Rejected asylum seekers often do not return to their countries of origin and face precarious living conditions in destination countries. Taking Germany as a strategic case, we investigate whether labor-related regularization, or "laborization," may serve as a solution for such migrants. We analyze the factors determining access to such regularization and how labor-related regularization relates to migrants' needs and aspirations. Based on extensive desk research and interviews with stakeholders, including (rejected) asylum seekers in Stuttgart, we find that laborization provides resourceful and "deserving" individuals with valuable opportunities to realize their aspirations, but it is insufficient to fully address non-deportability. | INTRODUCTIONSince the mid-1990s, deportation of "irregular" migrants has become one of the highest political priorities in many European Union (EU) member states and in the United States (Lietaert, Broekaert, & Derluyn, 2015;Martinez & Ortega, 2019). 1 However, despite its political salience, the enforcement of returns remains limited because of several factors, including the unpopularity of deportation in local communities, constraints under international and human rights law, and bureaucratic obstacles such as the lack of identification documents (Ambrosini, 2016;Castañeda, 2010;Leerkes & Van Houte, 2020). Looking at the European Union context, Rosenberger and Küffner (2016) and Leerkes and Van Houte (2020) highlight the significant The authors would like to thank Kim Caarls, Maria Schiller, and Thomas Swerts as well as the anonymous reviewers for their insightful and constructive feedback on earlier versions of this article.

No abstract

No abstract