.jpg)
printIs the Fight Against Illegal Immigration Effective (Experience of the USA, European Union and Russia)?
Ryazantsev S.V.,
Doctor of Economics, Institute of Socio-Political Research of the Federal Center of Theoretical and Applied Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia; Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO University), Moscow, Russia, riazan@mail.ru
elibrary_id: 77673 | ORCID: 0000-0001-5306-8875 | RESEARCHER_ID: F-7205-2014
Ochirova G.N.,
Institute of Socio-Political Research of the Federal Center of Theoretical and Applied Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia, galinaochirova93@gmail.com
elibrary_id: 978463 | ORCID: 0000-0002-2154-9604 | RESEARCHER_ID: AAE-6946-2020
DOI: 10.17976/jpps/2021.02.04
For citation:
Ryazantsev S.V., Ochirova G.N. Is the Fight Against Illegal Immigration Effective (Experience of the USA, European Union and Russia)?. – Polis. Political Studies. 2021. No. 2. https://doi.org/10.17976/jpps/2021.02.04
This research was supported by the Russian President Grants Council for Supports of the Leading Scientific Schools (Project № NSh-2631.2020.6)
Abstract
Modern governments stubbornly insist on perceiving immigration as a threat to national security and immigrants as potential criminals; consequently they attempt to lobby for stricter measures around migration and border control. In this paper, based on analysis of policies and statistical data, three models of the fight against irregular migration (US, European, and Russian) are compared, considering geopolitical and socioeconomic features. It is observed that the Russian model is characterized by economic barriers (the costs of patents and work permits) and the predominance of administrative measures due to the visa-free regime with the main donor-countries. However, in the case of the US, a key way to combat irregular migration in recent years has been strengthening its physical borders to restrain massive flows from Mexica and other Latin American countries. Because of the influx of asylum seekers from Middle Eastern and African countries, the European model has been modernized by the implementation of mixed measures: the militarization of border control (even between EU countries), the creation of barriers both physical (e.g. the Hungarian border barrier) and social (e.g. deportation), and agreements with third countries (e.g. with Turkey). The paper argues that these models are not able to give the desired results despite the significant administrative and financial expenses on the implemented measures. In a market economy, illegal immigration flows cannot be fully stopped, but their scale can be reduced. This requires state measures to regulate the legal channels for hiring foreign labor, which will prevent immigrant participation in the informal economy.
Keywords
illegal migration, irregular immigrants, national security, the USA, the EU, immigration policy, deportation, immigration amnesty.
References
Akkerman M. 2019. The Business of Building Walls. – Transnational Institute. URL: https://www.tni.org/files/publication-downloads/business_of_building_walls_-_full_report.pdf (accessed 17.03.2020).
Harris N. 1995. The New Untouchables: Immigration and the New World Worker. New York: IB Tauris & Company Limited.
Hooghe M., Dassonneville R. 2018. Explaining the Trump Vote: The Effect of Racist Resentment and Anti-immigrant Sentiments. – PS: Political Science & Politics. Vol. 51. No. 3. P. 528-534. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1049096518000367
Kalsi P. 2018. The Impact of Us Deportation of Criminals on Gang Development and Education in El Salvador. – Journal of Development Economics. Vol. 135. P. 433-448. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdeveco.2018.08.010
Kerwin D.M. 2010. More than IRCA: US Legalization Programs and The Current Policy Debate. Migration Policy Institute. URL: https://www.migrationpolicy.org/research/us-legalization-programs-by-the-numbers (accessed 16.03.2020).
Koslowski R. 2011. The Evolution of Border Controls as a Mechanism to Prevent Illegal Immigration. Washington, DC: Migration Policy Institute. URL: https://www.migrationpolicy.org/sites/default/files/publications/bordercontrols-koslowski.pdf (accessed 29.03.2020).
Massey D.S. 2011. The Truth about Undocumented Immigration. Scholars Strategy Network. URL: https://scholars.org/brief/truth-aboutundocumented-immigration (accessed 29.10.2020)
McAuliffe M., Khadria B. 2019. World Migration Report 2020. Geneva: International Organization for Migration. URL: https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/wmr_2020.pdf (accessed 28.10.2020)
Nelson R.L., Davis-Wiley P. 2018. Illegal or Undocumented: An Analysis of Immigrant Terminology in Contemporary American Media. – International Journal of Social Science Studies. Vol. 6. No. 6. P. 8-15. https://doi.org/10.11114/ijsss.v6i6.3254
Paspalanova M. 2008. Undocumented vs. Illegal Migrant: Towards Terminological Coherence. – Migraciones internacionales. Vol. 4. No. 3. P. 79-90.
