Legal Migration Research Articles

African Roads to Prosperity: People en Route to Socio cultural and Economic Transformation

The edited volume entitled, ‘Roads to Prosperity: People en Route to Socio-Cultural and Economic Transformations’, is the product of a collaborative research project undertaken at the African Studies Centre at Leiden University in 2013 and 2014. The project adopts a multidisciplinary approach to study the trajectories and social construct of peoples’ transience. It focuses on the socio-economic, cultural and historical perspectives and the changing dynamics of migration in a globalising world. Migration has been a very critical global issue in history, space and time. Issues on societal transformation, internal and international migration have formed the major canon of discussion across the humanities in recent times. This has become of immense importance cross-continentally, particularly in Africa which is recounted as a space for transit and transference of legal and illegal migrants globally. The edited volume recounts the histories, emergence and consequent societal changes in specific parts of Africa that have become spaces for transit and disembarkation of African migrants in search for better socio-economic opportunities.

Citizenship and Sentencing: Assessing Intersectionality in National Origin and Legal Migration Status on Federal Sentencing Outcomes

Objectives: This study seeks to understand how national origin and legal migration status of noncitizen defendants in federal criminal courts shape incarceration and sentence length decisions. Method: The authors use annual United States Sentencing Commission (USSC) Monitoring of Federal Criminal Sentences (MFCS) datasets (2011–2016) to examine the impact of defendant’s (1) national origin and (2) legal versus illegal migration status on incarceration and sentence length decisions in federal criminal courts. In addition, in order to account for effects of immigration cases, supplemental analyses are conducted for (1) non-immigration offenses and (2) immigration-only offenses. Results: For the incarceration decision, noncitizen defendants have higher odds of incarceration than U.S. citizens, net of other factors. These effects are less consistent in the sentence length decision. These relationships systemically differ across national origin and legal migration status. Conclusions: Punishment disadvantages based on one’s citizenship are particularly pronounced for defendants from Mexico, Latin America, and Africa and especially for those with “illegal” migration status. As noncitizen populations continue to grow in federal courts and in the U.S. more broadly, understanding and addressing these citizenship disparities in punishment will be increasingly important.

The right and role of critiquing the contemporary patchwork of protection

The right and role of critiquing the contemporary patchwork of protection

Ukrainian

The aim of the article is to analyze the development of migration policy of the European Union, its main directions set out by the European Commission in the draft of new Pact on Migration and Asylum, and assess the impact of European approaches to migration management on migration of population of Ukraine. To achieve it, general scientific methods are used, such as systemic, comparative, structural-functional. The relevance of the study is due to the importance of migration of Ukrainians to the EU for the development of the country, as well as the need to implement the norms and principles of European legislation as a component of European integration of Ukraine. The novelty of the article is to identify current trends in EU migration policy and predict their impact on changes in the volume, direction and characteristics of migration of Ukrainians. It is concluded that the development of the channels of legal migration envisaged by the new Pact, primarily for skilled labor, and strengthening the fight against illegal migration, will encourage Ukrainians to move more orderly to European countries. This, of course, will help to improve working conditions of migrants, ensure their rights, but will increase the risks of turning part of temporary labor migration into permanent one and, consequently, further loss of labor and intellectual potential of the country. At the same time, the European Commission’s proposals to deepen cooperation in the field of migration with neighboring countries open up new opportunities for Ukraine to mitigate the negative effects of migration processes. In particular, it is time to raise once again the issue of concluding agreements with the countries of destination of la bor migrants from Ukraine on the joint use of labor and on social security of migrants. The possibility of support by European partners of programs of promoting the reintegration of returnees is worth discussing. The proposal for a “talent partnership” contains certain prospects for transforming the brain drain from Ukraine to their mutually beneficial circulation. The development of migration management in the EU should be taken into account in order to improve migration policy of Ukraine. In particular, the European experience of a differentiated approach to immigration, promoting the arrival of professionals, students and investors is noteworthy. In order to prevent illegal migration and shadow employment of foreigners, EU developments on procedures for admitting seasonal workers, obtaining a residence permit and permit for employment in one document can be used. European experience in improving the efficiency and timeframe of asylum procedures is also useful. Key words: migration policy, European Union, migration of the population of Ukraine.

