@article {793,
	title = {The Forced Returns of Polish Citizens: Cross-Border Transfers on the Polish{\textendash}German Border in the Context of the Discretionary Powers of the Border Guards},
	journal = {Central and Eastern European Migration Review},
	volume = {10},
	year = {2021},
	pages = {119-142},
	chapter = {119},
	abstract = {<p>The Schengen area tends to be commonly misconstrued in the public perception as being \&lsquo;border-free\&rsquo;, defined by the unrestrained mobility of people, goods and capital. In reality the so-called \&lsquo;internal borders\&rsquo; are still marked by a fervour of activities, conducted by the various national state agencies created for the purpose of territorial protection. Identity and migration checks \&ndash; which often strikingly resemble pre-Schengen border checks \&ndash; special crime-prevention tasks and transnational operations of police-type forces, detention and the unrelenting transfers of asylum-seekers and forced returns of illegalised migrants (also of EU nationals) are only a few among the many responsibilities of the various border-guard formations. This paper, based on data from fieldwork with the street-level Polish Border Guards working in the Intra-Schengen border region on the Polish\&ndash;German border, analyses the impact of different levels of institutional discretion: official, local and individual, with a particular focus on the officers\&rsquo; behaviour and decision-making and on the role of discretion within the policy implementation of a specific procedure. Analysing the phenomenon of the forced returns (deportations) of EU nationals within the Schengen area, this paper exposes the nature of the little-known practice of cross-border transfers. It focuses on the phenomenon of a forced return of Polish citizens from Germany, specifically on the micro-level moment of transfer of custody between the German Federal Police (Bundespolizei) into the hands of the Polish Border Guards (Stra{\.z} Graniczna) on the Polish\&ndash;German border, looking at the procedural variations and the decision-making of the officers, especially in the context of its street-level echelon and its practical contribution to the concept of deportability.</p><p>\&nbsp;</p>},
	keywords = {Border Guard, cross-border transfers, decision-making, deportability, deportation, discretion, forced returns, Germany, intra-Schengen, Poland, removal of EU nationals},
	issn = {2300-1682},
	doi = {10.17467/ceemr.2021.03},
	author = {Klajn, Maryla}
}
