Demographic Projections and Migration Governance: How Law Shapes the Perception of “Too Many”

Abstract Most European political debates about migration build on the narrative that there are “too many migrants,” despite restrictive migration governance for many years. The aims of deterrence and restriction are hardly questioned; images of packed boats and crowded camps fuel the idea that Europe is being “overrun.” The article critically examines how these perceptions of superfluity are situated in wider fears of demographic developments and what role the law plays in shaping those perceptions. Firstly, the strict regulation of mobility and the exclusion of emigration as a reaction to regional population growth is a relatively new and contingent idea, contrasting Europe’s own history of growth and emigration. Secondly, the legal regulation of migration significantly contributes to the impression of excess: it leads to the concentration of migrants on certain routes and in certain places; it creates redundancies through the transfers of migrants and inflates the perception of migrants as a burden. Ultimately, the paradigm of deterrence is increasingly at odds with demographic needs in Europe. The analysis applies the concept of the “internalization of borders.” On the level of demographic projections, borders are internalized in the assumption that people should remain in the place where they were born. And the political debates about migration reinforce the internalization of borders in blaming social problems on the influx of strangers. European societies economically and socially depend on immigration but cling to the narrative of “too many migrants” to justify ever more violent border regimes.