Jeffrey Bilik

Hello! I am a sociologist of immigration and housing. I am interested in how delegating citizenship and welfare administration to private actors affects migrant outcomes. My research addresses why private citizens in formerly socialist societies have surprisingly become authoritative gatekeepers for welfare and migrant legal status.

My dissertation focuses on Russia, the fourth largest global destination for migrant labor, and traces how private homeowners have come to redefine national boundaries and maintain migrant exclusion.

In collaboration with critical legal and computer science scholars, another strand of my research focuses on the rise of tech contractors and legal software in US welfare governance.

My work develops comparative perspectives for the role of private authority in citizenship governance and administration.