Black Lives in Limbo: Liberian Refugees, Migrant Justice, and the Narration of Antiblack U.S. Border Politics
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Literature Review
3. Historical and Political Context
4. Findings
4.1. Reinforcing Racial Hierarchies
So interesting to see ‘Progressive’ Democrat Congresswomen, who originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe, the worst, most corrupt and inept anywhere in the world (if they even have a functioning government at all), now loudly … and viciously telling the people of the United States, the greatest and most powerful Nation on earth, how our government is to be run. Why don’t they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came. Then come back and show us how … it is done …
4.2. Producing Social Exclusion under “Extreme Vetting”
Peter, a New Jersey media professional from Liberia, described the added difficulty of waiting six months for a new work authorization document while looking for full-time work. He states ‘[The process] is not logical and it’s an inconvenience, especially a financial inconvenience.’ He received his new work authorization just 15 days before it expired again.Amal, a New York healthcare worker from Sudan, was out of work for six months [and] also waiting for [a] new work authorization. As the only source of income for her household, the delay caused substantial stress. She reached out to African Communities Together, a New York-based immigration advocacy organization, which assisted her in securing an attorney to resolve the matter.Rose is a former New York union representative from Liberia. Currently, she is retired. She has also relied on support from African Communities Together. The organization helped her apply for a new employment authorization which not only took 7 months to arrive, but was backdated and only valid for 3 months. Since then, she has been battling with the Social Security Administration, which has temporarily reduced her monthly income to [USD 0] due to the lapse.
4.3. Punitive Governance and Constrained Citizenship
5. Conclusions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
- Achiume, E. Tendayi. 2019. Migration as decolonization. Stanford Law Review 71: 1509–74. [Google Scholar]
- Alexander, Leslie M. 2011. African or American?: Black Identity and Political Activism in New York City, 1784–1861. Champaign: University of Illinois. [Google Scholar]
- Alexander, Leslie M. 2022. Fear of a Black Republic: Haiti and the Birth of Black Internationalism in the United States. Champaign: University of Illinois Press. [Google Scholar]
- American Immigration Lawyers Association. 2019. AILA Policy Brief: USCIS Processing Delays Have Reached Crisis Levels Under the Trump Administration. January 30. Available online: https://www.aila.org/library/aila-policy-brief-uscis-processing-delays (accessed on 19 August 2024).
- Barber, Llana. 2023. Anti-Black Racism and the Nativist State. Journal of American Ethnic History 42: 5–59. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Browne, Simone. 2015. Dark Matters: On the Surveillance of Blackness. Durham: Duke University Press, pp. 25, 26, 88. [Google Scholar]
- Congressional Research Service. 2021. Applications for Liberian Refugee Immigration Fairness (LRIF): Fact Sheet, R46487. Available online: https://crsreports.congress.gov (accessed on 19 August 2024).
- Department of Homeland Security. 2014. DHS Announces Temporary Protected Status Designations for Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone. Available online: https://www.uscis.gov/archive/dhs-announces-temporary-protected-status-designations-for-liberia-guinea-and-sierra-leone (accessed on 11 August 2024).
- Donovan-Smith, Orion. 2019a. End of Immigration Program Gives Liberians in U.S. a Choice: Leave their American Children or Become Undocumented. The Washington Post. February 21. Available online: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/end-of-immigration-program-gives-liberians-in-us-a-choice-leave-their-american-children-or-become-undocumented/2019/02/20/03b3cae6-30db-11e9-813a-0ab2f17e305b_story.html (accessed on 30 January 2024).
- Donovan-Smith, Orion. 2019b. Her Ancestors Were Enslaved in the U.S. Now a Trump Decision Could Lead to Her Deportation to Africa. The Washington Post. March 8. Available online: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/03/08/why-this-descendant-black-american-slave-is-being-deported/ (accessed on 30 January 2024).
- Espiritu, Yên L., Ma Vang, Lan Duong, Khatharya Um, Victor Bascara, Lila Sharif, and Nigel Hatton. 2022. Departures: An Introduction to Critical Refugee Studies. Oakland: University of California Press. [Google Scholar]
- Gershoni, Yekutiel. 2022. Liberia Under Samuel Doe, 1980–1985: The Politics of Personal Rule. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, pp. 36–68. [Google Scholar]
- Getachew, Adom. 2019. Worldmaking After Empire: The Rise and Fall of Self-Determination. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press. [Google Scholar]
- Gleason, Peggy, and Ann Block. 2021. Liberian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act Extended to December 20. Immigration Legal Resource Center. Available online: https://www.ilrc.org/sites/default/files/resources/lrif_program_extension_3.29.21.pdf (accessed on 11 August 2024).
