National Center of Competence in Research – The Migration-Mobility Nexus
Christin Achermann
Restricting Immigration: Practices, Experiences and Resistance
Swiss migration law defines rules and measures aiming at excluding “unwanted migrants”. However, we know very little about the way in which different actors put these rules into practice. Our project investigates how the exclusion of migrants who are trying to enter or have been requested to leave the Swiss territory is practiced, experienced and contested by the people involved, in particular state agents and migrants. Two fields of exclusion practices and experiences are at the center of this project: border control and detention pending deportation.
Legal exclusion measures are subject to cantonal and individual discretion: exclusion practices therefore differ considerably throughout Switzerland.
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Exclusion practices have profound consequences on the people concerned: questions of legitimacy and proportionality should be considered seriously and systematically.
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Immigration detention in Switzerland is deeply embedded in the penal field, thereby criminalizing individuals who are detained prior to their deportation.
