Judging Justice: The Hidden Dynamics of Immigration Courts and Asylum Adjudication

Immigration Court sits within the executive branch, under the Department of Justice. This gives the Attorney General and, indirectly, the White House, unusual leverage to translate political priorities directly into the courtroom. The current federal administration is using this authority to rapidly reshape asylum adjudication by restricting the role of the court and the decision-making power of judges by enacting rule changes that divert or terminate cases before hearings take place. Anthropologists Amelia Frank-Vitale and Lauren Heidbrink will examine how immigration judges and other courtroom actors respond, in real time, to sweeping procedural changes and shifting employment expectations and the extent to which due process protections can still function as a safeguard against these changes. They will conduct participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and surveys for their study.