Looking for Loopholes : Processes of Incorporation of Illegal Immigrants in the Netherlands

Looking for Loopholes is a detailed account of how illegal immigrants manage to integrate into Dutch society. Drawing on long-term research in the four largest cities in the Netherlands, van der Leun discusses illegal immigration's relationships with illegal employment and criminal involvement, as well as aspects of education, housing, health care and police surveillance. Throughout, she combines the perspectives of immigrants with that of those who implement policies to discourage them, revealing growing tensions between restrictive rules and day-to-day reality. Contents......Page 6 Acknowledgements......Page 8 1.1 Setting of the scene......Page 10 1.2 Immigration to the Netherlands......Page 13 1.3 Definitions of illegality......Page 19 1.4 Theories on migration and in corporation......Page 21 1.5 The labour market dimension......Page 26 1.6 The policy dimension......Page 28 1.7 Research questions......Page 31 1.8 Methods and sources......Page 33 2.1 Introduction: informalisation......Page 36 2.2 State regulation and opportunities......Page 38 2.3 Employment of illegal immigrants in Rotterdam......Page 42 2.4 Making a living and moving up the ladder......Page 53 2.5 Conclusions......Page 56 3.1 Crime......Page 60 3.2 The illegality - criminality nexus......Page 61 3.3 Differential opportunity structures......Page 64 3.4 Data and definitions......Page 65 3.5 Apprehensions of illegal immigrants......Page 68 3.6 North African immigrants in the drug economy......Page 77 3.7 Conclusions......Page 82 4.1 Internal surveillance......Page 86 4.2 Police officers as street-level bureaucrats......Page 88 4.3 The organisational context......Page 93 4.4 Appre hension practices......Page 95 4.5 Expulsion practices......Page 105 4.6 Conclusions......Page 112 5.1 Illegal immigrants and welfare state provisions......Page 116 5.2 Close encounters with the welfare state......Page 117 5.3 Human Service Organisations......Page 120 5.4 The introduction of the Linking Act......Page 124 5.5 Practices prior to the Linking Act......Page 128 5.6 After the Linking Act: old and new dilemmas......Page 132 5.7 Conclusions......Page 151 6.1 Incorporation and implementation......Page 156 6.2 Legal limits to incorporation......Page 159 6.3 Social limits to internal control......Page 166 6.4 Policy implications and policy options......Page 176 1. Interviews with illegal immigrants in Rotterdam......Page 182 2. Police files......Page 187 3. Interviews with police officers......Page 189 4. Interviews in other sectors......Page 191 Notes......Page 194 References......Page 208 Newspaper articles......Page 227 Index of names......Page 228 Looking for Loopholes, Processes of incorporation of illegal immigrants in the Netherlands offers a detailed account of how illegal immigrants, who are legally excluded, manage to incorporate into Dutch society. By combining the perspectives of immigrants on the one hand and of those who have to implement the 'discouragement policy' on the other hand, the study shows how tensions between restrictive rules and day-to-day practices are growing. Based on long-term research in the four largest cities in the Netherlands, attention is paid to the role of informal employment and criminal involvement and to practices in the fields of education, housing, health-care and police surveillance. Illegale immigranten, afgewezen voor een verblijfsvergunning, lukt het om te integreren in de Nederlandse maatschappij. Looking for Loopholes geeft een gedetailleerde beschrijving van de manier waarop dat gebeurt. Het perspectief van de immigranten wordt gecombineerd met dat van diegenen die het 'ontmoedigingsbeleid' moeten invoeren. Hierdoor laat het onderzoek duidelijk zien hoe de spanningen tussen restrictieve regels en de praktijk van alledag toenemen. De studie, gebaseerd op langetermijnonderzoek in de vier grootste steden van Nederland, besteedt zowel aandacht aan de rol van 'zwart werken' en betrokkenheid bij criminele activiteiten als aan de gang van zaken op het gebied van onderwijs, huisvesting, gezondheidszorg en politietoezicht. "Een belangwekkende studie over het vraagstuk van illegaliteit en de problematiek van de beleidsuitvoering" Openbaar Bestuur, 2004 Abstract: 'Looking for loopholes: processes of incorporation of illegal immigrants in the Netherlands' offers a detailed account of how illegal immigrants, who are legally excluded, manage to incorporate into Dutch society. By combining the perspectives of immigrants on the one hand and of those who have to implement the 'discouragement policy' on the other hand, the study shows how tensions between restrictive rules and day-to-day practices are growing. Based on long-term research in the four largest cities in the Netherlands, attention is paid to the role of informal employment and criminal involvement and to practices in the fields of education, housing, health-care and police surveillance