“Cada uno puede tener la opinión que quiera”

Abstract

This paper puts forward an analysis on the income control and the migrant population permanence regularisation devices in Uruguay. It presents the legal and administrative frameworks at stake on “governing” a small population flow in regional terms but strongly themed as a social problem. The paper aims to visualize the current migration policies as a set of devices, on the one hand universalizing and homogenizing in their emphasis on documentation access; and on the other hand, restrictive and exclusive in the territorialized character of actions such as visa imposition and border militarization. From this, it seeks to understand the conflict between various actors in the field over the definition of whether or not there are integration policies with a rights-based approach for migrant population. The research is based on an anthropological reflexivity exercise over the researcher's participation in the disputes on redefining an inclusive migration policy.