ABSTRACT
Th e involvement of for-profi t private entities in the construction of noncitizenship (either voluntarily or not) has implications for relationships between noncitizens and States and for the legitimacy of the way those relationships are constructed. Th e private migration sector is playing an increasing role in migration control, in terms of both enacting and developing policy. Private actors may act as a buff er between a State and a noncitizen, constructing the ways in which the individual may come into contact with the State, or even whether they may do so. Once an individual is within a State, private actors are involved in constructing what their noncitizenship means on that territory. Private entities are then also involved in removing so-constructed noncitizens from the State in question. Privatisation processes throughout this system may occur directly or indirectly, explicitly or implicitly. Th is contributes to a commodifi cation of the construction of noncitizenship, which in turn emphasises economic considerations, illegality, security and risk. While the legitimacy of migration control itself should not be taken as given (for useful discussion see e.g. Cole
