On Friday, November 4th, LAS 362/ ANT 362/ LAO 362, also known as Central Americans and Asylum in the United States taught by Professor Amelia Frank-Vitale, a Postdoctoral Research Associate at PLAS, went to the Newark immigration court. Throughout the course of the semester, students enrolled in the class have dived into the theory, ethics, and history of the idea of international protection, while looking specifically at how Central Americans have engaged with the US asylum system over time. Beginning with an understanding of who qualifies for refugee protection, students have studied how the process has evolved and what that means for human rights across borders. As a semester-long project, the students have been working on research to put together country conditions reports to assist in real cases. This work is done with the collaboration of a consulting attorney, Stephanie Norton, from the Seton Hall Law School in Newark. 

The trip to the Newark immigration court allowed these students to further understand the initial steps in the asylum application process. After a morning of immigration court hearings, students were able to sit down and speak to the head immigration judge of the Newark court, where they asked about the specifics of the asylum process, what it means to hold the position of immigration judge, and how the courts have adapted to how claims for asylum have changed over the years. Following this, students sat down with a panel of immigration lawyers from the Seton Hall Immigrants’ Rights/International Human Rights Law Clinic to ask about how it is to represent an asylum seeker, before returning to campus.