Catherine L. Crooke. “Frustration and Fidelity: How Public Interest Lawyers Navigate Procedure in the Direct Representation of Asylum Seekers.” Law & Society Review, vol. 58, no. 2 (2024): 270-293.
This study examines how public interest lawyers working with asylum seekers in Los Angeles aim to empower clients and promote justice, but are constrained by the restrictive and politicized U.S. immigration system. Based on 20 months of ethnographic research, the article shows that while lawyers seek collaborative and transformative approaches, complex legal procedures and bureaucratic barriers often limit their effectiveness. The politicization of immigration law undermines legal norms and impedes efforts to challenge systemic injustices, revealing the tension between legal ideals and real-world constraints.