Skilled Workers as a Priority of the EU’s Migration Policy

In the article, the author refers to the EU Commission’s proposals on promoting legal migration channels to Europe as one of the objectives of the Migration and Asylum Pact. It is emphasized that the Coronavirus pandemic has revealed a shortage of qualified specialists in key areas of the EU economy, both at present and in the future. Two approaches of the Commission are analyzed – the revision of the legal framework for labor migration and the development of new tools for cooperation with the countries of migrants’ origin – «Talent Partnerships» and «Talent Pool». Particular attention is paid to the interinstitutional negotiations on the Blue Card Directive and the resulting compromise. The author recalls that the «Talent Partnerships» initiative was previously implemented in the EU in the form of «pilot projects», but had only a pinpoint impact on the emigration from the partner countries. The reasons for the expected failure of the «Talent Partnerships» are given – reluctance of the most Member States to conclude bilateral agreements with the countries of migrants’ origin and lack of the partner countries’ enthusiasm to support the «brain

Informality during migration, “conversion” within and across national spaces: Eliciting moral ambivalence among informal brokers

AbstractConditions of precarity, irregularity, and illegality are often associated with informality. Yet the functional and analytical value of informality as a condition and process underpinning the migration industry and infrastructure has yet to be fully investigated. This paper considers first, how is informality constructed within national space and across national spaces (i.e., transnationally) during migration? Second, in the context of migration, what does informality reveal of the binaries associated with legality/illegality and morality/immorality? Third, what does inhabiting informality as a “negotiated space” achieve for the various stakeholders who are involved in mediating migration? We address these questions through a study of how foreign domestic workers (FDWs) migrate from Myanmar to work in Singapore. Although FDWs can secure legal documents from Singapore (the receiving country), the government of Myanmar (the sending country) considered migration for domestic work illegal until it lifted a ban on such migration in April 2019. Even so, the government will to formalise and enforce legal migration in Myanmar has been lagging, alongside a lack of traction for multi‐stakeholder collaboration in this direction. Through discussing informality during the recruitment, training, and deployment stages, we draw attention to how informal brokers experience “moral ambivalence,” a condition that can be seen as a resource that illuminates new political and social subjectivities, as well as a means for the brokers to manage risks and uncertainties during migration.

Migration and mobility of third-country national labour workers to and inside Europe during the Covid-19 pandemic \u2013 a legal analysis

The Covid-19 pandemic took most EU Member States of the European Union by surprise, as they underestimated the rapid spread of the contagion across the continent. The response of the EU Member States was asymmetrical, individualistic and significantly slow. The first measures taken were to close down the internal borders. The response of the European Union was even slower, and it was not until 17th March 2020 that the external borders were closed. These actions affected legal migration into the European Union from four perspectives: it affected 1) the mobility of those third-country nationals who were on a temporary stay in the EU Member States; 2) the entry of third-country nationals to do seasonal work; 3) legal migrants entering and staying; and 4) the status of the third-country nationals already residing in the EU Member States, especially those experiencing a loss of income. This article will deal with the measures taken by the EU Member States to manage the immigration services, as a case study how Luxembourg dealt to avoid that temporary staying migrants and regular migrants fall into irregularity. Finally, we will focus on the vulnerability of third-country nationals with the rising risk of unemployment and the risk of being returned to their country of origin. The article will also analyse access to healthcare and unemployment benefits.

‘It’s time we invested in stronger borders’: media representations of refugees crossing the English Channel by boat

ABSTRACT Refugees crossing the Mediterranean Sea in small boats has become a common sight in the media, particularly since the so-called ‘refugee crisis’ in 2015. The number of boats crossing the English Channel between the French and UK coasts has been increasing as other migration routes have been closed down. This article reports the findings of a discourse analysis of 96 UK newspaper articles published in December 2018 when the daily crossings were referred to as a ‘major crisis’. Adopting a broadly critical discursive psychology perspective, we identify the use of three main interpretative repertoires used within the media reporting. Firstly, a ‘secure the borders’ repertoire which positions the UK’s borders as porous and easily breached, secondly, a ‘smuggling is immoral’ repertoire which works to position smugglers as to blame for the current ‘crisis’ and removes responsibility for the crisis from the Government, and finally, a ‘desperate people’ repertoire which worked to position the refugees themselves as vulnerable and in need of protection, but also as people who will engage in risky behaviours. We suggest that the use of these repertoires ultimately functions to obscure the need for safe and legal migration routes to the UK.

