(Cr)Immigration and Merit-Based Migration in Singapore: The Permanent “State of Exception”

“Merit-based immigration systems” in Australia or Canada are rapidly becoming models for immigration today. But how does the “merit-based” migration system in a Global South nation like Singapore differ? And how does the rise of such systems elsewhere affect the migration experience? Drawing from examples from Singapore, this paper will explore how merit-based migration creates tiers of migration, exacerbating inequality and negatively affecting the rights of migrants. Focusing on one segment of the workforce, this chapter will explore Singaporean policies towards temporary migrant construction workers. It will discuss how historical patterns of migration, combined with a highly stratified merit-based immigration system, enhances stereotypes along the lines of race and class. It will argue that stereotyping can also lead to the over-regulation and inadvertent criminalization of such migrants. Drawing on the (cr)immigration framework, this chapter will argue that “merit-based” migration has the potential to dehumanize the migration process, create categories of people on the basis of “utility,” and discriminate/criminalize such individuals along lines of historical bias, which in this case, will be race.