Publication

This working paper traces the origins of the securitization of criminal and terrorist aliens, explores the impact of 9/11 on this process and addresses its continuation in legislation under consideration in US Congress in 2006. According to the author, the securitization of immigration control following 9/11 has been built extensively on steps that emerged in the 1980s and 1990s which assessed the threat of criminals and terrorists. The chapter focuses on the intersection of securitization and the wave of rights-based protections seen by many scholars as inhibiting the ability of advanced industrial democracies to engage in immigration control.