Pulling human rights back in? local authorities, international law and the reception of undocumented migrants

Abstract

The category of the 'irregular' migrant is usually seen as the quintessential non-status under international law, offering states plenty of discretion while providing few practically accessible rights for migrants. At the same time, certain local authorities have struggled to justify more pragmatic responses when dealing with the reception of irregular immigrants. This article explores a recent trend that potentially holds the key to both conundrums: the invocation of international human rights law, in their defence, by local authorities. More specifically, their engagement of human rights can force international institutions to apply and develop norms in this area. Within this story of legal pluralism, nation states are under increasing pressure to live up to the standards that they had previously avoided. Two examples of 'frontier cities' operating in very different constitutional and discursive environments will be used to substantiate the argument. The first concerns support by the city of Utrecht of a case concerning emergency social assistance for undocumented migrants before the European Committee of Social Rights. The second example concerns San Francisco as a sanctuary city in the US and a place with a long history of localization of international human rights law. The article closes with a critical reflection on the potential trajectories that this trend might take and what this means for understandings of legal pluralism as well as future research.

City government and urban inequalities

“…On other fronts, urban governments have sought to devolve to themselves rights instruments and conventions that are more formally the preserve of nation-states. Oomen and Baumgärtel (2018) trace the rise of 'frontier' or 'human rights cities' which have adopted or incorporated human rights codes and covenants, and established municipal human rights agencies for oversight and advocacy (see also Baumgärtel and Oomen 2019). A number of US cities, as they note, 'have adopted the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women as a local ordinance, in spite of the fact that it has not been ratified by the federal government.…”

Of Bastions and Bulwarks: A Multi-Scalar Understanding of Local Bordering Practices in Europe

“…How cities of different sizes and scales developed independent approaches to the arrival of refugees has reinforced discussions on the "local turn" in migration management (Caponio and Jones-Correa 2017;Zapata-Barrero, Caponio, and Scholten 2017). This applies to (recognized) refugees, but also to irregular migrants, ranging from local authorities restricting arrivals and stay to those pledging to become "shelter cities" or "fearless cities" in their support for those who, formally, have no right to stay (Baumgärtel and Oomen 2019;Spencer and Delvino 2019). In adopting such approaches, local authorities diverge from national policies to steer a more inclusive or more exclusionary course (Ambrosini 2020;Scholten 2016).…”

“…They can also be political, enabling migrants to take part in decision-making on their future. Local authorities that provide shelter to irregular migrants strengthen their social rights, such as rights to housing and education (Baumgärtel and Oomen 2019). Ensuring that forced migrants work under decent conditions contributes to their economic rights.…”

The social network of solidarity with migrants: The role of perceived injunctive norms on intergroup helping behaviors

“…Many citizen initiatives supporting migrants have emerged across Europe in order to respond to the perceived humanitarian crisis (e.g., Rea, Martiniello, Mazzola, & Meuleman, 2019). Since then, research in various disciplines-such as political science, human rights law, and social psychology-have examined possible factors explaining citizens' mobilization in favor of migrants (e.g., Baumgärtel & Oomen, 2019;della Porta, 2018;Kende, Lantos, Belinszky, Csaba, & Lukács, 2017;Rea et al, 2019).…”