Passel J.S., Cohn D. 2018. US Unauthorized Immigrant Total Dips To Lowest Level in a Decade. – Pew Research Center. URL: https://www.pewresearch.org/hispanic/2018/11/27/u-s-unauthorized-immigranttotal-dips-to-lowest-level-in-a-decade/ (accessed 06.02.2020).
Passel J.S., Cohn D. 2019. Mexicans Decline to Less Than Half the Us Unauthorized Immigrant Population for the First Time. – Pew Research Center. URL: https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/06/12/us-unauthorized-immigrant-population-2017/ (accessed 27.10.2020).
Stana R., Quinland S., Espinola J. 2009. Secure Border Initiative Fence Construction Costs. – United States Government Accountability Office. P. 1-15.
Vogel D., Kovacheva V., Prescott H. 2011. The Size of the Irregular Migrant Population in the European Union–Counting the Uncountable? – International Migration. Vol. 49. No. 5. P. 78-96. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2435.2011.00700.x
Warren R. 2019. US Undocumented Population Continued to Fall from 2016 to 2017 and Visa Overstays Significantly Exceeded Illegal Crossings for the Seventh Consecutive Year. – Journal on Migration and Human Security. Vol. 7. No. 1. P. 19-22. https://doi.org/10.1177/2331502419830339
Warren R., Kerwin D. 2017. The 2,000 Mile Wall in Search of a Purpose: Since 2007 Visa Overstays Have Outnumbered Undocumented Border Crossers by a Half Million. – Journal on Migration and Human Security. Vol. 5. No. 1. P. 124-136. https://doi.org/10.1177/233150241700500107
Iontsev V.A. 2017. Rol’ mezhdunarodnoy trudovoy migratsii v economicheskom razvitii Rossii v usloviyakh demograficheskogo krizisa [The Role of International Labor Migration in Economic Development of Russia in Times of Demographic Crisis]. – Ekonomicheskaya teoriya i khozyaystvennaya praktika: global’nyye vyzovy. Materialy mezhdunarodnoy konferentsii “Evolyutsiya mezhdunarodnoy torgovoy sistemy: problemy i perspektivy [Economic Theory and Business Practice: Global Challenges. Materials of the International Conference “the Evolution of the International Trading System: Problems and Prospects”]. Saint Petersburg: Skifiya-print. P. 242-253. (In Russ.)
Mikheeva M.V. 2015. The Impact of the Immigration Process on the Economic Security of a State. – Vestnik of Economic Security. No. 5. P. 97-100. (In Russ.)
Ryazantsev S.V. 2007. Trudovaya migratsiya v stranakh SNG i Baltii: tendentsii, posledstviya, regulirovaniye [Labor Migration in the Cis and Baltic Countries: Trends, Consequences, Regulation]. Moscow: Formula prava. (In Russ.)
Ryazantsev S.V., Baikov A.A., Morozov V.M. 2019. Social and Economic Situation and Legal Status of Kyrgyz Labor Migrants in Russia in the Context of Kyrgyzstan’s Integration into the EAEU. – Migration Law. No. 1. P. 3-8. (In Russ.)
Sultanov B.K. 2016. Threats of Destabilization in Central Asia. – Russia and the New States of Eurasia. No. 1. P. 69-84. (In Russ.)
Content No. 2, 2021
See also:
Ponamaryova A.M., Tatuntz S.A.,
Immigration as problem of national security of the RF. – Polis. Political Studies. 2010. No4
Shaparov A.Ye.,
The granting of suffrage to aliens: tendencies and practices. – Polis. Political Studies. 2011. No1
Sheynis V.L.,
Russia’s national security. durability trial. Part II. – Polis. Political Studies. 2010. No1
Analytical Report by the Institute of Sociology, RAS,
Russia’s national security in experts eyes. – Polis. Political Studies. 2011. No3
Sheynis V.L.,
Russia’s national security. Durability trial. Part III (The end). – Polis. Political Studies. 2010. No2
.jpg)
.jpg)