Issues of state and national security: Religiously inspired terrorism in the Baltic States: internal and external factors

Global terrorism has become one of the most serious threats to the security in the world today. The number of suspects arrested for religiously inspired terrorism in the EU Member States increased approximately five-fold between 2009 and 2018. The aim of the paper is to evaluate the threats of Religiously inspired terrorism in the three Baltic States - Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The study was conducted using the methods of academic literature, statistical data analysis and qualitative content analysis. This study has applied quantitative technique and qualitative technique to explore the relationship between religiously inspired terrorism and relevant factors - Internal factors, Legal migration, Illegal migration, Participation in international missions and operations, Traveling to regions where terrorist groups have a stronger presence, Student exchange programs and foreign students, Employees from other countries e.c. The study has determined that the level of terrorist threats in the Baltics has not changed in recent years and remains relatively low. The Baltic States today is not a target for religiously inspired terrorism. The level of internal threat from existing religious communities has been low and remains low. No significant terrorism-related incidents have occurred in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in previous years. There is no reason to believe that these internal risks will increase in the near future. In turn, there are significant long-term risks associated with external threats. A balanced and neutral policy towards all religious denominations should continue in all Baltic countries. As a primary task, the authors conducted an analysis of a number of theoretical and practical tax incentives assessment models.

Socio-Economic Reasons Of Participation Of Women And Girls In Population Migration

Today, the migration process and its status are of global importance. Women's participation in population migration is a complex and controversial process. Therefore, this article examines the socio-economic reasons for women's participation in migration, because the creation of favorable conditions and opportunities for women in migration is an important part of their social protection. is one of the directions. The article also describes the growth and decline trends of population migration on the basis of statistical analysis. In the regulation of external labor migration processes, in our opinion, it is expedient to expand legal labor migration.

The Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration and Regional Implementation Practices

Abstract The article analyzes the essence and perception of the global community of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, which was developed under the auspices of the UN and adopted by the member countries of this organization on December 10, 2018 in Marrakesh (Morocco). This was the first international compromise agreement between the donor and recipient countries. More than 160 states have signed the Compact, believing that it is long overdue for the international community to come to a more realistic understanding of global migration. Some countries refused to sign the Compact, including seven EU states and Ukraine. The content of the Compact is aimed at liberalizing the migration regime, which explains why it was rejected by many governments and political forces. Non-acceptance of the Compact by a number of countries that have accepted migrants reduces the potential effect of its application. However, it can be useful for improving the efficiency of legal migration, regulating the employment of skilled labor, which is of interest to the recipient countries. The crisis in the migration policy of some countries has shown that the low level of harmonization of national legislation on refugee shelter has significantly contributed to the spread of the disaster and the increase in the number of asylum seekers that the countries had to accept on their territory.

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Legal Migrant in Poland, Portugal, Latvia, and Belgium

Purpose: The article aims to analyze the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic about legal migrants in selected European Union countries amidst the tighter restrictions and travel constraints introduced worldwide. Design/Methodology/Approach: The article uses data and source analysis and a modeling method to demonstrate the extrapolation of migration trends. Findings: The employed methodology enabled the authors to establish that in Poland, Portugal, Latvia, and Belgium, measures were taken to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic in the context of legal migrants residing on their territories during the introduction of the movement restrictions. Practical Implications: According to the authors, the exposure of the measures against the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on migrants may deepen cooperation between the country authorities concerning helping legal migrants, leading to strengthened security in this area. Originality/value: In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic and the dynamically changing health situation in the world, as well as the related lack of up-to-date sources and studies, partial scientific studies demonstrating a selected fragment of reality are critical. In the short and long term, they will enable researchers to learn about the type of actions taken by state authorities concerning migrants legally residing in their territory.

Unwanted and Uninvited: Canadian Exceptionalism in Migration and the 2017-2020 Irregular Border Crossings

ABSTRACT This paper focuses on the irregular migration flow from the United States to Canada from 2017 to 2020. This irregular migration, defined as unauthorized border crossings, challenges a central tenet of the perceived exceptionalism of Canadian immigration policy by illustrating that while legal migration remains publicly popular and receives political support, the public rejects unwanted, irregular, or illegal migration, demanding strong response from the Canadian government. The 2017–2020 irregular migration of refugee claimants from the United States generated discord in a number of public and political settings. Debates existed over the terminology for unauthorized border crossings, public opinion was divided, and prior to the 2019 Canadian federal election, political parties developed different and opposing positions. Disagreement over costs and funding for the settlement of irregular migrants emerged at city, provincial, and federal levels. The federal government subsequently amended immigration legislation and increased budgets for border control activities.

