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It is commonly argued that immigration policies in advanced democracies are consistently more liberal than the restrictionist preferences of publics. This study challenges this view by examining the opinion–policy relationship at the stage of policy implementation, rather than legislative choice. Bureaucrats, in fact, regularly encounter local publics who are opposed to the strict enforcement of migration control measures. These pressures, it is argued, reflect a shift in public attention between the stages of policy design and policy implementation, from the benefits of restriction to the harsh costs of control. As implementation makes these costs visible, public opinion threatens the capacity of bureaucrats to implement restrictionist legislative mandates. This essay specifies the conditions under which bureaucrats' enforcement strategies can enhance their capacity to produce policy outcomes that are more restrictionist than public preferences. Drawing on extensive interview data, the study empirically tests this argument by examining the implementation of deportation policy in Germany.
Notes
1. With the exception of Gibney and Hansen (Citation2003).
2. Notable exceptions are Barrios (Citation1999), Calavita (Citation1992), Gilboy (Citation1992), Nevins (Citation2002), and van der Leun (Citation2003).
3. The gap between the number of deportable immigrants and the number of actual deportations.
4. Ng Fung Ho v. White, 259 U.S. 276 (1922).
5. Deportation officer ‘A’, regional authority, Karlsruhe (Baden-Württemberg), 25 January 2002.
6. Senior civil servant, ministry of the interior of Baden-Württemberg, Stuttgart, 7 January 2002.
7. Director, county immigration authority, Beeskow (Brandenburg), 2 November 2001.
8. Deportation officer ‘D’, local authority (Brandenburg), 19 November 2001.
9. Deportation officer, municipal authority, Luckenwalde (Brandenburg), 22 November 2001.
10. Director, central immigration authority, Eisenhüttenstadt (Brandenburg), 24 September 2001.
11. Senior civil servant, federal ministry of the interior, Berlin, 13 November 2001.
12. Senior federal border patrol officer, regional federal border police office, 4 October 2001.
13. Deportation officer, regional authority, Reutlingen (Baden-Württemberg), 23 January 2002.
14. For a more detailed and comparative investigation of this argument, see Ellermann (Citation2006).
15. Deportation officer ‘A’, regional authority, Karlsruhe (Baden-Württemberg), 25 January 2002.
16. Deportation officer, municipal authority, Brandenburg a.d. Havel (Brandenburg), 21 November 2001.
17. Lutheran refugee chaplain, Potsdam (Brandenburg), 12 December 2001.
18. Deportation officer ‘A’, regional authority, Karlsruhe (Baden-Württemberg), 25 January 2002.
19. Lutheran refugee chaplain, Stuttgart (Baden-Württemberg), 18 February 2002.
20. Former deputy to the Federal Commissioner for Bosnian Refugees, Stuttgart (Baden-Württemberg), 28 January 2002.
21. Former civil servant in Baden-Württemberg's Bosnia refugee repatriation unit, ministry of the interior, Stuttgart, 11 January 2002.