- Golash-Boza, Tanya. 2017. Structural Racism, Criminalization, and Pathways to Deportation for Dominican and Jamaican Men in the United States. Social Justice 44: 137–62. [Google Scholar]
- Kiazolu, Yatta. 2019. Immigrants Are Facing ‘Crisis Level’ Processing Delays Under Trump and the Consequences are Wreaking Havoc. Blavity Politics. April 22. Available online: https://blavity.com/immigrants-are-facing-crisis-level-processing-delays-under-trump-and-the-consequences-are-wreaking-havoc (accessed on 30 January 2024).
- Kieh, George Klay, Jr. 2016. Civilians and Civil Wars in Africa: The Cases of Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Cote D’Ivoire. Peace Research 48: 203–28. [Google Scholar]
- Kretsedemas, Philip, and Jamella N. Gow, eds. 2024. Modern Migrations, Black Interrogations: Revisioning Migrants and Mobilities through the Critique of Antiblackness. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. [Google Scholar]
- Lindsay, Keisha. 2015. Beyond ‘Model Minority’, ‘Superwoman’, and ‘Endangered Species’: Theorizing Intersectional Coali tions among Black Immigrants, African American Women, and African American Men. Journal of African American Studies 19: 18–35. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Lopez, Alan Pelaez. 2018. Lessons from an Immigrant Rights Organizer: We Are Not Our ‘Productivity’. Rewire News Group, January 2. Available online: https://rewirenewsgroup.com/2018/01/02/lessons-immigrant-rights-productivity/ (accessed on 30 January 2024).
- Lorenzi, Jane, and Jeanne Batalova. 2022. Sub-Saharan African Immigrants in the United States. Migration Policy Institute, May 11. Available online: https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/sub-saharan-african-immigrants-united-states?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw17qvBhBrEiwA1rU9w-TvBVueaSjlyfWCUv66GRQH6q5ifNSbshtn-QAJOrHY2JFzNADDfRoC6xMQAvD_BwE (accessed on 1 February 2024).
- Mablin, Lucy, and Joe B. Turner. 2021. Migration Studies and Colonialism. Cambridge and Medford: Polity Press. [Google Scholar]
- Maynard, Robyn. 2019. Black Life and Death across the U.S.-Canada Border: Border Violence, Black Fugitive Belonging, and Turtle Island View of Black Liberation. Critical Ethnic Studies 5: 125. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- McKanders, Karla M. 2021. Immigration and Racial Justice: Enforcing the Borders of Blackness. Georgia State University Law Review 37: 1139. Available online: https://readingroom.law.gsu.edu/gsulr/vol37/iss4/6 (accessed on 1 February 2024).
- Menjívar, Cecilia. 2017. Temporary Protected Status in the United States: The Experiences of Honduran and Salvadoran Immigrants. Center for Migration Research, University of Kansas. Available online: https://www.wola.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/TPS_REPORT_FINAL.pdf (accessed on 11 August 2024).
- Mitman, Gregg. 2021. Empire of Rubber: Firestone’s Scramble for Land and Power in Liberia. New York: The New Press. [Google Scholar]
- Mountz, Alison, Richard Wright, Ines Miyares, and Adrian J. Bailey. 2002. Lives in Limbo: Temporary Protected Status and Immigrant Identities. Global Networks 2: 339. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- National Immigration Forum. 2021. Fact Sheet: Deferred Enforced Departure (DED). March 12. Available online: https://immigrationforum.org/article/fact-sheet-deferred-enforced-departure-ded/ (accessed on 12 August 2024).
- Pailey, Robtel Neajai. 2023. Stopping Firestone and Starting a Citizen ‘Revolution from below’: Reflections on the Enduring Exploitation of Liberian Land and Labour. Third World Quarterly 45: 61–78. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Palmer, Breanne J. 2017. The Crossroads: Being Black, Immigrant, and Undocumented in the Era of #BlackLivesMatter. Georgetown Journal of Law & Modern Critical Race Perspectives 9: 99–121. [Google Scholar]
- Power-Greene, Ousmane K. 2014. Against Wind and Tide: The African American Struggle against the Colonization Movement. New York: New York University Press. [Google Scholar]
- Presidential Memoranda. 2019. Memorandum on Extension of Deferred Enforced Departure for Liberians. March 28. Available online: https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential-actions/memorandum-extension-deferred-enforced-departure-liberians/ (accessed on 5 February 2024).
