Des intermédiaires professionnels ? Le travail associatif d’assistance aux étrangers face aux politiques d’immigration

Abstract

Since the 1980s, non-profit actors have played a key role in the enforcement of immigration policies through their participation in the various stage of migrants’ resident permit application. The article looks at how the participation to public action affects the nature of non-profit actors’ work and how they take on their role of professional intermediaries between foreigners and state institutions. The analysis draws from a case study on a local group of legal intermediaries within the cause of migrants in the south of France. It shows that while immigration policies constrain non-profit actors in their daily work, few reconsider their commitment and question the legitimacy of their activity. Drawing on the apparent contradiction, the article highlight the specific ethos of these intermediaries.

Keywords

• legal intermediaries
• migrants
• non-profit organizations
• professionalization
• juridicization