The 'Easy Path'. From Legal Migration Into Transnational Organized Crimes

The 'Easy Path'. From Legal Migration Into Transnational Organized Crimes

Mass Migration as a Hybrid Threat? – A Legal Perspective

Migration as a weapon sounds like a policy statement by resurgent nationalistic parties (and governments) in the West. However, politics and the human cost aside, what if an adversary (both state and non-state actor) does exploit the current global crisis of mass migration due to globalization, war, and political unrest? This article will look at the ongoing mass migration to the European Union within the wider security context of the so-called hybrid threats and/or ‘grey zone’ tactics. It looks at the various legal categories of migration as how the law can be weaponized as so-called ‘lawfare’ to undermine the existing legal frameworks distinguishing between legal and illegal migration. The authors recognize the possibility that this article will be used as an argument by the political actors involved for their nationalistic and anti-migration politics and policies. Yet, we believe that the potential of abusing the current vacuum for political gains along ideological party lines makes it necessary to provide a wider legal-security focused perspective on mass migration.

ФОРМИРОВАНИЕ И РЕАЛИЗАЦИЯ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННОЙ МИГРАЦИОННОЙ ПОЛИТИКИ В РОССИИ: ЭКОНОМИЧЕСКИЕ АСПЕКТЫ

The effectiveness of the development of the socio-economic system of any modern state directly depends on the rationality of the formation and the effectiveness of the implementation of the state migration policy. The purpose of the article is to analyze the trends and problems of the development of migration relations in the Russian Federation, the features of the state migration policy and the development of recommendations for its improvement. The paper analyzes the main elements of the regulatory framework in terms of regulation of the state mig- ration policy in the domestic economy. The study of the dynamics of the migration flow was carried out, and also one-factor correlation-regression analysis was used. The main approaches to the rational implementation of the migration policy of the state in relation to illegal migrants are highlighted. A statistical assessment of the dynamics of the migration flow in the Russian Fede- ration in 2010–2018 has been carried out to the level of crime. It is shown that from the point of view of maximizing the average level of profi- tability of products in the economy of the Russian Federation, the annual flow of migrants of working age should be about 200–250 thousand people. The main problems in the implementation of the state migration policy in the Russian Federation are highlighted, such as insufficient attention to the processes of intraregional migration, the lack of comprehensive programs in this area, the lack of efforts to socialize legal migrants from neighboring countries, the lack of effective measures to overcome the migration of the most qualified personnel. Recommendations were developed for improving the state migration policy in the Russian economy in terms of improving the statistical registration of migrants; implementation of a viable strategy for state management of migration processes; creation of effective mechanisms for the integration of migrants into the system of the host society; paying attention to the processes of internal migration, as well as the development of international cooperation in the field of migration policy.

Asian American Perspectives on Immigration Policy

Despite the rapid growth in both documented and undocumented Asian Americans, their attitudes toward immigration policy are not well understood. Drawing on data from the 2016 National Asian American Survey, this article examines both interracial and intra-Asian differences in views toward immigration. Relative to other racial groups, Asians are as likely to support legal migration, but less likely to support undocumented migration. We document significant diversity among Asians. As labor migrants, Filipinos support a congressional increase in annual work visas. As economic migrants, Chinese and Indians support an increase in annual family visas. As refugees, Vietnamese are least supportive of pro-immigration policy. These findings contribute to research on policy support by systematically including Asian Americans in this debate and by revealing their diverse policy perspectives.

