Securitization of migration and institutional transformation: From the integration model to digital control with reference to the Russian Federation

Abstract

The paper examines the transformation of the institutional paradigm of migration governance under conditions of intensified securitisation and the digitalisation of security practices. It starts from the structural contradiction between states' economic need for migration resources and the limited effectiveness of liberal integration models, arguing that migration is increasingly displaced from the domain of socio-political regulation into the register of security. In this process, migration is framed as an existential threat, thereby legitimising exceptional measures beyond ordinary political procedures. The theoretical framework combines securitisation theory of the Copenhagen School with its sociological and critical extensions, emphasising the intersubjective construction of threat and its institutionalisation through practices, professional security fields, and administrative instruments. The analysis is further informed by the concepts of governmentality, digital surveillance, and algorithmic risk assessment, which illuminate how contemporary security rationality operates through data extraction, classification, and preemptive intervention. Methodologically, the paper applies discourse analysis of strategic documents and a systematic examination of the normative-legal framework regulating biometric identification and migration control. The Russian Federation is used as an analytical indicator rather than a comparative benchmark, enabling the identification of broader tendencies of digital securitisation. The findings demonstrate that securitisation no longer remains at the level of discourse but becomes materially entrenched through biometrization, digital registers, geolocation mechanisms, and algorithmic selection.