[1] Her research and legal practice has focused on citizenship and rights of aliens, refugee law, trafficking, and smuggling.
Bhabha was born Jacqueline Strimpel in Mumbai in 1951, the daughter of Jewish refugee parents who had moved to India to flee Nazi Germany.
Bhabha completed the Common Professional Examination to qualify as a solicitor at what was then the College of Law in London.
In 1997, Bhabha entered academia when she joined the University of Chicago as the Director of the Human Rights Program – an appointment she continued till 2001.
[4] After students filed a lawsuit with detailed allegations of Comaroff's actions and the university's failure to respond, Bhabha was one of several signatories to say that she wished to retract her signature.