Description
Points-based immigration regimes are often touted as an acceptable form of immigration control because they don’t actively discriminate between migrants on any criteria other than “skill”. This paper questions this premise by challenging what it means to be “skilled” and how one may become considered as “skilled” and the implicit discrimination contained therein. Against a background of global inequality, skills are not equally and neutrally distributed across populations, but instead track factors such as sex, (dis)ability, nationality, and class. We also highlight how points-based immigration regimes link migrant rights to their employment status and require them to use these “skills” to contribute to the economy. This requirement exposes them to further discrimination as a subclass of workers who are disciplined through the threat of deportation or destitution if they are unable to find work or are forced to leave their employment. This paper thus makes the case that points-based immigration regimes can often be more discriminatory compared to other regimes by simply replacing direct with indirect discrimination, thereby generating the appearance of fairness over a reality of marginalisation.
