Immigration Article of the Day: Anti-Carceral Theory and Immigration: A View from Two Law School Clinics by Sabrina Balgamwalla & Lauren Bartlett

Anti-Carceral Theory and Immigration: A View from Two Law School Clinics by Sabrina Balgamwalla & Lauren Bartlett, Wayne State University Law School Research Paper No. 2023-67

Abstract

This article explores clinical teaching philosophies related to anti-carceral theory and provides examples of how to support student learning in clinics serving immigrant clients. Anti-carceral theory in this context is used to refer to an approach that resists criminalization and incarceration within law, drawing on abolitionism, intersectional and anti-carceral feminism, and decolonization.

The anti-carceral lens provides framing and language to name the dynamics of social exclusion and discrimination inherent in immigration law. It also allows us to unpack immigration regulation as a series of choices made within the larger context of law enforcement and its systems of surveillance, policing, and confinement. This article is meant to encourage clinical faculty to integrate anti-carceral theory into teaching as a means for students to critically explore the law and their roles as advocates.

KJ