this was a sobering read. i live & work between borders myself, and consider visa processes to be the bane of my life. you put words to an experience i’ve never known how to describe — i’ve conveniently called it ‘bureaucratic racism’ but have never felt like that term exactly cuts it. the stakes, the surveillance, and the constant sense of precarity, all of which are selectively applied, is really the system working exactly as it was designed to. this essay feels deeply personal to me — thank you for writing it!
ps. your work, and the concept of indigenous technologies and temporal rebellion, intrigues me to no end and i’d love to read/listen to anything you’ve discussed on the topic!
This comment just sent a (very timely) gust of encouragement to my heart! Thank you for your words – I feel equal parts affirmed and disheartened by the fact that this resonates with you. I have some recorded (but unpublished) lectures that I'd be happy to send your way. Feel free to share your email with me if you'd like to watch them and I'll pass along the links!
"there’s a part of me that wonders what would have happened had I actually made it into the country and gone about my work without adequate infrastructure in place to shield me from graver political repercussions." that paaart doe. Thank you for letting us know, and love your mind and analysis.
Just a thought, I can certainly be wrong about this. But in Brazil we have a very quid-pro-quo approach to visas, becoming a national, etc. What you do to us, is what we do to you. If Brazilians need a visa to enter the US people from the US also need a visa to enter Brazil, in the exact same terms. If my Spanish partner would want to become a Brazilian citizen for instance, he would need to marry me, live there for a couple of years, be tested in Portuguese, and do a bunch of stuff. Because that's what we would need to become a Spanish citizen as well.
We do that to all countries and I think it's only fair. Couldn't it just be the case that India does the same? Since it's so hard for Indians to get a visa in the US, they do the same for people applying from the US trying to go there?
this was a sobering read. i live & work between borders myself, and consider visa processes to be the bane of my life. you put words to an experience i’ve never known how to describe — i’ve conveniently called it ‘bureaucratic racism’ but have never felt like that term exactly cuts it. the stakes, the surveillance, and the constant sense of precarity, all of which are selectively applied, is really the system working exactly as it was designed to. this essay feels deeply personal to me — thank you for writing it!
ps. your work, and the concept of indigenous technologies and temporal rebellion, intrigues me to no end and i’d love to read/listen to anything you’ve discussed on the topic!
This comment just sent a (very timely) gust of encouragement to my heart! Thank you for your words – I feel equal parts affirmed and disheartened by the fact that this resonates with you. I have some recorded (but unpublished) lectures that I'd be happy to send your way. Feel free to share your email with me if you'd like to watch them and I'll pass along the links!
"there’s a part of me that wonders what would have happened had I actually made it into the country and gone about my work without adequate infrastructure in place to shield me from graver political repercussions." that paaart doe. Thank you for letting us know, and love your mind and analysis.
Just a thought, I can certainly be wrong about this. But in Brazil we have a very quid-pro-quo approach to visas, becoming a national, etc. What you do to us, is what we do to you. If Brazilians need a visa to enter the US people from the US also need a visa to enter Brazil, in the exact same terms. If my Spanish partner would want to become a Brazilian citizen for instance, he would need to marry me, live there for a couple of years, be tested in Portuguese, and do a bunch of stuff. Because that's what we would need to become a Spanish citizen as well.
We do that to all countries and I think it's only fair. Couldn't it just be the case that India does the same? Since it's so hard for Indians to get a visa in the US, they do the same for people applying from the US trying to go there?