The Limits of Law: An Analysis of Immigration Law Implementation in Italy and Spain

本项目考察了意大利和西班牙最近通过的移民法的实施情况，其中包括广泛的合法化计划和更多的移民获得社会服务的机会。这些法律似乎与先前的研究所观察到的移民工人被边缘化所带来的经济利益不一致。几个假设将被检验。首先，尽管政策有所改变，但预计这些法律对非法移民的人数或他们获得社会服务的机会几乎没有实质性影响。其次，假设西班牙和意大利的结果将趋同。第三，预计这些法律的有限影响主要是经济结构力量的结果，而不是政治力量的结果。该项目将利用广泛的数据来源，包括政府文件、二手资料和访谈。这个项目将有几个理论贡献。最值得注意的是，它将有助于法律影响文献，其重点是法律影响真正的社会变革的能力；关于移民法和政策的文献，因为它与移民法未能实现其既定目标有关；以及关于法律象征方面的文献。在最广泛的层面上，该项目将加强我们对经济和政治变量在执行移民法中的相对重要性的理解，并通过外推，更广泛地了解法律变革。

This project examines the implementation of immigration laws recently passed in Italy and Spain that include expansive legalization programs and greater access for immigrants to social services. These laws seem inconsistent with the economic benefits that previous studies have observed from the marginalization of immigrant workers. Several hypotheses will be tested. First, it is expected that these laws, despite the change in policy, will have little substantial impact on the numbers of illegal immigrants or their access to social services. Second, it is hypothesized that there will be a convergence of outcomes in Spain and Italy. Third, it is anticipated that the limited impacts of these laws will be primarily the consequence of economic-structural, not political, forces. The project will draw from a wide range of data sources, including government documents, secondary sources, and interviews. This project will make several theoretical contributions. Most notably, it will contribute to the legal impact literature, which focuses on the ability of law to affect real social change; the literature on immigration law and policy as it relates to the failure of immigration law to achieve its stated objectives; and the literature addressing the symbolic aspects of law. At the broadest level, the project will enhance our understanding of the relative importance of economic and political variables in the implementation of immigration law and, by extrapolation, legal change more generally.