The local state of immigration controls

Abstract

Following the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, it is manifest that local authorities have a central role in the implementation of immigration control and the policing of asylum seekers and others subject to controls. The forced dispersal of asylum seekers and the linking of essential local authority administered welfare services to immigration status represent the integration of the local state into internal immigration controls and the transformation of local government into an arm of the Home Office. The present article is critical of this collusion. It argues that municipal government should reject any idea of having a benevolent role in ameliorating the condition of asylum seekers by being a party to the dispersal scheme. However, the article goes beyond the immediacy of current legislation. It shows that there are historic connections between local government and immigration controls stretching back to the origins of modern controls at the start of the last century. The conclusion is that immigration controls are inherently, institutionally racist and that local authorities should reject all involvement in their enforcement.