Deconstructing the myth of the need for immigration detention

Immigration detention is broadly used by many countries around the world as a tool for so-called migration governance and as a deterrence measure against migrants, people seeking asylum, and other people on the move that are in another country's territory. Immigration detention is also used as a mechanism to criminalize migrants alongside other measures such as deportations, externalization of borders, and pushbacks. This technique, which is contrary to human rights obligations toward migrant and refugee children's rights and should not be used for people seeking asylum or for other vulnerable migrants, results in countless women, men, and children being detained often indefinitely and with little safeguards. Instead, consistent with advocacy by groups such as the International Detention Coalition, immigration detention should cease to be used as a practice at all. Many migrants and people seeking asylum are from the Global South adding another dimension to immigration detention which is its racialized nature. This chapter outlines the system of immigration detention and draws attention to the conditions and challenges faced by people who are affected by immigration detention or at risk of detention globally. Using the example of Australia it highlights the racist nature of the treatment of undocumented migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees in detention and queries whether a critical Whiteness lens can be useful in dismantling the immigration detention regime.