In recent decades, migration scholars have challenged reified categories of 'illegal'migrants and observed migrant 'illegalization' and deportability as exploitative sociopolitical processes. Yet, in the move away from studying 'undocumented migrants' as distinct epistemic subjects,we argue that scholars have lost sight ofmigrants as agents. Consequently, migrant lives are explained in terms of social determinants rather thanmigrants' intentional acts or cultural meaning systems. This paper shows how a cultural psychological study of migrant 'illegality' can help restore focus on the migrant as situated agent without reifying or legitimizing categories of migrant 'illegality.' To this end, we discuss ethnographic research conducted with Polish 'irregular' migrants living in Toronto and Mississauga in Canada. From a cultural psychological perspective, we examine how thesemigrants understood and navigated their unique status-related challenges to build meaningful lives in contradictory and precarious conditions. Our research reveals how Polish migrants learn to become 'irregular' as they develop common modes of being suitable for navigating the underground of Canada's Polish Canadian enclave. Importantly, becoming 'irregular' is neither a passive nor unilaterally imposed process but involves discernible psychosocial dynamics characterized by recurrent threats and fears as well as migrants' deliberate attempts to address and overcome these. We discuss these dynamics as cycles of deportability to mark their cyclical and recurrent nature and argue that they are central for the development of migrant 'illegality' and deportability. We conclude by considering the implications of our findings for understanding agency in the context of migrant 'illegalization'. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.

Irregular migration Cultural psychology Canada Deportability Ethnography Illegal migration

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