The impact of liminal legal status on labor market experiences: a comparative study of Sudanese asylum seekers and refugees in Israel.

This article examines the labor market experiences of Sudanese forced migrants in Israel under prolonged temporary legal status. It underscores how regulatory and legal frameworks, particularly the mechanism of institutional ambiguity as a form of legal violence, shape migrants' socioeconomic outcom...

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Published in:Journal of Ethnic & Migration Studies Vol. 51; no. 3; pp. 715 - 737
Main Authors: Barak-Bianco, Anda, Raijman, Rebeca
Format: Article
Published: Taylor & Francis Ltd Feb2025
Subjects:
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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      dt: Feb2025
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        10.1080/1369183X.2024.2388153
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        atl: The impact of liminal legal status on labor market experiences: a comparative study of Sudanese asylum seekers and refugees in Israel.
      aug:
        au:
          Barak-Bianco, Anda
          Raijman, Rebeca
        affil:
          The Institute for Immigration and Social Integration, Ruppin Academic Center, Emeq Hefer, Israel
          Department of Sociology, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
      su:
        Employment
        Comparative method
        Political refugees
        Labor market
        Right of asylum
      sug:
        subj:
          Employment
          Comparative method
          Political refugees
          Labor market
          Right of asylum
      keyword:
        institutional ambiguity
        labor market incorporation
        legal violence
        liminal legality
        Sudanese forced migrants
      ab: This article examines the labor market experiences of Sudanese forced migrants in Israel under prolonged temporary legal status. It underscores how regulatory and legal frameworks, particularly the mechanism of institutional ambiguity as a form of legal violence, shape migrants' socioeconomic outcomes. Employing a mixed-methods approach and comparative analysis, the study adopts Menjívar's, C. (2006. "Liminal legality: Salvadoran and Guatemalan immigrants' lives in the United States." American Journal of Sociology 111 (4): 999–1037) concept of 'liminal legality' as an analytical lens to compare the experiences of asylum seekers and refugees. The findings reveal significant disparities between these two groups in employment patterns, wages, and exposure to exploitative working conditions, primarily driven by differences in legal status. Asylum seekers are disproportionately relegated to unskilled, precarious jobs at the bottom of the employment ladder, facing heightened vulnerability to exploitative working conditions. Refugees, despite their relatively 'premium' status, also encounter significant constraints in labor market participation, reflecting their confinement to the secondary labor market. By highlighting these disparities, this article advances our knowledge of how positions along the continuum of liminal legality shapes employment outcomes among forced migrants. It also contributes to the broader discourse on socio-political and legal barriers that hinder migrant integration.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
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    language: English
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      custom: Copyright of Journal of Ethnic & Migration Studies is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.
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