Due to the difficulties in accessing detention facilities, the discussion on immigration detention often draws on limited empirical data with varying degrees of attention paid to the heterogeneity of the detained population and their different stakes in an impending removal. Although a closed institution, various legal and administrative processes related to the enforcement of immigration decisions render immigration detention a relational field. Drawing on my fieldwork experiences while conducting multi-sited ethnographic research on the immigration detention system in Finland, I discuss how methodological choices, theoretical presuppositions and circumstantial factors affect the production of knowledge on immigration detention. I address the relevance of: 1) the case selection among detainees with considerably varying immigration histories, social situations and detention times; 2) a multi-sited research setting to conceive the various processes of immigration enforcement during detention; 3) an engaged research strategy to access detainees’ first-hand knowledge of their immigration cases beyond dramatic representations; and 4) the employment of administrative data in contextualising empirical findings. I argue for the importance of examining detainees’ negotiations with the deportation apparatus, which shapes available options for detainees as well as determines the outcome of detention from the ‘outside’, despite its absence in everyday life in detention.

中文翻译：

---

驱逐设备的缺席：移民拘留知识生产的方法论挑战

由于进入拘留设施的困难，关于移民拘留的讨论经常利用有限的经验数据，不同程度地关注被拘留人口的异质性以及他们在即将搬迁中的不同利害关系。虽然是一个封闭的机构，但与执行移民决定有关的各种法律和行政程序使移民拘留成为一个相关领域。在对芬兰移民拘留系统进行多地点人种学研究时，利用我的实地工作经验，我讨论了方法选择、理论预设和环境因素如何影响移民拘留知识的产生。我解决了以下相关性：1）在移民历史差异很大的被拘留者中进行案件选择，社会情况和拘留时间；2) 多地点研究环境，以构思拘留期间移民执法的各种程序；3) 一种参与式研究策略，以获取被拘留者对其移民案件的第一手资料，而不是戏剧性的表现；和 4) 在背景化实证结果中使用行政数据。我主张审查被拘留者与驱逐机构的谈判的重要性，该机构为被拘留者塑造了可用的选择，并从“外部”决定了拘留的结果，尽管它在拘留的日常生活中并不存在。3) 一种参与式研究策略，以获取被拘留者对其移民案件的第一手资料，而不是戏剧性的表现；和 4) 在背景化实证结果中使用行政数据。我主张审查被拘留者与驱逐机构的谈判的重要性，该机构为被拘留者塑造了可用的选择，并从“外部”决定了拘留的结果，尽管它在拘留的日常生活中并不存在。3) 一种参与式研究策略，以获取被拘留者对其移民案件的第一手资料，而不是戏剧性的表现；和 4) 在背景化实证结果中使用行政数据。我主张审查被拘留者与驱逐机构的谈判的重要性，该机构为被拘留者塑造了可用的选择，并从“外部”决定了拘留的结果，尽管它在拘留的日常生活中并不存在。