Arguments Against Securitization

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Evaluate critically the arguments for and against the ‘securitisation’ of immigration policy.
With current discussions concerning, what has been labelled as the “immigration problem” in the West, the issue of security and policies regarding border control have taken centre stage in international security. Focusing, mainly on the Europe Union and the United States, immigration has always been a factor of concern with people moving to and from states for various reasons. However, fear of foreigners has seen an escalation more recently from the 1990s with the 9/11 attacks in the US to todays current crisis’s. (SOURCE) Recent political events such as the Trump precedency and the rise of far right political parties in Europe, highlight the prominence
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(SOURCE) Meaning, certain events take place to make immigration a security concern both military and political. This transformation is highlighted in the immigration policy agenda shift of the EU and United States. In 1999, the the European summit on Justice and Home Affairs was committed to creating a policy that benefited all parties and set a tone for a fair treatment of asylum-seekers whilst tackling illegal immigrants and trafficking through relationships with foreign states. (SOURCE) However, although security of immigration and borders has always been top priority to the EU, it was not until after the September 11th 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States that extreme measures were taken and put into practice. At their December 2001 summit in Laeken, EU leaders linked the fight against terrorism with illegal immigration and sought to reinforce border controls by enacting a stricter visa policy. (SOURCE) Identifying securitization is of great importance in understanding the implications it has on immigrants and borders, as it illustrates the political drive behind the notion presenting it as a threat to the state, neglecting the humanitarian …show more content…
(SOURCE) Multiple events which have taken place recently, in Germany and France, (SOURCE) illustrate the criminality of some migrants against native born. Migration scholars have argued that migration and security are connected for this reason as immigrants are considered to be more violent then the locals. (SOURCE) Thus, this adheres to the argument for the extreme securitization of immigration as a high level of migrant violence is met with extreme levels of security. Though, there are countless examples of violent migrants, it is not the case for every migrant in every country. In the case of France, the extreme security precautions sometimes trigger the violence (SOURCE) in immigrants as it may not be the case is another state with relaxed immigration