Policy Discourses on Irregular Migration in Germany and the United Kingdom

Irregular migration has been high up on the political agenda in many countries for many years, with successive governments in countries across the globe investing heavily in tightening their borders and developing policies designed at discouraging the practice. It is an issue, however, which has gained particular resonance in the Germany and the UK which have some of the highest levels of irregular migrants crossing their borders annually. Through retrospective analysis of the policy domain of irregular immigration control in Germany and the UK, this important study provides a comprehensible yet detailed understanding of the policy situation in both countries today, and explains how these policy regimes came to the fore and the reasons behind the way in which they developed. Using policy and discourse analysis this text traces the origins of particular policy ideas and explains why, despite the differing contexts and migration histories in Germany and the UK, their policy responses to the irregular migration have converged to the point that they are now very similar. This book is a must read for students and scholars of migration studies as well as of German and British politics and policy.