Contesting the Securitization of Migration: NGOs, IGOs, and the Security Backlash.

This article examines the complex and intertwined processes of securitization and desecuritization of migration, focusing on the case of Haitian migrants in the Dominican Republic as an example of South–South migration. It challenges the conventional view that securitization (framing migration as a security threat) and desecuritization (undoing that framing) are mutually exclusive, instead presenting them as part of an ongoing contestation involving state and non-state actors, particularly NGOs. The study highlights how non-state actors use rights-based advocacy and strategic litigation to contest securitized policies, yet these efforts can provoke a "security backlash" that intensifies securitization through legal reforms, delegitimization of contesting actors, and shifts in public opinion. Ultimately, the article argues that desecuritization should be understood as an iterative, contested process rather than a definitive outcome, emphasizing the resilience of securitization in institutionalized contexts and the limited but significant agency of non-state actors in shaping migration-security narratives beyond Western settings.