For Whom the Law Tolls? On Legal and Socio-political Exclusion of Undocumented Immigrants

The author examines the reasons for the undocumented immigrants’ vulnerability in their host countries. He claims that the main reason for this is the illegality of their residence on the territory of a particular country. The latter assumes the role of an all-determining legal status which, among other, exposes the undocumented immigrants to a high degree of arbitrariness in their contacts with host country frontline legal officials. Moreover, the social environment into which they come is often saturated with false claims about their intentions, deliberate perpetuation of negative stereotypes and widespread fearmongering against foreigners. Thus, the author argues that arbitrariness as a mechanism of legal exclusion of undocumented immigrants is often complemented and reinforced by mechanisms of their socio-political exclusion. The paper examines the characteristics of these exclusionary mechanisms and demonstrates how they complement one another. In pursuit of this goal, the author combines a legal-philosophical analysis of the relevant legal phenomena with a sociological and political science analysis of the language practices which form in reference to undocumented immigrants. Finally, in the second part of the article, he tests the theses and the methodological approach from the first part on the case of the Erased in Slovenia. He concludes by arguing that the exclusion of undocumented immigrants is a complex legal and socio-political phenomenon.

Keywords: undocumented immigrants, arbitrariness, legal exclusion, social exclusion, othering.