Vulnerability, Immigration Detention and (Carceral) Reform

This article examines the British government’s recent concern around ‘vulnerable detainees’ and reforms to immigration detention, looking specifically at the evolving ‘adults at risk in immigration detention’ policy. It critically explores the notion of ‘vulnerability’ and the production of the ‘vulnerable detainee’ as a certain kind of carceral subject who is constituted as less deserving of detention. The article considers what the lessons learned from histories of carceral reform can offer the current immigration detention reform movement. By unpacking the notion of the ‘vulnerable detainee’, it encourages critical reflection on the potential limitations of reform efforts and how seemingly good intentions can be co-opted by the state to further solidify the power to deprive non-citizens of their liberty.