This research deals with the question of how detention of foreigners and the creation ofdifferent forms of detention centers have been rendered possible in the context ofSweden, from the early 1900s up until today. A qualitative content analysis is used toexplore four periods, in terms of the motivations and regulations that produce“detainable categories”, as well as the logic behind such practices of encampment.Drawing on the concept of the “state of exception”, and by using policy documents, thisresearch argues how the Government by gaining extended powers in different periods oftime justifies and regularizes the detention of foreigners. This has been done for thesake of security of the state, protecting the welfare and wellbeing of the nation. Thistells us that the creation and production of detainabilities is not only related toexceptional situations, but becomes the normal condition of the existence of the nationstate.