historical consolidation of irregular migration in five European Union States. First, immigration regulations and policies issued in the selected States, during four stages of the history of modern international migration, are reviewed. Second, their role in the construction and perpetuation of irregular migration in these States is analyzed, given the fact that they have revealed shortcomings through time. It is concluded, on the one hand, that these regulations and policies fail to produce the intended results because they have resulted in the increase and strengthening of irregular migration, which is radically opposed to their objectives of control and reduction; and, on the other hand, that some irregular migration can be avoided if deficiencies of national immigration regulations are corrected.

Immigrant New Mothers in Finnish Maternity Care: An Ethnographic Study of Caring

PURPOSE: To illuminate experiences and perceptions of caring in the maternity care culture of immigrant new mothers in Finland.DESIGN: This is a descriptive interpretive ethnography.PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: Seventeen new mothers from different cultures on a maternity ward in a medium-sized hospital in Finland.METHODS: Focused ethnographic analysis and interpretation of interviews, observations, and field notes were used.FINDINGS: Caring was part of the positive experience of childbearing and beneficial for the health and well-being of the immigrant new mothers. Negative experiences of health care impaired their well-being. The resources of Finnish maternity care and cultural knowledge of the nurses facilitated the caring. The policy and attitude of Finnish society encouraged childbearing. The immigration regulations affected support during childbearing negatively and tended to caused loneliness. The Finnish maternity care was not fully adapted to the mothers’ wishes to understand the organization of Finnish maternity care, to communicate, to breastfeed, and to have family-centered care, a flexible length of stay in the hospital, and extended support after childbirth.CONCLUSION: Caring improves the childbearing experience and the well-being and health of new immigrant mothers; therefore, caring needs to be emphasized in maternity care, health care administration, and nursing education.

Measuring Immigration Policies: Preliminary Evidence from IMPALA

This paper presents the methods and preliminary findings from IMPALA, a database that systematically measures the character and stringency of immigration policies. Based on a selection of data for six pilot countries between 1990 and 2008, we document the variation of immigration policies across countries and over time. We focus on three specific dimensions: the number of entry tracks for economic workers; the measurement and role of bilateral agreements that complement unilateral immigration policies; and aggregation procedures that allow for gauging the stringency of immigration regulations comparatively.

Inmigrantes laborales y flujo en tránsito en la Frontera Sur de México: dos manifestaciones del proceso y una política migratoria

This text presents a characterization of Guatemalan labor immigration into Mexico, its historical perspective and processes of change in relation to new places of destination, crossings and labor insertions. It also sets out the most fundamental traits of migrants who cross Mexican territory when in transit from Central America, new crossing trajectories and social costs in terms of human rights, within a framework of greater social vulnerability. It analyzes the role that the Mexican state has played in relation to the establishment of a new migration policy set forth in the last two administrations (2001–2012) by the Partido Acción Nacional (National Action Party), institutional and legislative arrandos gements, progress and unresolved matters with respect to the proclamation of human and labor rights. It is concluded that even though unprecedented progress has been made in terms of immigration regulations, these policies still have serious shortcomings with regards to Central American immigration into Mexico, be it labor immigration or migrants in transit. This migration has taken on new forms and has registered qualitative and quantitative changes in crossing, in an environment of greater risk in Mexican territory.

Reflexiones sobre la política migratoria argentina e integración regional

The aim of this article is to re$ect on the place that has been given to regional integration, and specifically to MERCOSUR, in Argentina’s immigration policy since the enactment of the Immigration Act 25.871/2004. &e paper addresses political and social debate prior to the enactment of the rule, the most important de%nitions which enshrines the text of the law regarding the regulation of immigration from MERCOSUR countries, and the role that Argentina has recently been playing under the South American dialogue on the subject.

Strangers and authorities in the gold coast: Immigration control in colonial Ghana, 1900—1957

Until the imposition of colonial rule on Africa, movements of people from one place to another were not restricted by national or regional borders, visa systems, or national security fears. The modern idea of immigration is related to the development of nation-states and nationality laws, which often distinguish between citizens and immigrants. Citizenship of a nation-stale confers on nationals an inalienable right of residence, employment and free movement in that state, but the residence, employment and movement of immigrants are subject to conditions set by immigration regulations. Since it was the colonial authorities that introduced immigration regulations into Ghana, any attempt to gain a good understanding of the history of immigration control in the country must start from the colonial times. Therefore, using both primary and secondary documents, this study examines the measures which the colonial authorities devised to control the entry of immigrants into Ghana as well as their stay in and exit from the country, and assesses the relative effectiveness of their implementation. It argues that the colonial authorities had been generally liberal towards immigrants in Ghana. The study concludes that the manner in which immigration control had been handled in the colonial era was partly accountable for the frequent influx of many 'illegal' migrants into Ghana after independence.