АКТУАЛЬНІ ТЕНДЕНЦІЇ ТРУДОВОЇ МІГРАЦІЇ МОЛОДІ В УМОВАХ ГЛОБАЛІЗАЦІЇ ТА ЇХНІЙ ВПЛИВ НА ЕКОНОМІКУ УКРАЇНИ

The article offers an analysis of the main reasons, trends and consequences of labor migration of young people in the context of globalization and its impact on the national economy. Labor migration is considered as the process of moving labor resources from one country to another in order to realize their labor potential due to certain economic, social, political and other circumstances. The place of young people in migration processes is determined by identifying them as a separate age group among the total number of labor migrants. In the context of this study, young people are able-bodied persons aged 14 to 35 years with possible variations in these age boundaries depending on the nomenclature of international organizations and statistical agencies that analyze migration processes. The issue of youth migration is considered in the context of international labor migration as a global process, referring to the studies of the main international organizations in the field of migration and protection of workers' rights. The statistics used in the article include exclusively materials related to legal migration of youth, while the illegal migration is primarily unsupervised by any statistic agencies. Based on the specifics of youth as an age group of the working-age population, it was important to consider the issue of labor migration of youth from different sides, highlighting the main trends, but also considering the differences associated with the specifics of migration, its direction, purpose, term,as well as level of development of donor countries and countries recipients, etc. Young people now constitute a significant part of the migration flows of individual countries, and acts as a heterogeneous, extremely contradictory group of the able-bodied population with its own characteristic features. Flexibility and easy adaptation to new and sometimes hard - due to predominantly illegal way of employment - working conditions allow this group of the working population to integrate into the foreign community, but there are still many problems and challenges associated with the increased migration of young people.

CHANGING PRIORITIES OF MIGRATION POLICY OF THE STATE CONSIDERING NATIONAL ECONOMIC SECURITY

With the development of globalization processes and sufficient free movement of labor, and skilled personnel, the problem of legal and illegal migration has gradually become part of public policy for many countries. The aim of the article is to determine the priorities of the state migration policy for legal, illegal migrants and refugees and to form recommendations for the development of clear and transparent rules of the state migration policy taking into account the international legal field and in the context of economic security. An analysis of the main trends in the migration processes was conducted and it was found that over the past 30 years there has been a rapid increase in the number of international migrants and refugees, which puts pressure on the economies of host countries. It has been proven that migration affects the main components of national security, and the impact on the country's economic security is particularly pronounced. As a result, national security requirements must be taken into account when formulating state migration policy. The main components of the state migration policy were identified, the analysis of the main theories and approaches to the migration policy in relation to legal migration was carried out. The main problems of the state policy on illegal migration and refugees have been identified. The state migration policy is analyzed on the example of the EU countries and their overcoming of the migration crisis and the refugee crisis. The state determines the main priorities of migration policy based on national and economic security requirements. There are two main aspects of state migration policy: targeted attraction of immigrants and policy on illegal migration and refugees. There are three main approaches to attracting immigrants - encouraging all types of immigration, creating maximum barriers to immigration, and encouraging specific target groups of immigrants. With regard to illegal immigration, the state can take a tough stance or allow it to replenish the workforce. State policy on refugees is determined by the norms of international law. It has been argued that national migration policies need to be adapted to the current world economy, and that the main priorities include transparency, long-term forecasting of labor market needs, clear criteria for migrant admission and combating illegal migration, which is part of international crime.

How Has Covid-19 Affected the Intention to Migrate Via the Backway to Europe and to a Neighboring African Country? Survey Evidence and a Salience Experiment in the Gambia

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in border closures in many countries and a sharp reduction in overall international mobility. However, this disruption of legal pathways to migration has raised concerns that potential migrants may turn to irregular migration routes as a substitute. We examine how the pandemic has changed intentions to migrate from The Gambia, the country with the highest pre-pandemic per-capita irregular migration rates in Africa. We use a large-scale panel survey conducted in 2019 and 2020 to compare changes in intentions to migrate to Europe and to neighboring Senegal. We find the pandemic has reduced the intention to migrate to both destinations, with approximately one-third of young males expressing less intention to migrate. The largest reductions in migration intentions are for individuals who were unsure of their intent pre-pandemic, and for poorer individuals who are no longer able to afford the costs of migrating at a time when these costs have increased and their remittance income has fallen. We also introduce the methodology of priming experiments to the study of migration intentions, by randomly varying the salience of the COVID-19 pandemic before eliciting intentions to migrate. We find no impact of this added salience, which appears to be because knowledge of the virus, while imperfect, was already enough to inform migration decisions. Nevertheless, despite these decreases in intentions, the overall desire to migrate the backway to Europe remains high, highlighting the need for legal migration pathways to support migrants and divert them from the risks of backway migration.