Project

Practicing Asylum: History and Civic Engagement (A Handbook for Academic Expert Witnesses on Latin American Gender, Sexual, and Gang-based Violence, LGBTQ Status, and Mother/Child Asylum Cases)

Program

Mellon/ACLS Scholars and Society Fellowships

Department

History

Location

For residence at the Women's International Study Center, Santa Fe, NM

Abstract

“Practicing Asylum” is an interdisciplinary, scholarly, and practical guide to expert witness testimony. As the scale and severity of violence in Latin America, and Central America in particular, has grown in the last decade, scholars and lawyers have collaborated to defend the due process rights of women, children, and LGBTQ persons who have experienced domestic, sexual and gang violence in their home countries to claim protection through the US immigration system. This volume brings together contributions from experienced expert witnesses, asylum attorneys, and immigration rights advocates to provide direct, practical guidance for current and prospective expert witnesses and their attorney colleagues, thereby disseminating best practices and facilitating the expansion of academics ready and willing to provide expert testimony for asylum cases.