Over the past decade, hundreds of thousands of Latin American citizens have sought asylum in the United States. They have fled for many reasons including political, religious, and ethnic persecution. But most have sought refuge from the increasing levels of criminal violence employed by drug cartels, kidnapping gangs and the notorious Central American "maras". They have encountered a United States where the pledge to "give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe" is now more bumper sticker than serious policy. ICE squads raid businesses and private homes and lock detainees in privately-owned deportation centers for years on end; children are separated from their families; and women are forcibly sterilized.

​Many of these detainees can barely afford lawyers fees let alone an expert to back up their asylum case. As a result, over the past five years I have been employing my knowledge of drug cartels and organized crime in Mexico (and to a much lesser extent in Central America) to help fight many of these asylum seekers' cases. In this talk, I will offer some insights from my work, some of the more harrowing stories of both criminal violence and US policy, and some reflections on how academic work can affect real world problems.

Join us in the History Common Room on Teams