The Ambiguities Surrounding “Migratory Status” in Integration Processes

Abstract

The current trend in the European Union and at national level debates – reflected in the political and cultural spheres in multicultural cities – is to demonize, criminalize and politicize “illegal” migration. Considering the limited precision of statistical numbers on immigration there is no objective estimate of their number and political speeches often tend to project exaggerated figures. There is a misrepresentation concerning the consequences of undocumented migration on reception societies manifested in arguments such as their economic effects on social services, or the danger of their presence for public order and national security. Nonetheless, territorial transgressions in the form of undocumented migration have intensified in the last decades, creating a new political cleavage that compels the States to determine its priorities along the citizen/non-citizen division. In this chapter, the impact and the complexities of immigration status on the possibilities and limitations of integration will be evaluated. Empirical comparisons and views based on observations of this phenomenon in the Latin American population in Amsterdam, London and Madrid will be presented.