Growing restrictiveness or changing selection? The nature and evolution of migration policies

This paper demonstrates that, since 1945, migration policies have overall
become less restrictive. Challenging common assumptions, this longterm
trend is robust across most of the 45 countries included in the
DEMIG POLICY database. While the period after 1989 is characterized
by a slowing down of the rapid post-WWII liberalization of migration
policies, liberal policy changes have continued to outnumber restrictive
policy changes until today. Yet policy developments differ across policy
types and migrant categories: Entry and integration policies have
become less restrictive, while border control and exit policies have
become more restrictive. Also, while policies towards irregular migrants
and family migrants have been tightened in recent years, less restrictive
changes have dominated policies targeting high- and low-skilled workers,
students, and refugees. The essence of modern migration policies is
thus not their growing restriction, but their focus on migrant selection.