The public and the politics of immigration controls

The issue of immigration has become a major topic of discussion and policy activity in liberal democratic states in the twenty-first century. In the policy discourse, the media discussion and the academic literature there are two key assumptions which typically underpin thinking on the topic: first that a majority of the public are in favour of more restrictions on immigration and second, that public pressure pushes policy on immigration controls in a restrictive direction. This collection aims to open up discussion on these assumptions. This introductory contribution introduces the topic of the public and the politics of immigration controls and briefly outlines some of the key points from the articles in the collection. We conclude by suggesting four key questions that future research on the public the politics of immigration controls should engage with.