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Why Liberal States Accept Unwanted ImmigrationAuthor(s): Christian JoppkeSource:

World Politics,

Vol. 50, No. 2 (Jan., 1998), pp. 266-293Published by: The Johns Hopkins University PressStable URL:

http://www.jstor.org/stable/25054038

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WHYLIBERALSTATESACCEPTUNWANTEDIMMIGRATION

ByCHRISTIANJOPPKE*ONEof themorepopularwatchwords ofourtimeisthat thena

tion-stateis indecline?"toobig"tosolveregional problems,"toosmall"tosolveglobal problems,asthetopographical metaphorgoes.Arelatedargumentisoften maderegardinganincreasingincapacityofstates tocontrolimmigration."Strangersatthegate"wasthealarmist

cryheardinthewakeof1989and all that. TheEconomist(March15,1991)showedaramshackle borderguardhousebeingoverrunbyagiantbusburstingwith allsortsofforeign-looking(andstrangely

cheerful)characters.Suchhyperbolehassincedisappeared,partiallyasaresultoftightenedproceduresforasylumacrossWesternstates.Butthere stillseemstobeagapbetweenarestrictionistcontrol rhetoricandanexpansionistimmigrationreality.Aninfluentialcomparativevolumeonimmigrationcontrolargues:"[T]hegapbetweenthegoalsofnationalimmigrationpolicy. . .andthe actual resultsofpoliciesinthis

area(policyoutcomes)isgrowingwiderinallmajorindustrialized

democracies."1Whydo thedevelopedstatesof the North Adanticregionacceptmoreimmigrantsthantheirgenerallyrestrictionistrhetoric

andpoliciesintend?

Thephenomenonof unwantedimmigrationreflectsthegapbetweenrestrictionistpolicygoalsandexpansionistoutcomes.Unwantedimmigrationisnotactivelysolicitedbystates,asin thelegalquotaimmigrationofthe classicsettlernations.Rather,it isacceptedpassivelybystates,eitherfor humanitarianreasonsandinrecognitionofindividualrights,asinasylum-seekingandfamilyreunification oflabormigrants,orbecauseof the states'sheerincapacitytokeepmigrantsout,asinil

legal immigration.Thegaphypothesiscanthus be reformulatedasthequestion,Whydoliberalstatesacceptunwantedimmigration?2

*This articlewasfirstpresentedatthe conference"EffectsofPolicyonMigrationPatternsand theIntegrationofImmigrants,"HumboldtUniversityofBerlin,November1-2,1996.MythankstoRainerM?nzfortheinvitation.1WayneCornelius,PhilipMartin,andJamesHollifield,eds.,Controlling Immigration(Stanford,Calif.: StanfordUniversityPress, 1994),3.2Whilefrequentlyusedin theliterature?see,forexample,GaryFreeman,"CanLiberal StatesControlUnwantedMigration?"AnnalsoftheAmericanAcademyofPoliticaland Social Science534

WorldPolitics50(January1998),266-93

LIBERALSTATES& UNWANTED IMMIGRATION267

Thatstatesacceptunwantedimmigrationcontradictsoneoftheircoreprerogatives:thesovereigntyoverthe admissionandexpulsionofaliens.AsHannahArendtwrotewithaneyetoitstotalitarian aberrations,"Sovereigntyisnowheremoreabsolutethaninmattersofemigration,naturalization,nationality,andexpulsion."3Doestheac

ceptanceofunwantedimmigrationindicateadeclineofsovereignty?A

quick"yes,"asinDavidJacobson'sRightsacrossBorders^ispremisedon

asimplisticandstatic notion ofsovereignty,thusdenyingits historical

variabilityandchronicimperfection.4Toanswerthequestion fully,twothingsshouldbeconsidered.First,it isimportanttodistinguishbetweentwoseparate aspectsofsovereignty,formalrule-makingauthorityand theempiricalcapacitytoimplementrules. The formerbelongstointernational relationstheory,in

whichsovereigntyisthedefiningcharacteristicofindividualstatesas

theunitsofthe internationalstatesystem;5thelatter falls within the

domain ofpoliticaland historicalsociology,whichhaspreferredthe

notionsofstatestrength, capacity,orautonomytoinvestigatethehistoricallyvaryingembodiments of the modern state.6GaryFreeman has

demonstrated thatinbothaspectsthereislittle evidence foradecline

ofsovereigntyregardingimmigrationcontrol:7 the decisiontoacceptorrejectaliens hasnotbeenrelegatedtoactorsotherthan thestate,andthe infrastructuralcapacityofmodernstateshasnotdecreased,butincreased,overtime.Second,whetherseen asjudicialauthorityorempiricalcapacity, sovereigntyhasrarelybeenasabsoluteasconveyed byArendtscharacterization.Internationally,theexigenciesofstateinterdependencehavealwaysputthe brakesonerraticexpulsionor nonadmittancepracticesbecausehostilityagainstanalienmightbe

(1994),17-30; Cornelius,Martin,andHollifield(fh.1),5?thenotionof"unwanted"immigrationmaybe criticizedonanalyticaland normativegrounds. Analytically,itreifiesstatesascollectiveindividualswithclear-cutpreferences.Normatively,itendowsapoliticalrightingtermwith academicrespectability.Againstsuchobjections,Iwishtopointoutthat"unwanted"isusedhereinapurelydescriptivesense,denoting immigrationthatoccursdespiteandagainst explicitstatepolicies.QualifyingillegalimmigrationintheUnitedStates,the firstcasediscussedhere,as"unwanted"requiresnofurther elaboration.FamilyimmigrationinEurope,thesecondcase,isrendered "unwanted"byuniformzero-immigrationpoliciessince theearly1970s.3HannahArendt,TheOrigins ofTotalitarianism(SanDiego:Harcourt BraceJovanovich,1973),278.4DavidJacobson,RightsacrossBorders(Baltimore:JohnsHopkinsUniversityPress, 1996).SeeStephenKrasner,"WestphaliaandAllThat,"inJudithGoldstein and RobertKeohane, eds.,Ideas andForeign Policy(Ithaca,N.Y.:CornellUniversityPress, 1993).5SeeJaniceThomson,"StateSovereigntyinInternationalRelations,"International StudiesQuar

terly39(1995),213-33.

6SeePeterEvans,DietrichRueschemeyer,and ThedaSkocpol,eds.,BringingtheState Back In(NewYork:CambridgeUniversityPress,1985).7GaryFreeman,"TheDeclineofSovereignty?"inChristianJoppke,ChallengetotheNation-State:ImmigrationinWesternEuropeandtheUnited States(NewYork:OxfordUniversityPress,1998).