Legal Uncertainty, Migration Bureaucracy, and Experiences of (Im)Mobility Among the Displaced Afghans

The number of internally and internationally displaced people has grown exponentially over the last few decades. In particular, in 2021, Afghanistan was third in the world to have one of the largest number of forcibly displaced population-- many Afghans fled to countries around the globe to seek refuge from the Taliban government in the aftermath of the US military evacuation from the country in 2021. In the context of the post 2021 US military withdrawal and the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, this project asks how has the US immigration bureaucracy shaped Afghans experiences with (im)mobility? While focusing on the immigration status of Afghan parolees and asylum seekers in the US, as well as the physically immobile population still stuck in Afghanistan, this project examines the intersecting racial and gendered logics of US migration bureaucracy (immigration laws and policies) and its role in shaping Afghan residents’ migratory journeys (or a lack thereof) from Afghanistan. To approach these questions, this project follows a mixed-methods approach, utilizing (1) descriptive analysis of administrative data from the US state department that examines the arrival of Afghans to the U.S. on specific legal statuses since 2021, and (2) in-depth interviews with Afghans in the US who arrived post 2021, and their left-behind family members in Afghanistan, to understand their migratory journeys, and legal barriers that they might have experienced with respect to their migration prospects. My analysis adds theoretical depth to research in sociology of migration, and immigration law, by critically examining the ways in which the US migration regime is inflected with racial and gendered meanings, with consequences to the communities that are in need of protection.