Trans Citizenship: Marriage, Immigration, and Neoliberal Recognition in the United States

Abstract

This article examines the intersection of marriage and immigration law in the U.S. to consider how transgender subjects are normalized as legible legal subjects and incorporated as citizens through marriage. It focuses on Matter of Lovo (2005), a Board of Immigration Appeals case confirming immigration benefits for marriages involving transgender spouses. My analysis traces how legal regulation develops through the ways different legal documents and actors condition each other as well as the legal subjects they produce. The article addresses key questions about trans citizenship as it is shaped through marriage, immigration, and neoliberalism in the contemporary U.S.

Latin American, African and Asian Immigrants Working in Brazilian Organizations: Facing the Language Barrier

“…The South-to-South approach here proposed differs from most of the literature about the immigration phenomenon which is based mainly on studies oriented either from North-to-North (Ivlevs, 2016;Refslund & Thörnqui, 2016;Vershinina & Rodgers, 2018) or from South-to-North immigration (Josephson, 2014;Kerr, Kerr & Lincoln, 2015;Rapoport, 2016;Abramitzky & Boustan, 2017;Farris & Holman, 2017).…”

The production of trans illegality: Cisnormativity in the U.S. immigration system

“…This research demonstrates immigration practice and policy are not neutral when it comes to gender and sexuality but instead reproduce existing inequalities. Researchers have also incorporated the insights of queer theory and sexual norms as they relate to immigration law and nation building (Acosta, ; Cantu, ; Josephson, ; Luibheid, ; Luibheid, ; Randazzo, ; Seif, ). Such literature examines the co‐constitutive nature of sexuality and migration, how sexuality informs access to citizenship, and the power relations inherent in migratory contexts (Asencio, ; Cantu, ; Josephson, ; Randazzo, ).…”

“…Researchers have also incorporated the insights of queer theory and sexual norms as they relate to immigration law and nation building (Acosta, ; Cantu, ; Josephson, ; Luibheid, ; Luibheid, ; Randazzo, ; Seif, ). Such literature examines the co‐constitutive nature of sexuality and migration, how sexuality informs access to citizenship, and the power relations inherent in migratory contexts (Asencio, ; Cantu, ; Josephson, ; Randazzo, ). Scholars map the histories and contemporary exclusions, and at times inclusions, of nonnormative gender and sexual subjects, as well as the production of certain problem bodies in immigration law (Peña, ; Randazzo, ; Sears, ).…”

“…Government agencies, across the United States and globally, vary widely in the requirements for gender identity change on identity documents, reflecting the incoherence of the administrative state (Josephson, ). In the United States, identity change varies at the state and federal levels, with some agencies requiring proof of genital “sex reassignment surgery,” or letters from health care or mental health professionals to legitimate claims.…”

“…Increased surveillance following the War on Terror, like the REAL ID Act, implemented crosschecks for mismatched identity information between government agencies. This problem is compounded for trans people given the high stakes for name and gender documentation (Josephson, ; Spade, ). Inconsistencies in documentation are linked to discourses of concealment, deception, and insecurity; in the case of trans immigrants, such inconsistences can limit access to social resources, create issues with employment, and produce illegality (Beauchamp, ; Cacho, ).…”