Migration Pathway, Precariousness and Migration Control: the Case of Irregular Migrants From the Philippines and Myanmar to China

China, emerging as a new destination for international migration, has been receiving an increasing number of labor migrants from neighboring countries. Except for limited pilot schemes in border areas, Chinese authorities have not issued work visas to foreign migrant workers nationwide; thus, international labor migrants in most non-border regions are classified as sanfei renyuan (people entering, staying, and working illegally). This research focuses on irregular migrant workers from Southeast Asia to China, with particular attention to female migrant workers from the Philippines and Myanmar. Based on interviews and participant observation with both irregular migrants and immigration officials at the grassroots level, this study examines how irregular migration pathways are shaped by geopolitics and migration policies over the past decade. It also investigates how migration control—particularly the deportation regime toward irregular migrants—is mutually constituted by the state, the discretionary power of migration officials, citizens, and non-citizens. The research further demonstrates that, in the face of tightened migration controls during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, irregular migrant workers have exercised agency despite their marginalized and precarious conditions.