CLSC | Socio-Legal Studies Workshop: Jahaira Pacheco - "Incalculable Time: The Bureaucratic Wait in Immigrants' Efforts to Secure Family Unity"

Abstract

The article examines the role of affirmative immigration consultations and waiting in shaping immigrants’ pursuit of status and family unity. I argue that consultations are a pivotal moment where the opaque structure of immigration law becomes personally legible through an awareness of the long wait, uncertainty, risk, and systemic stripping of agency embedded in affirmative processes. I introduce the concept of Incalculable Time to describe the unpredictable, precarious legal temporality that is produced by both personal and institutional contingencies. Incalculable time, I argue, manifests as an anticipatory burden at the consultation phase, which complicates the procurement of lawful status. Drawing on data collected between June and November 2023 through interviews with legal representatives in California and affirmative consultation observations at Papeles Para Todos, a community-based nonprofit organization, I identify three forms of incalculable time: Disrupted Time, Contingent Time, and Deferred Time. These various forms of incalculable time promote hesitation and act as deterrents to pursuing status, ultimately undermining immigrants’ efforts to avoid family separation.