Crimmigration and the ‘Paradox of Exclusion’

Abstract

Abstract Much scholarship underscores the exclusionary nature of crimmigration (the policy of criminalising infringements of immigration rules and imposing adverse immigration consequences as sanctions for criminal conduct), viewing it as a system of social marginalisation designed to prevent integration. This article, conversely, demonstrates crimmigration’s potential to contribute to the partial and symbolic acceptance of migrants. The article argues that crimmigration is characterised by a ‘paradox of exclusion’—a contradictory attempt to exclude undesirable migrants via the field of criminal law, which is designed primarily for citizens. Consequently, crimmigration regimes extend to migrants certain rights associated with membership and provide irregular migrants with various opportunities to gain admittance into the community. Two main processes contribute to this dynamic: the extension of principles typical of ‘citizen criminal law’ to migrants and the equation of law abidance with ‘good citizenship’, which informally confirms the right of certain migrants to remain in the country or their suitability for membership. The article discusses crimmigration’s consequent contribution to the process of civic stratification.