What makes someone an ‘illegal immigrant’?

After months of negotiations and some controversy, a Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration was agreed by 164 countries in early December.

• Tendayi Bloom
• The Conversation

In the final text of this agreement and in the process that led up to it, distinguishing between “legal” or “regular” and “illegal” or “irregular” migration was presented as central to a…

But what does it mean for a state to identify somebody as an “illegal immigrant” – or even as an “immigrant” at all?

There are a variety of commonly understood reasons why people are identified as “illegal immigrants”.

A person may cross a…

• What makes someone an…