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The Fixer: Visa Lottery Chronicles

by: Piot, Charles, author

Publication date: 2019

Topics: Batema, Kodjo Nicolas (Visa broker), African diaspora, Visas -- Togo, Togolese -- Migrations -- History -- 21st century, Togolese -- United States, Visas -- Government policy -- United States, Emigration and immigration law -- United States, African diaspora, Emigration and immigration, Emigration and immigration law, Togolese, Visas, Visas -- Government policy, Togo -- Emigration and immigration, Togo, United States

Publisher: Durham : Duke University Press

Collection: dukeuniversitydukepress; duldiversity; duke_libraries; americana

Contributor: Duke University Press

Language: English

x, 212 pages : 23 cm

In the West African nation of Togo, applying for the U.S. Diversity Visa Lottery is a national obsession, with hundreds of thousands of Togolese entering each year. From the street frenzy of the lottery sign-up period and the scramble to raise money for the embassy interview, to the gamesmanship of those adding spouses and dependents to their dossiers, the application process is complicated, expensive, and unpredictable. In 'The Fixer' Charles Piot follows Kodjo Nicolas Batema, a Togolese visa broker-known as a "fixer"-as he shepherds his clients through the application and interview process. Relaying the experiences of the fixer, his clients, and embassy officials, Piot captures the ever-evolving cat-and-mouse game between the embassy and the hopeful Togolese, as well as the disappointments and successes of lottery winners in the United States. These detailed and compelling stories uniquely illustrate the desire and savviness of migrants as they work to find what they hope will be a better life

Includes bibliographical references and index

Border practice -- The interview -- Kinship by other means -- Trading futures -- Embassy indiscretions -- Protest -- Prison -- America, here we come -- Lomé 2018

Addeddate: 2019-08-07 17:21:54

Bookplateleaf: 0002

Call number: DT 16.5 .P49 2019

Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II

Copyright: Publication of this open monograph was the result of Duke University's participation in TOME (Toward an Open Monograph Ecosystem), a collaboration of the Association of American Universities, the Association of University Presses, and the Association of Research Libraries. TOME aims to expand the reach of long-form humanities and social science scholarship including digital scholarship. Additionally, the program looks to ensure the sustainability of university press monograph publishing by supporting the highest quality scholarship and promoting a new ecology of scholarly publishing in which authors' institutions bear the publication costs. Funding from Duke University Libraries made it possible to open this publication to the world. AND This book is published under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 US) License, available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/.