Migration as an International and Domestic Security Issue

Abstract

In the aftermath of the events of 11 September 2001 immigration related to Islam has been discussed as a security issue. It has been linked with terrorism and entry controls at the borders, at airports, and in the streets were tightened. But in the past both in the United States and in many European countries (e.g. in Germany, France and the United Kingdom) most terrorists have hardly been related with this specific security issue, because most of them were tourists or students with a legal residence status, and they were only marginally connected with immigration. If immigration policy cannot prevent terrorism because it aims to facilitate the entry of desired foreigners and to deter the entry of unwanted ones (illegal with few networks, asylum seekers with few chances to obtain a refugee status and poor people who can only offer their manual labour). Immigration policy may also intensify the controls in close international cooperation. However, economic interests may conflict with security issues. Thus most security concerns related to immigration are confined to the local level, while immigration policies are implemented at the national level and focus on illegal border crossing, thus stretching security in another respect (Heisler 1998– 1999).