Recruitment processes and immigration regulations: the disjointed pathways to employing migrant carers in ageing societies

Older adult care in Ireland and the UK has seen substantial recruitment of migrant registered nurses and care assistants. However, there is little information on recruitment methods in this sector and on how the current immigration systems influence these strategies. This article aims to address this topic through a survey of care organizations and interviews with employers and migrant carers in Ireland and the UK. Recruitment of migrant carers is based on a combination of conventional approaches, informal networks and recruitment agencies. Choice of strategy is dependent on occupation type and the targeted labour pools. Findings demonstrate that immigration regulations effectively dictate the recruitment pools and shape employer recruitment methods.

Quebec, Haiti, and the Deportation Crisis of 1974

Abstract: Throughout the fall of 1974, the threatened deportation of several hundred Haitians catalysed a major crisis in Quebec society. Rather than quietly accepting their fate, resisting individually by going underground, or heading to another jurisdiction, Haitian migrants brought their story to the larger public through protests and interventions in the mainstream media. In so doing, they mobilized a movement opposing the deportations, precipitating a crisis in Quebec political life during which church groups, trade unions, voluntary associations, civil rights organizations, and artists and intellectuals denounced the strict enforcement of immigration regulations. Partly because of their appeals to the conscience of the population, and partly because of their ability to position themselves as ideal francophone immigrants for modern Quebec, Haitian migrants created a space for themselves in the public sphere in which their voices and perspectives could be heard. Throughout the crisis, they used this space to shift the discussion beyond debates about federal–provincial relations, to introduce new arguments about the interconnected histories of Canada, Quebec, and Haiti. The arguments that they brought forward had an important influence on social movements in Quebec as well as on the province's political culture in general.

Federal Preemption and Immigrants' Rights

Recently, immigration scholars have focused on the relationship between federal, state, and local governments in regulating immigration to the exclusion of civil rights issues. States and localities assert that they should be able to use their Tenth Amendment police powers to regulate unauthorized immigrants within their borders, while the federal government claims exclusivity in the area of immigration law and policy. In the middle of this debate, there is the question of whether states abrogate individual civil rights and civil liberties when exercising their police powers to regulate immigration. This article takes a detailed look at these complex issues of federalism and individual rights in the context of immigration regulation. The first section of the paper is an overview of Arizona’s S.B. 1070 and copycat legislation, which require state and local law enforcement to make a determination regarding a person’s immigration status when reasonable suspicion exists that the person is unlawfully present. The second section critiques the notion of providing states and localities unfettered discretion to determine the immigration status of individuals during routine stops. This section examines the implications of a policy where states, as sovereigns, are given the power to regulate immigration within their borders. The last section analyzes why equal protection challenges under the Fourteenth Amendment have not been raised to challenge laws providing state and local officials with the power to make immigration determinations. It specifically examines the Arizona case, Valle de Sol v. Arizona, and how equal protection claims were raised in response to the Show Me Your Papers Provisions of S.B. 1070.

A Case for the Twenty-First Century Constitutional Canon: Schneiderman v. United States

This Article examines a generally underappreciated 1943 Supreme Court case, Schneiderman v. United States. Schneiderman raises a variety of issues related to disparate subjects, such as the role of courts during wartime, the place of the Constitution in the American civil religion, constitutional limitations on immigration regulation, and so on. Because this case discusses all of these issues (and had a major impact on the evolution of some of these issues), it is a case of substantial importance and interest that has belonged in the constitutional canon for some time. However, this Article argues that, because of the new issues posed by September 11th, Schneiderman belongs in the constitutional canon now more than ever. This Article examines what makes this case a good candidate for the constitutional canon, and in doing so attempts to suggest some modifications of the current framework used for discussing what makes a case a good candidate for the constitutional canon.

