The Double Bind of Displacement: U.S. Sanctions, the Muslim Ban, and Experiences of Dislocation for Iranians Pursuing Higher Education in the United States

Abstract

In this article, I examine the material and affective impacts of U.S. foreign policy on Iranians pursuing higher education in the United States. I argue that punitive policies against Iran have created a double bind for Iranians, in which in situ displacement becomes a defining feature of life. I first situate the concept of in situ displacement within feminist theories of displacement and geopolitics to describe the incremental loss of economic, political, and social security in daily life, while remaining in place. Second, I analyze how U.S. foreign policy toward Iran results in in situ displacement for Iranian students, including feeling stuck in place due to restrictive visas, long delays in green card processing, and fears that they cannot reenter the United States if they travel to Iran. Drawing on key informant interviews and the analysis of U.S. regulatory documents, I demonstrate how the Trump administration’s Muslim ban laid bare different modalities of violence produced through four decades of punitive policies toward Iran. My analysis of sanctions, alongside the Muslim ban, reveals a complicated patchwork of regulations that are intended to target the Iranian state, yet these policies can have devastating consequences for Iranian students. I conclude with how these cases, although diverse, offer insight into how tensions between the United States and Iran result in multiple and varied forms of displacement, from the scale of the home to the geopolitical.

本文探讨了美国外交政策对在美国接受高等教育的伊朗人的物质影响和情感影响。我认为, 对伊朗的惩罚性政策给伊朗人带来了双重束缚, 就地迁移成为生活的决定性特点。首先, 我将就地迁移概念置于女权主义的迁移理论和地缘政治学理论, 描述了在日常生活中即滞留原地又逐渐丧失了经济、政治和社会安全。其次, 我分析了美国对伊朗外交政策如何导致伊朗学生的就地迁移–因严格的签证限制而感到举步维艰、绿卡处理的长期拖延、担心因前往伊朗而无法回到美国。通过对关键人士的采访和对美国法规文件的分析, 我展示了特朗普政府的穆斯林禁令如何揭开伊朗惩罚性政策在40年中所产生的各种暴力形式。对制裁和穆斯林禁令的分析, 揭示了针对伊朗的一系列复杂法规会给伊朗学生带来毁灭性后果。最后, 我介绍了这些不同的案例, 使得我们深入了解美伊紧张关系如何导致从家庭到地缘政治的各种迁移形式。

En este artículo examino los impactos materiales y afectivos de la política exterior norteamericana sobre los iraníes que adelantan estudios superiores en Estados Unidos. Arguyo que las políticas punitivas contra Irán, han generado un doble vínculo para los iraníes, en el que el desplazamiento in situ se convierte en un rasgo definitorio de la vida. Primero, sitúo el concepto del desplazamiento in situ dentro de las teorías feministas del desplazamiento y la geopolítica para describir la pérdida gradual de la seguridad económica, política y social en la vida cotidiana, mientras se permanece en el lugar. En segundo lugar, analizo el modo como la política exterior de Estados Unidos hacia Irán resulta en un desplazamiento in situ para los estudiantes iraníes, incluyendo el sentirse atrapados en el lugar debido a los visados restrictivos, las grandes demoras en el procesamiento de las tarjetas verdes y los temores de no poder volver a entrar a Estados Unidos si se viaja a Irán. Con base en entrevistas con informantes claves y el análisis de los documentos reguladores americanos, demuestro cómo la exclusión musulmana de la administración Trump puso al descubierto diversas modalidades de violencia producidas durante cuatro décadas de políticas punitivas hacia Irán. Mi análisis de las sanciones, junto con la exclusión musulmana, revela un complejo mosaico de normas que tiene como objetivo en la mira al estado iraní, pese a que estas políticas pueden acarrear consecuencias devastadoras para los estudiantes iraníes. Concluyo con la declaración de que estos casos, aunque diversos, ofrecen una visión de cómo, escalando las tensiones entre Estados Unidos e Irán, resulta en múltiples y variadas formas de desplazamiento, desde la escala del hogar hasta lo geopolítico.

Key Words:

• feminist geopolitics
• in situ displacement
• Iran
• Muslim ban
• sanctions

关键词:

• 女权主义地缘政治学
• 就地迁移
• 伊朗
• 穆斯林禁令
• 制裁。

Palabras clave:

• geopolítica feminista
• desplazamiento in situ
• Irán
• exclusión musulmana
• sanciones

Acknowledgments

I am deeply grateful to colleagues and friends who shared their time, insights, and experiences living under sanctions and the Muslim ban. I express my sincere gratitude to Kendra Strauss and the three anonymous reviewers whose thoughtful comments strengthened the article considerably. I deeply appreciate Aparna Parikh and Nari Senanayake for their astute comments on drafts of the article, with special thanks to Puya Sepehr for his support.

Notes

1 The U.S. embassies include Abu Dhabi and Dubai, UAE; Ankara, Turkey; and Yerevan, Armenia.

2 In moments of geopolitical crisis, the waiting period for a visa can be further prolonged, which the U.S. government frames as increased vetting procedures to protect national security. In the fall of 2019, for example, escalating tensions between Iran and U.S. ally Saudi Arabia led to at least a dozen Iranian students having their visas abruptly revoked days before flying to the United States. They received no warning or explanation from visa-issuing embassies. Some students were barred from their flights to the United States and others were detained on arrival to U.S. airports and sent back to Iran (Zraick 2019).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

A. Marie Ranjbar

A. MARIE RANJBAR is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Women's and Gender Studies at the University of Colorado–Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309. E-mail: [email protected]. Her research examines social movements in Iran and integrates feminist political geography with critical human rights and decolonial feminist theory.