Laura Block asks how liberal democracies manage torestrict migration in spite of liberal constraints. She analyses the politicaldebates surrounding spousal migration policies from 2005–2010 in Germany andreveals government strategies that restrict spousal migration while stayingwithin the discursive realm of individual rights. By circumscribing andscrutinising both the membership status necessary to access the right to familyprotection and the family ties in question, restricting spousal migration islegitimised.