Global Trends in Immigration Detention and Alternatives to Detention: Practical, Political and Symbolic Rationales

Abstract

Immigration detention is a growing threat to the well-being of migrants worldwide. While the use of this tool continues to increase, there is a growing consensus by governments on the need to pursue alternative programs. This paper examines the nature of these apparently contradictory developments and the reasons for tension in this area of migration policy. Drawing from research conducted by the International Detention Coalition and La Trobe University, this paper describes the Community Assessment and Placement (CAP) model, which seeks to prevent unnecessary detention, while allowing governments to meet the rationale offered for detention. It argues that the global trends of growth in detention and an increased emphasis on alternatives reflect competing political, policy and operational objectives. For example, governments wish to ensure compliance with deportation orders; alleviate political pressures regarding the harms associated with detention; and demonstrate control of territorial borders. Understanding the multiple rationales that shape this area of migration policy can help make sense of contradictory policy developments and identify the most effective ways to safeguard those who might be subject to detention.

Contemporary Perspectives on Ethnically Targeted Internments: A Study on the Chinese Indian and the Japanese Canadian Wartime Experiences

“…A recent study (2018), conducted on the "global trends in immigration detention," seems most relevant to this current analysis: it sheds light on the government's use of the "detention tool" for handling the migrants' issue (Sampson and Mitchell). Their research contends that detention of migrants in camps has become more widespread across Australia, the U.S., and Europe (Sampson and Mitchell, 2018) in the contemporary times; and that there is a need for these governments to pursue alternative programs, --a contradictory policy that can safeguard the well-being of the migrants (Sampson and Mitchell, 2018). There is another recent study (Peters, 2017) which provides a theoretical reading on the thematic of the "camp."…”

Externalization of Border Controls as a Violation of Human Rights of Irregular Migrant Children: A Global Dilemma

“…Children are effectively confined to these rooms for many hours of the day as they are the only private spaces which provide respite from the heat. (Sampson & Mitchell, 2013 (2014). The alternatives to immigration detention of children' Doc.…”

Immigrants as Symbolic Assailants

“…The immigration detention industry expands the correction business by absorbing the management and supervision of undocumented immigrants (Welch, 2002). Research shows that the construction of immigration detention facilities where undocumented immigrants become excluded as "undesirable outsiders" has become common, with governmental expanded use of immigration detention as important for its symbolic meaning, as well as its practical function of confining "dangerous" outsiders (R. Sampson & Mitchell, 2013). To relieve social anxiety and maintain social order, immigration detention centers, constructed through investment from both public and private sectors, send a message about government exercising its sovereign authority to deter undesirable people from entering the land (R. Sampson & Mitchell, 2013).…”