Both Imperial Citizens and Immigrants

Contemporary imaginaries of immigration control depict a clear division between citizens with territorial rights and immigrants without them. However, such categories are incomplete, often reinvented for political aims. This chapter examines UK policies on ‘Commonwealth immigrants’ in the 1960s–70s, who were viewed both as citizens and immigrants. It traces the UK’s struggle to distinguish between these categories, creating a type of ‘citizen’ increasingly subject to exclusion post-decolonisation. Despite legal changes, the dichotomy remained blurred, reflecting the British state’s difficulty in aligning policy with the image of rights-lacking immigrants.’ This historical inquiry, drawing on archival documents, challenges current understandings of citizenship and migration control, illustrating the persistent complexities in liberal states’ efforts to define who belongs.