Nonimmigrant Others: Belonging, Precarity and Imperial Citizenship for Chuukese Migrants in Guam
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2021
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.1111/plar.12421
Abstract
Micronesians from nations in the Compacts of Free Association (COFA) with the United States can enter the country visa-free as “nonimmigrants.” This status creates a perpetual state of precarity; they are never considered legal “immigrants” nor are they on any path to permanent US resident status. Rather than illegalization and bordering practices, precarious status is the result of territorial arrangements, ongoing imperial interactions, and securitization efforts. The case of Chuukese migrants in the US territory of Guam demonstrates how graduated forms of citizenship manifest within liminal zones of empire. The result is accompanying political and social exclusions for both migrants and residents of exterior territorial-holding sites. The experiences of the people bound by these exclusions elucidate connections between human mobility, imperial citizenship, militarization, and empire maintenance.
Was this content written or created while at USF?
Yes
Citation / Publisher Attribution
PoLAR: Political and Legal Anthropology Review, v. 44, issue 1, p. 138-155
Scholar Commons Citation
Smith, Sarah A. and Castaneda, Heide, "Nonimmigrant Others: Belonging, Precarity and Imperial Citizenship for Chuukese Migrants in Guam" (2021). Anthropology Faculty Publications. 145.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/ant_facpub/145
