On the Maturation of Immigration Detention: Theoretical Approaches and Evidence

The detention of irregular migrants and asylum seekers has become a prominent feature of both national and international efforts to "manage" global migration. An important aspect of this phenomenon is the emergence of new institutions devoted to migrant detention, which can be observed for example in the gradual shift in countries across the globe from using prisons or other "off-the shelf" facilities to dedicated immigration detention centers. This maturation of immigration detention regimes has important implications, not least of which is the fact that it appears to have occurred at the same time that the number of migrant detainees has increased. Is there a correlation between the institutionalization of detention regimes and the increasing reliance of this method of migration control? Using data on detention regimes from the member states of the Council of Europe, where human rights norms appear to have had an important impact on how detention practices have evolved in recent years, this paper seeks to address this question through differing theoretical approaches to state behavior. For example, has pressure from human rights actors been a key driving force for the institutionalization of detention? If, so what implications might this have for how rights actors view the long-term consequences of certain liberal norms? On the other hand, does a Weberian model of institution-building provide a better explanatory framework for how detention regimes have evolved? Do theories of policy diffusion shed light on the spreading of these practices across the European region and beyond? Or, is growth in detention institutions more the result of increasing private-sector involvement in state functions, including incarceration? Ultimately, the paper seeks to provide some initial guideposts for investigating immigration detention institutions while making clear the broader implications of this phenomenon.