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‪This article explores policy and procedure when dealing with male “migrants” – an encompassing expression void of circumstance and individualities, i.e. asylum seekers, economic migrants and refugees – who, after being cleared by the French State, started living in urban camps in the Paris region. The case study of a reception and administrative situation examination centre (CAES) reveals systemic sorting based off migratory status, also highlighting the decisive role it plays in the subsequent pathways to accommodation – or lack thereof. It illustrates how “migrants”, as an administratively constructed population highly dependent on legal status, are caught in a spiral of unchosen mobility, spurred by the looming threat of Sate assistance withdrawal. Administrative status thus acts like a containing tool, exercising control on a vulnerable population unable to refute terms and conditions. The article exposes a form of “migratory containment”, i.e. a grey area navigating between autonomy of movement and confinement. The story of these men, caught between the streets and transit centres, perfectly illustrates the “migrant crisis” and its influence on asylum policies; it also helps us to understand their individual trajectories in France.‪