ABSTRACT
This chapter concerns two topics. The first one is the selective treatment of irregular immigration by receiving societies. The second one is the easier transition to a legal status of a part of irregular migrants. The large participation of employers in amnesties confounds stereotypes of the relationship between the economies of the receiving countries and irregular immigrant workers. The chapter discusses how some immigrants are labelled as illegal and thus stigmatized, while other immigrants, even if they live in the receiving society without the necessary authorization, are neither perceived nor treated as 'illegal'. It also discusses the passage to a legal status, in particular through regularization processes. The chapter focuses on actors that enable immigrants' survival and progression, and in particular on the intermediaries between the receiving societies and irregular immigrants. It shows how the fight against illegal immigration proclaimed by governments is counteracted by diverse interests and social representations of the phenomenon that tend to redefine it selectively.
