UCLA

State borders are generally defined as territorial boundaries in combination with differentiated legal status (cf. Fassin 2011). But what happens when state borders are located within cities with their own set of physical, social, and spatial boundaries? There has been increasing attention to various bordering institutions and spaces within countries in addition to national territorial borders (cf. Mbembe 2000; Mezzadra and Neilson 2013; Agier 2016; Yuval-Davis, Wemyss, Cassidy 2019). While conceptual models of internal bordering have often focused on the functions differentiating institutions and subjective experiences of individuals, there is further opportunity for analyzing the local politics around the location and operations of these institutions, especially in Global South cities where the majority of refugees and asylum seekers currently reside (UNHCR 2019). Therefore, this dissertation addresses important gaps in the understanding of the underlying political and legal contention over the physical location and operations of bordering offices within particular buildings, neighborhoods, and cities. The dissertation is based on a case study of Refugee Reception Offices (RROs) in post-apartheid South Africa from the 1990s to 2020. RROs are administrative offices exclusively run by the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) to process and determine legal status of asylum seekers and refugees and have primarily been located in urban areas. However, just as the country was registering the highest numbers of asylum seekers in the world, the government was closing down RROs in major cities. Through an analysis of legal case records, stakeholder interviews, field observations, and additional archival research, I construct an analytical narrative around the underlying political and legal contention concerning the various relocations and closures of RROs in South African cities. I argue that legal definitions, bureaucratic labels, and the location and operations of RROs are directly connected to the politics of specific cities and neighborhoods. The intersection of state institutions and urban borders therefore leads to various ambiguous and contradictory administrative practices and policy initiatives. This dissertation contributes to conceptual models of law, politics, and borders by highlighting the importance of urban actors, spaces, and institutions, often overlooked in perspectives that focus on national politics and international institutions.