ABSTRACT
This chapter describes a theoretical framework for exploring another dynamic of the gendered insecurities: the gendered insecurities of states as they encounter migrants. It explains a feminist theoretical framework that 'genders' state insecurity about migrants. The framework of examining the gendered insecurities of states as they encounter migrants is crucial for exploring and finding trends in how and why people who cross borders might be treated in different ways. The importance of this framework is to situate gendered studies of migration within the context of global politics, attentive to the workings of masculinist sovereign power and international relations. The chapter aims to apply this framework to the example of immigration relief, or protection from deportation. It focuses on how the US approaches immigration relief for migrant survivors of sex trafficking. The chapter explores why examining the theoretical underpinnings and empirical examples of the gendered insecurities of states is crucial to understanding the gendered politics of migration and the lived experiences of migrants.
