Questions over immigration and asylum face almost all Western countries. Should numbers be limited? Should only economically useful immigrants be allowed? What should be done with unwanted or ‘illegal’ immigrants? In this bold and original intervention, Alexandra Hall shows that immigration detention centres offer a window onto society’s broader attitudes towards, and treatment of, immigrants. Despite this, remarkably little has been written about the everyday workings of the grassroots immigration system.This book fills the gap admirably, analysing the everyday encounters between officers and immigrants in order to explore broad social trends and theoretical concerns.