Pulling human rights back in? local authorities, international law and the reception of undocumented migrants

Bibliographic Data

ID14799882
AuthorsMoritz Baumgärtel (0000-0002-0760-8428, University College Roosevelt & Faculty of Law, Economics and Governance, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands, corresponding author), Barbara Oomen (0000-0003-4033-8746, University College Roosevelt & Faculty of Law, Economics and Governance, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands)
Year2019
Volume51
Issue2
Pages172-191
Publication date2019-05-04
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Journal of Legal Pluralism and Unofficial Law (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0732-9113 • E-ISSN: 2305-9931
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/07329113.2019.1624942
OpenAlexW2952494865
LanguageEN
Citations received17
References cited44

The category of the ‘irregular’ migrant is usually seen as the quintessential non-status under international law, offering states plenty of discretion while providing few practically accessible rights for migrants. At the same time, certain local authorities have struggled to justify more pragmatic responses when dealing with the reception of irregular immigrants. This article explores a recent trend that potentially holds the key to both conundrums: the invocation of international human rights law, in their defence, by local authorities. More specifically, their engagement of human rights can force international institutions to apply and develop norms in this area. Within this story of legal pluralism, nation states are under increasing pressure to live up to the standards that they had previously avoided. Two examples of ‘frontier cities’ operating in very different constitutional and discursive environments will be used to substantiate the argument. The first concerns support by the city of Utrecht of a case concerning emergency social assistance for undocumented migrants before the European Committee of Social Rights. The second example concerns San Francisco as a sanctuary city in the US and a place with a long history of localization of international human rights law. The article closes with a critical reflection on the potential trajectories that this trend might take and what this means for understandings of legal pluralism as well as future research

Argument (complex analysis · Comparative law · Discretion · Frontier · Human rights · Immigration · International human rights law · International law · Law and economics · Legal pluralism · Legal realism · Pluralism (philosophy · Political science · Sociology · Human Rights and Development · Immigration Law and Human Rights · Law · Migration, Refugees, and Integration

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