The Aliens Act 1905 and the Immigration Dilemma

This article considers the political context, legal framework, and administrative structures of the Aliens Act 1905. It points out the contradictions and inconsistencies of the Act and argues that these represent a wider ambivalence about the merits of control and a conflict between exclusionary and inclusive impulses. These inconsistencies, rather than undermining the Act, permitted the Act to fulfil a number of conflicting unofficial purposes. The article argues that this ambivalence persists and governments continue to seek to satisfy all sides leading to apparently incoherent legal formulations which nonetheless provide for fragile compromises.