Focusing on the role that deportation defense lawyers play in legitimizing the deportation regime, this talk addresses the responsibilities lawyers have when representing people within an unjust legal system. What does it mean for an immigration lawyer to genuinely earn the trust of undocumented communities and become an abogade de confianza? Borja explores how lawyers can work alongside families, community organizers, and participatory defense campaigns to challenge detention and deportation. So doing, they can help center the leadership of criminalized people by supporting mutual aid efforts, court watch projects, and freedom campaigns. Borja's public talk casts light on what effective immigration advocacy can look like and encourages us to rethink the conventional wisdom that good legal representation alone is enough to produce justice.
Yvette Borja is an Acting Assistant Professor of Lawyering at NYU Law. A previous inaugural Laura E. G贸mez Teaching Fellow on Latinx People and the Law at UCLA School of Law, Borja has published articles in the UCLA Chicanx Latinx Law Review and the NYU Journal of lnternational Law and Politics. Borja hosts and produces the Radio Cachimbona podcast, which has over 180,000 total downloads. Apple Podcasts featured Radio Cachimbona for Latinx Heritage Month and Women's History Month.
- Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CLACS)
- Romance Studies
- Program in Latino/a Studies in the Global South