Elderly Bhutanese Refugees in the US As Exception to Citizenship: Illustrating State Non-Decisionism and Non-Determinism in Spaces of Exception

Background and Purpose

The citizen and her counterpart, the exception to citizenship, have gained much scholarly debate, enriching how we think about state practices of inclusion and exclusion for migrants, documented or not, forced or not. This study presents theoretical and empirical analyses of the ‘exception to citizenship’, as embodied by a vulnerable subset of migrants — elderly Bhutanese resettled refugees in the US who cannot pass language requirements of the citizenship examination, thus remaining stateless and without full political membership whilst legally resettled and discursively included. These migrants present as a limit case that allows an interrogation of citizenship and resettlement as interlinked regimes of regulatory state practice and an illustration of the means through which such practice is both further nuanced and contested on the ground.

Methods

In-depth, semi-structured interviews as principal data were conducted with ten key members of the Bhutanese refugee community from different cities. Interviewees have years of experience leading and volunteering for grassroots refugee organizations that provide services for those who are elderly and don’t speak English. Participants were recruited via snowball sampling, appropriate for hard-to-reach groups such as refugees. Interviews elicited participants’ views about what citizenship means for the community, citizenship issues and community-based efforts for addressing those issues. Data from interviews were supplemented by data based on review of theoretical and contextual data and participant observation, drawing on the authors’ engagement with Bhutanese refugee communities. Interviews were transcribed and coded thematically using the qualitative software Atlas.ti, guided by a directed approach, whereby qualitative analysis starts with theory and relevant research.

Findings

Empirically, interview data reveal that American citizenship yields symbolic, social and material meaning for the Bhutanese refugee community. Further, data reveal non-response and non-recognition from the broader US community and lack of legal pathways for challenging the exclusion of elderly refugees from citizenship. Nevertheless, findings suggest that refugee communities seek out varied ways for resisting that exclusion, by turning to medical waivers for citizenship exams, conducting citizenship classes, drawing media attention, and claiming rights through organizing.

Theoretically, we first argue for expanding the concept of the ‘exception’, by using data to illustrate state non-decisionism. Current theorizing posits the exception as defined by the state’s authoritative and executive decision-making, but our data show that exclusion is also made via lack of recognition and action for redress. Secondly, we join other critical scholars in arguing for non-determinism in spaces of exception. Our data support the notion that state practice is not totalizing but instead a contested and polysemic process.

Conclusion and Implications

This study reveals elderly Bhutanese refugees as exception to citizenship and its material and symbolic consequences, largely unbeknownst heretofore in both academic and public discourse. Findings call for challenging the lack of redress from governmental and legal communities to the exclusion, and for recognizing and supporting refugee communities as they counter exclusion of their elderly members. This study links social work perspectives of social justice and community-based engagement with broader theoretical scholarship about the exception to citizenship.