A Real Marriage? Applying for Marriage Migration to Norway

Marriages of convenience have become a central concern in political debates about immigration policy. According to Norwegian regulations, the right to marriage migration only applies to ‘real’ relationships. The notion of a real or genuine marriage, as opposed to a marriage of convenience, raises the question of what characterises a legitimate intimate relationship. Based on interviews with the parties involved, this article investigates how marriage migrants and their partners perceive the application process for marriage migration to Norway, and how they are affected by the idea of marriages of convenience. It argues that the scholarly literature on contemporary intimate relationships is relevant to studies of migration and provides important insights into the narratives of marriage migrants and their partners. On the one hand, ‘the pure relationship’ seems to be one standard against which cross-border marriages are sometimes judged. On the other hand, the ideal of the pure relationship is also used by marriage migrants and their partners to question immigration regulations. The pure relationship is one, but far from the only, normative ideal present in the narratives of my interviewees. Interviewees draw on several different, and sometimes contradictory, norms, ideals and narratives of intimacy when they talk about and justify their own relationships, after being confronted with the immigration regulation's requirement for a ‘real marriage’.

International student mobility and highly skilled migration: a comparative study of Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom

Against the backdrop of demographic change and economic reconfiguration, recruiting international students, especially those at tertiary level, has drawn growing attention from advanced economies as part of a broad strategy to manage highly skilled migration. This comparative study focuses on three English speaking countries receiving international students: Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom. International student policies, in particular entry and immigration regulations, and the trends in student mobility since the late 1990s are examined drawing on secondary data. By exploring the issue from the political economy perspectives, this study identifies distinct national strategies for managing student mobility, determines key factors shaping the environment of student migration in each nation, and addresses the deficiency of human capital theory in the analysis of global competition for high skills.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/2193-1801-2-132) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Another Week, Another Scandal: Immigration Dilemmas

Immigration regulations for international students seem to be changing somewhat unpredictably of late, in major receiving countries. In several English-speaking nations, immigration regulation has become a significant policy issue, and international students are the frequent focus of recent crackdowns. These changes have the potential for altering the landscape of global student flows and might even slow the increases in student numbers of the past two decades. In this context, the expansion of recent years might actually have been a temporary “bubble."

H. H. Stevens and the Chinese: The Transition to Conservative Government and the Management of Controls on Chinese Immigration to Canada, 1900-1914

This article uses the political life of H. H. Stevens, a Vancouver businessman, Conservative member of parliament, and anti-Asian activist to examine the nature of the relationship between the institutions of Canadian immigration control and the political and ideological context of the time. It shows how the transition from Liberal to Conservative government after the Canadian election of 1911 provides an opportunity to examine the importance of individual and party choices in the implementation of immigration regulations. It becomes clear that the policies of control were subject to a certain amount of improvisation on the part of those responsible for implementing the system and allowed those who had strong opinions to harden the line against Chinese immigration. Further, the article reveals how differences in Liberal and Conservative attitudes on Chinese immigration are clearly not merely differences in racial outlook, but rather differences in individuals’ material position at home and their political calculations in the larger context of the British Empire.

Borders, babies, and “good refugees”: Australian representations of “illegal” immigration, 1979

This article will explore the ways in which ambivalence around immigration was revealed through more conditional regulation of white and non-white immigration and through narratives of deportation involving romance and children. Using textual analysis of newspapers and political discourse—tropes of normative heterosexuality— happy couples and mothers with children reveal themselves as apparent contradictions to otherwise dehumanising imagery and discourses of illegality, while still cementing the regulation of “Australianness” through equally conditional means.

Property Outliers: Non-Citizens, Property Rights and State Power

In the last decade, state and local governments have passed thousands of laws attempting to regulate immigrants within their boundaries. These regulations have been the subject of much litigation, as well as media attention and legal scholarship. Legal scholars have written extensively on the criminal and employment provisions of such laws, as well as on the general question of whether states can or should have any role to play in immigration law. Missing from most accounts, however, is attention to another common focus of these state and local regulations: property law. When we look at the role that property plays in state immigration regulation, we uncover some surprising and troubling truths. The area is a legal muddle, characterized by incoherent and inconsistent court rulings. These inconsistencies leave significant gaps in the protection of non-citizen property rights, not only for unauthorized immigrants but also for legally resident ones. This article draws much-needed attention to these gaps. It compares the two major areas of state regulation of non-citizen property: real estate and landlord/tenant law. A comparison of case law in these two areas demonstrates that the courts have failed in the last century to create a coherent framework for the assessing the relationship between non-citizens, property, and state power. I argue that the resulting inconsistencies stem, in part, from the failure of the courts to take into account a property perspective. I suggest what a property perspective would look like, drawing in particular on the core principles of alienability, equality and non-discrimination. This article posits that alienage law is a property outlier, since few of the norms of modern property law have been applied to non-citizens. We should be concerned about this fact, not only because of what it says about the weakness of non-citizen rights but also because of its implications for the failed modernization of property law.