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39 Comp. Lab. L. & Pol'y J. 165 (2017-2018)
Back Door, Side Door, or Front Door: An Emerging De-Factor Low-Skilled Immigration Policy in Australia

handle is hein.journals/cllpj39 and id is 177 raw text is: BACK DOOR, SIDE DOOR, OR FRONT DOOR? AN EMERGING DE-FACTO LOW-SKILLED IMMIGRATION POLICY IN AUSTRALIA Chris F. Wrightt and Stephen Clibborntt I. INTRODUCTION Official routes of immigration can be conceptualized as small doors that permit entry selectively to certain categories of migrants deemed desirable. These small doors are situated within a much bigger protective wall of immigration control erected to deny entry to many other would-be migrants who fall outside of the selection criteria.' Similar to many developed nations, Australian immigration policy has maintained the pretense of channeling entrants through the front door of highly regulated mechanisms of selection and control. While this has been most visible in relation to humanitarian and family migration, governments have utilized control signals by actively demonstrating their capacity to prioritize migrants on skilled visa categories who possess characteristics deemed to align with national interest economic imperatives. Since the mid-1990s, immigration selection policies have been reformed with the intention of prioritizing applicants in these wanted visa categories and making it more difficult for those would-be migrants that do not meet these criteria.2 In this context, to borrow a phrase from Andrew Geddes,3 the front doors of Australian immigration selection have become larger, but the protective wall of immigration control in which they are located has become more fortified. t The University of Sydney Business School, Australia, chris.f.wright@sydney.edu.au. tt The University of Sydney Business School, Australia, stephen.clibbom@sydney.eduau. We are grateful for the helpful feedback on earlier drafts of this article from Judy Fudge, participants at the 2016 Comparative and International Perspectives on Australian Labour Migration Workshop at the Melbourne Law School, and participants at the 2016 annual conferences of the Association of Industrial Relations Academics of Australia and New Zealand and the Australian Political Science Association. 1. Aristide R. Zolberg, The Next Waves: Migration Theory for a Changing World, 23 INT. MIGR. REV. 403 (1989). 2. Chris F. Wright, How do States Implement Liberal Immigration Policies? Control Signals and Skilled Immigration Reform in Australia, 27 GOVERNANCE 397 (2014). 3. ANDREw GEDDES, THE POLITICS OF MIGRATION AND IMMIGRATION IN EUROPE (2003). 165

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