This chapter introduces some of the policy issues which shape immigration law. It discusses migration policy in a global context; the institutional basis of immigration control; electronic borders; current drivers of UK policy, including security and economic migration; control within the borders, including the hostile environment policy; treatment of asylum seekers; the refugee crisis; and the role of the media. The chapter touches on the scrutiny of immigration functions by the Parliamentary Home Affairs Select Committee and the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration. There is a short discussion of the ambivalence of UK immigration policy towards economic migration.
