The Westphalian nation-state that acquires its relevance from the constant control and monitoring of the composition of the population. In South Africa like in other more economically advantaged countries, migration is perceived as a security threat to the functioning of the state and migrants are unwanted intruders. This worldview justifies the intensification of the securitization of the border and the surveillance of migrants. The Zimbabwe Exemption Permit and its preceding versions works to source cheap labour from migrants while imposing legal liminality and restricting their belonging in South Africa. Such migration policies serve to exclude migrants and leave them in a state of flux. This liminality has oftentimes left migrant Zimbabwean women vulnerable to extortion, anxiety, unfair detention, and gendered violence from law enforcement. The securitization of the border and migration regulation enforcement encourages the emergence of xenophobic groups such as Operation Dudula.