Law and moral licensing in Canada: the making of illegality and illegitimacy along the border
by Shauna Labman; Jamie Chai Yun Liew
International Journal of Migration and Border Studies (IJMBS), Vol. 5, No. 3, 2019

Abstract: The thousands of migrants crossing the Canadian land border irregularly are challenging the nature of law and the role the law plays at and around, the border. Likewise, the thousands of refugees who enter Canada each year through resettlement are framed within the validity of their legal arrival across the border. The article addresses the perceived notion that there is a singularity of the law along the border that informs which migrant is 'legal' or 'illegal'. We examine the refugee system in Canada to illustrate the various layers that influence the normative discourse on refugee protection. We reveal a tension in rendering persons rhetorically legal or illegal not by whether a person is in need of protection but by the means through which persons seek that protection. This article seeks to understand how this tension is tied to and, buoyed by, moral licensing whereby application of the 'illegal' refugee concept, combined with the self-congratulation surrounding Canada's resettlement activities, act together to empower a moral comfort with slackened support for refugees seeking asylum.

Online publication date: Tue, 24-Sep-2019

The full text of this article is only available to individual subscribers or to users at subscribing institutions.

 
Existing subscribers:
Go to Inderscience Online Journals to access the Full Text of this article.

Pay per view:
If you are not a subscriber and you just want to read the full contents of this article, buy online access here.

Complimentary Subscribers, Editors or Members of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Migration and Border Studies (IJMBS):
Login with your Inderscience username and password:

Username:        Password:          Forgotten your password?

Want to subscribe?
A subscription gives you complete access to all articles in the current issue, as well as to all articles in the previous three years (where applicable). See our Orders page to subscribe.

If you still need assistance, please email subs@inderscience.com