Differentiated rights for immigrants: analysis of common European immigration policy

Official URL: http://192.168.1.20/record=b1276328 (Table of Contents)

This study is on the common European immigration policy and specifically on the rights of resident third country nationals, illegal immigrants and asylum seekers. This study examines a puzzle: despite the rights of legally resident third country nationals have expanded considerably those of the illegal immigrants and asylum seekers have diminished in the course of the European integration process. This study highlights the role played by the securitization process in explaining such puzzle. The research reached the following findings: first, the rights of TCNs are expanding since their integration into the societies started to handled in the realm of social and economic integration and second the illegal immigrants and asylum seekers rights are decreasing as they have become a part of the security policies in the EU level as a consequence of being presented as threat. This study reached a conclusion that policies concerning integration of third country nationals and the policies on preventing illegal immigration despite seemingly contradictory are indeed integral parts. In other words, the securitization process during which a subject/issue is transformed into the realm of security policy through the discourse of the securitizing actor, is an all-inclusive process, though the legally resident immigrants are not presented as threat as opposed to the criminalization of the illegal immigrants and asylum seekers. Therefore, the extraordinary measures in protecting borders -legimized on the grounds of criminilized illegal immigrants and fake asylum seekers- and the recognition of the TCNs as equal members rather than vulnerable internal others can not be sustained simultaneously.