Reconsidering the history of eugenics and discrimination in migration control.

This article examines the historical development of modern migration control systems, focusing on the British Empire’s settler colonies in the 19th and early 20th centuries, and argues that these systems were fundamentally shaped by eugenic and proto-eugenic principles. It highlights how migration laws and bureaucracies were designed to regulate the movement of migrants based on intersecting categories such as race, gender, disability, health, and economic status, often employing vague legal language that granted border officials broad discretionary powers to include or exclude individuals. The article emphasizes the importance of understanding the complex, intersectional, and often inconsistent practices of discrimination embedded within these colonial-era migration controls, which continue to influence contemporary border regimes globally. It calls for more interdisciplinary and archival research to deepen knowledge of the origins and legacies of migration control, moving beyond dominant narratives centered solely on race or specific national contexts.