This paper investigates regional variation in migration policy implementation, focusing specifically on the underexplored role of policy ambiguity. It chooses a salient case study of internal migration control implementation: the application of labour market access policies for migrants with precarious legal status in German municipal immigration offices. Studying the implementation approaches of eleven offices within one Land by means of semi-structured interviews with senior officials, the research design allows for drawing inter-agency and inter-policy comparisons. The data provides empirical evidence for the claim that the more conflictive and hence ambiguous a policy, the more importance can be placed on local determinants of implementation. Different logics (economic welfare and regulatory control logic) legitimizing more restrictive or expansive implementation are identified and linked to the broader migration policy context. Moreover, the difficult task of officials to determine applicants' identity clarification effortsa condition for receiving a work permitserves as basis for conceptually distinguishing between collective and individual discretion of street-level bureaucrats.
Western democracies have developed complex policies to manage migration flows. Much of the scholarly literature and political discourse assume that countries have become increasingly selective and that they prioritise economic intakes. Despite clear efforts by policymakers to distinguish between refugees and migrant workers, we know surprisingly little about how countries combine different policy dimensions and which factors shape their relative openness to different target groups. In this article, we shed light on how countries combine two of the main admission channels, asylum and labour migration, by introducing the concept of the 'immigration policy mix'. A comparative analysis of 33 OECD countries between 1980 and 2010 examines the pattern and drivers behind their immigration policy mix: does the policy mix follow a pattern of convergence, is it subject to political dynamics or is it path-dependent? The results reveal that despite a shift in political sympathies from asylum to labour migration, countries' immigration 1 The article has benefited substantially from generous feedback by Tobias Eule, Marc Helbling, Luzia Helfer, Elif Naz Kayran and Lea Portmann. We also thank the colloquium participants at the University of Geneva. The two anonymous referees helped with their valuable comments to improve the article.
Migrants around the world significantly contribute to the economies of countries of origin and destination alike. Despite the growing number of migrants in today's globalized world, the conditions in which migrants travel, live and work can carry exceptional risks to their physical and mental well-being. These risks are often linked to restrictive immigration and employment policies, economic and social factors and dominant anti-migrant sentiments in societies, and are often referred to as the social determinants of migrants' health. These social determinants need to be addressed in order for migrants to attain their development potential and to concurrently contribute to sustainable development, while reducing the health costs of migration for both migrants and societies of origin and destination. A multi-sectoral approach is required to effectively address the social determinants of migrants' health, as many of the solutions to improving migrants' health lie not only in the health sector but in other sectors, such as labour and immigration. This requires collaboration across the different sectors and integrating migrants' health issues in different sectoral policies to avoid marginalization and exclusion of migrants and ensure positive health outcomes for migrants and their families. The paper will discuss a 'Health in All Policies' (HiAP) approach to migrants' health as, to date, there has not been much discussion on framing migrants' health within an HiAP approach. The paper will also present some examples from countries who have addressed different aspects of migrants' health in line with the recommendations of the 61st World Health Assembly (WHA) Resolution 61.17 on the Health of Migrants (2008).
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