- Presidential Memoranda. 2021. Reinstating Deferred Enforced Departure for Liberians. January 20. Available online: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/20/reinstating-deferred-enforced-departure-for-liberians/ (accessed on 19 August 2024).
- Pugmire, Tim. 2019. Liberians in Minnesota Welcome Extension, Look for Permanent Fix. MPR News. March 29. Available online: https://www.mprnews.org/story/2019/03/29/liberians-in-minn-welcome-ded-extension (accessed on 30 January 2024).
- Rinaldi, Tiziana. 2018. Liberia Was Founded by People Enslaved in the US. Advocates Say the US Should Not End an Immigration Program that Helps Them. The World. March 27. Available online: https://theworld.org/stories/2018-03-26/liberia-was-founded-people-enslaved-us-advocates-say-us-should-not-end (accessed on 19 August 2024).
- Thronson, David B. 2011. Clashing Values and Cross Purposes: Immigration Law’s Marginalization of Children and Families. In Children Without a State: A Global Human Rights Challenge. Edited by Jacqueline Bhabha. Cambridge: MIT Press, pp. 237–54. [Google Scholar]
- Torbati, Yeganeh. 2019. Liberians Grapple with Potential Loss of U.S. legal status. Reuters. May 15. Available online: https://widerimage.reuters.com/story/liberians-grapple-with-potential-loss-of-us-legal-status (accessed on 30 January 2024).
- Trump, Donald J. 2019. 5:27 am. So Interesting to See “Progressive’ Democrat Congresswomen …”. July 14. Available online: https://x.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1150381394234941448 (accessed on 19 August 2024).
- United States Government Information. 2018. Memorandum on Expiration of Deferred Enforced Departure for Liberians. Available online: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/DCPD-201800196/pdf/DCPD-201800196.pdf (accessed on 12 August 2024).
- United States Government Information. 2019a. African Communities et al v. Trump et al. October 25. Available online: https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/USCOURTS-mad-4_19-cv-10432/summary (accessed on 20 January 2024).
- United States Government Information. 2019b. Remarks on Signing the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. December 20. Available online: https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/DCPD-201900885/ (accessed on 20 January 2024).
- Vasquez, Tina. 2018. What is Deferred Enforced Departure? It’s Complicated. April 2. Available online: https://rewirenewsgroup.com/2018/04/02/deferred-enforced-departure-complicated/ (accessed on 19 August 2024).
- Walia, Harsha. 2021. Border and Rule: Global Migration, Capitalism, and the Rise of Racist Nationalism. Chicago: Haymarket Books, pp. 28–29. [Google Scholar]
- Walsh, Jim. 2019. Linda Clark Tells Her Story as Local Liberians Plan Friday Rally for ‘DED Awareness’ at the State Capitol. Minnesota Post. February 21. Available online: https://www.minnpost.com/new-americans/2019/02/linda-clark-tells-her-story-as-local-liberians-plan-friday-rally-for-ded-awareness-at-the-state-capitol (accessed on 19 August 2024).
- Weine, Stevan Merrill, Yael Hoffman, Norma Ware, Toni Tugenberg, Leonce Hakizimana, Gonwo Dahnweigh, Madeleine Currie, and Maureen Wagner. 2011. Secondary migration and relocation among African refugee families in the United States. Family Process 50: 27–46. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
Disclaimer/Publisher’s Note: The statements, opinions and data contained in all publications are solely those of the individual author(s) and contributor(s) and not of MDPI and/or the editor(s). MDPI and/or the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to people or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content. |
© 2024 by the author. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Share and Cite
Kiazolu, Y. Black Lives in Limbo: Liberian Refugees, Migrant Justice, and the Narration of Antiblack U.S. Border Politics. Soc. Sci. 2024, 13, 495. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci13090495
Kiazolu Y. Black Lives in Limbo: Liberian Refugees, Migrant Justice, and the Narration of Antiblack U.S. Border Politics. Social Sciences. 2024; 13(9):495. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci13090495
Chicago/Turabian StyleKiazolu, Yatta. 2024. "Black Lives in Limbo: Liberian Refugees, Migrant Justice, and the Narration of Antiblack U.S. Border Politics" Social Sciences 13, no. 9: 495. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci13090495
APA StyleKiazolu, Y. (2024). Black Lives in Limbo: Liberian Refugees, Migrant Justice, and the Narration of Antiblack U.S. Border Politics. Social Sciences, 13(9), 495. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci13090495