Moral Lines of Credit: Forging Race Projects, Citizenship, and Nation on Online U.S. Spousal Reunification Forum

1.The article is well written, interesting and creatively contributes to the literature on family reunification, migration, and street-level bureaucracy by introducing the concept of “moral lines of credit”.
2. The author successfully uses it throughout the text to show how petitioners for US green card contribute to the racialised project of the state by using frames and ideas of deservingness that draw on class and class privilege.

1.The concept of "moral lines of credit" is so interesting that I wonder whether the author could expand a bit its explanation and definition of this concept in the initial part of the article.
2. See the other requested minor revisions below

This article successfully fulfil the publication criteria of this journal. I reccommend publication following minor revisions

The article can be published with some minor revisions. More specifically, I suggest to consider the following:
1.Pag 3 “The state is interested in upholding its racial projects ‘’- this sentence needs reference
2. Pg. 4 “citizenship was an "irrevocable right" since the state bestowed rights based on one's race, gender, and country of origin (Gibney 2013)” This sentence sounds strange to me. Irrevocable to me means that those rights could not be withdrawn…so I don’t see how it connects with the second part of the sentence.
3. Pag 4. “However, the state needed to reimagine new ways to police 'the family' to continue to control its interests. One such way states accomplished this was by using officials as "moral gatekeepers" (Wray 2006).” – I wonder if it would be better to rephrase it in a way that sounds less like the state has “one clear will” and acts like a personified entity to shape specific policy outcomes- as you show in your article- it is often people- in this case bureaucrats- who comply to rules they interpret without a specific intention of the state.
4. Pag 5: “However, such an 'economy' cannot thrive without circulating moral ideas or 'currency' to perpetuate it.” – and what is this currency? What does it consist in?
5. Pag 6 “Their marriages to non-citizens interfere with the state's interests, which requires them to determine what the state is looking for to overcome such scrutiny and provide it.” This sentence is not clear to me. Maybe rephrase more clearly?
6. You often use the concept of deservingness. As there is some literature about it, maybe it would be nice to refer to it, even if you do not want to expand too much. For instance see: Watkins-Hayes, C., & Kovalsky, E. (2016). The discourse of deservingness. The Oxford handbook of the social science of poverty, 1.; Reeskens, T., & Van der Meer, T. (2019). The inevitable deservingness gap: A study into the insurmountable immigrant penalty in perceived welfare deservingness. Journal of European Social Policy, 29(2), 166-181; Oorschot, W. V. (2000). Who should get what, and why? On deservingness criteria and the conditionality of solidarity among the public. Policy & Politics, 28(1), 33-48.
7. Pag 8. The whole discussion should be more precisely referred to specific historical moments or laws and policies.
8. Pag 10. ‘However, many Arab Americans drew on their social relationships, such as intermarriage with non-Arabs, and performed 'proper' family norms to retain an honorary white social status. More than 80 percent of U.S.-born Arab-Americans are married to non-Arab women (Orfalea 2005).” – Isn’t it too difficult to argue that this is directly related to post 9/11 discourse and to the willingness of arab men to keep their honorary white status?
9. Pag 15. “Given the expectation that white women would promulgate racial purity through their children (Hill Collins 2005), these interracial relationships are considered something that runs counter to the state's interests (Macklin 2022).” I understand it…and it may be true, but your data cannot prove that. I would leave it out.

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I think the article is interesting, strength and well written. I would recommend just some minor revisions, such as explain and problematise what the author means with "hegemonic family norms" and to specify that the data he/she collected are representations, so his/her analysis focuses on the representations and (representations of) perceptions of spousal reunification norms and trajectories.

Finally, I would better focus the title and the research question of the article, explaining that it deepen the cases of specific national/regional backgrounds (that is, mainly MENA and Nigeria?)

I would recommend just some minor revisions, such as explain and problematise what the author means with "hegemonic family norms" and to specify that the data he/she collected are representations, so his/her analysis focuses on the representations and (representations of) perceptions of spousal reunification norms and trajectories.

Finally, I would better focus the title and the research question of the article, explaining that it deepen the cases of specific national/regional backgrounds (that is, mainly MENA and Nigeria?)

9 from 0- to 10

1 from 0- to 10

I think the article is interesting, strength and well written. I would recommend just some minor revisions, such as explain and problematise what the author means with "hegemonic family norms" and to specify that the data he/she collected are representations, so his/her analysis focuses on the representations and (representations of) perceptions of spousal reunification norms and trajectories.

Finally, I would better focus the title and the research question of the article, explaining that it deepen the cases of specific national/regional backgrounds (that is, mainly MENA and Nigeria?)

I would recommend just some minor revisions, such as explain and problematise what the author means with "hegemonic family norms" and to specify that the data he/she collected are representations, so his/her analysis focuses on the representations and (representations of) perceptions of spousal reunification norms and trajectories.

Finally, I would better focus the title and the research question of the article, explaining that it deepen the cases of specific national/regional backgrounds (that is, mainly MENA and Nigeria?)

Yes, the proposed article met the criteria of Migration Politics.