What does it mean to 'belong' legally to a country, to be recognised as one of its people under law, to enjoy the constitutional right to remain securely in that country?

This innovative contextual history explores such questions in decisions of the High Court of Australia, from its establishment in 1903 to the present day, as it has responded to the claims of individuals who had been designated prohibited immigrants, and who challenged orders for their deportation from Australia.

These individuals claimed, variously, that they were not immigrants or aliens, or that they belonged to Australia despite their lack of formal citizenship, or, again, that they were members of a class of person for whom formal citizenship was not required to ground the right to belong. This book explores the evolution of such claims and follows the development of the Court's 'belonging jurisprudence' through the stories of the individual plaintiffs recorded in the case law, court records, government archives and contemporary news reports. In doing so, it uncovers an often-neglected dimension in accounts of the law, drawing 'the people' back into the analysis and understanding of legal developments. While it explores a specifically Australian history, its approach will resonate globally as controversies surrounding immigration and the status of immigrants, entitlement to citizenship, and the rise of nationalism and populism, continue to confront the world.