IMMIGRATION LAW

Immigration law

Section A : Immigration law

Immigration law refers to national government policies which control the phenomenon of immigration to their country. Immigration law, regarding foreign citizens, is related to nationality law, which governs the legal status of people, in matters such as citizenship. Immigration laws vary from country to country, as well as according to the political climate of the times, as sentiments may sway from the widely inclusive to the deeply exclusive of new immigrants. Immigration law regarding the citizens of a country is regulated by international law. The United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights mandates that all countries allow entry to its own citizens. Certain countries may maintain rather strict laws which regulate both the right of entry and internal rights, such as the duration of stay and the right to participate in government. Most countries have laws which designate a process for naturalization, by which immigrants may become citizens.

International migration is a fact of life for liberal states as people leave, enter or pass through them, but migratory phenomena in their many and various forms possess the potential to make a relatively sudden impact on public consciousness and to ascend swiftly the political agenda, as has been the case in Britain with asylum, people smuggling and human trafficking. This is because international migration and its analysis are necessarily about borders. The United Kingdom has seen more constitutional reform under the first New Labour government of Tony Blair than in the previous century. Power has been devolved away from Westminster to the Scottish Parliament, and to the assemblies of Wales and Northern Ireland. The Upper Chamber of the Westminster Parliament itself, the House of Lords, has seen major constitutional change, and Greater London is receiving a Mayor and a new assembly. As well as these internal issues there is also the position of the United Kingdom within Europe, with events beyond our borders having affect on our unwritten constitutional set-up. Further changes are in the offing, with the possible implementation of the Jenkins Proposals for the Westminster Parliament, and the growing calls for further assemblies in the United Kingdom.

Whilst all of these constitutional issues are worthy of discussion, several stand out as more important when discussing the "future of the state itself." As such, the issue of devolving power within Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and England will be looked at in depth. The recent history, the current situation and the possible future of all these aspects will be considered, and in conclusion I will attempt to draw some comparisons between the different problems, and take an overview of the situation.

They are about the relationships between forms of population mobility and their encounter with the territorial, organisational and conceptual borders of states. Territorial borders are those sites at which the sovereign capacity to include or exclude from the state territory are exercised. Organisational borders are those of institutions such as the labour market, welfare state and citizenship. Conceptual borders comprise more nebulous but no less ...