From the Inside Out: The Coercive Power of Deportation and the Erosion of the Liberal Democratic State.

This article focuses on the legal and political implications of deportation as a distinct exercise of state power within liberal democratic states. Deportation is defined as the forcible expulsion of non-citizens from a state's territory, involving coercion and force internally, unlike immigration control which operates externally at borders. The practice creates "pockets of exception" inside states where deportees, though subject to state laws, are excluded from the full protections of legality and fundamental rights, revealing a justificatory deficit in liberal democratic governance. The article argues that deportation’s internal coercion demands a higher standard of legal justification than immigration, emphasizing the need for a robust "culture of justification" grounded in legality, proportionality, and respect for human rights. It concludes that the normalization of deportation erodes the integrity of liberal democratic states by undermining their commitment to equal legal protection within their territories.