Rodrigues, Jill

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6 Questions On: Providing Expert Witness Testimony for Asylum-Seekers

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Roger Williams UniversityDOCS@RWUFeatured News Story The Week at Roger6-25-20186 Questions On: Providing Expert WitnessTestimony for Asylum-SeekersJill RodriguesRoger Williams UniversityFollow this and additional works at: https://docs.rwu.edu/weekatroger_featured_newsPart of the Education CommonsThis News Article is brought to you for free and open access by the The Week at Roger at DOCS@RWU. It has been accepted for inclusion in FeaturedNews Story by an authorized administrator of DOCS@RWU. For more information, please contact mwu@rwu.edu.Recommended CitationRodrigues, Jill, "6 Questions On: Providing Expert Witness Testimony for Asylum-Seekers" (2018). Featured News Story. 112.https://docs.rwu.edu/weekatroger_featured_news/1126/26/2018 6 Questions On: Providing Expert Witness Testimony for Asylum-Seekers | Roger Williams Universityhttps://www.rwu.edu/news/news-archive/6-questions-providing-expert-witness-testimony-asylum-seekers 1/4 News Archive6 Questions On: Providing Expert Witness Testimonyfor Asylum-SeekersRWU Latin American history professor shares her expertise to save livesJune 25, 2018 Jill Rodrigues '05BRISTOL, R.I. – While the national conversation focuses on the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” immigrationpolicy along the nation’s southern border, a Latin American history professor at Roger Williams University has beenlending a critical voice to families seeking asylum in the U.S. from persecution and death in their native countries.Autumn Quezada de Tavarez, a modern Latin Americanist, has been providing expert witness testimony to asylumrequests of refugees  eeing Mexico, El Salvador and Nicaragua for the past year and a half. Expert witnesses are notpart of the legal team representing the asylum seeker, but rather an authority on subject matter crucial to the case.Her work bridges academic theory with meaningful practice to deliver impartial expertise on the threats individualshad confronted in their native countries and what they may face if denied asylum and returned home. O entimes, shesays, that means death – for them and their families.What is your role in these cases?I ground the client’s asylum appeal in local, state, and national context for the judge. The cases are harrowing, alwaysinvolving local and state corruption, murder, abuse, and organized crime. Attorneys need to have another voice inthe courtroom to help buoy their argument. It’s one thing for attorneys to talk about the real fears their clients have,but also important to have an outside, impartial voice to contextualize the real dangers to their lives if they went backhome.I’m about to begin one that is particularly scary for the client where many in the family have been assassinated largelydue to their local political a liations.How do you prepare expert witness testimony?I receive the case notes and handwritten testimony from the client and then begin researching the group perceivedas the threat. I document news stories, cite academic scholarly work and statistics that back up what the client issaying. I’m careful to use only credible sources. Then I construct a larger narrative around the client’s story, o en6/26/2018 6 Questions On: Providing Expert Witness Testimony for Asylum-Seekers | Roger Williams Universityhttps://www.rwu.edu/news/news-archive/6-questions-providing-expert-witness-testimony-asylum-seekers 2/4starting big and talking about the organized or governmental violence against indigenous peoples nationally, thenbring it down to the state and then speci c local level. The entire brief I provide is  lled with evidence, workingbackwards from the most current evidence.As of now, my work has been in the form of putting together a written narrative to help buoy the attorney’s argument,but I am always asked whether I’d be willing to give verbal testimony. I haven’t needed to yet, but am willing. What is taking place in these countries that’s causing people to  ee and seek protection?These countries are failed states where organized crime and extortion runs rampant. The government is incapable ofcapturing criminals or prosecuting the criminals, and o entimes the criminals are embedded in the police force.In Mexico, it’s much more organized and terrifying. The big issue in Mexico are the cartels who go a er families, orparamilitaries, which are smaller versions of a cartel. Paramilitaries operate within a region to terrorize people in orderto gain power and money; these organizations are integrated within the local political structure so there’s no recoursefor these families. Their lives are nothing, mean nothing, to these organizations. They simply are people that are in theway. Maybe it’s the land they live on that the paramilitary wants, or it’s the persecution of an ethnicity they want to getrid of.In El Salvador, the people fear MS-13 pulling in young children into gangs or extorting families. MS-13 extortseveryone, people on a city bus, businesses, politicians – whatever. They murder indiscriminately. If you get pulledinto MS-13, the only way out is death. There’s no getting out of it, whether you’re a guy or the girlfriend of a gangmember. That’s terrifying for families.In Nicaragua, instead of it being cartels, it’s local organized crime that extorts people and threaten their livelihoodand family.Most of the people we’re seeing trying to cross our border are coming from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.What must an expert witness possess to provide credible testimony? In order to do this work, you have to have knowledge not only about the country as a whole, but speci c areas of thecountry. And not just book knowledge – you have to have visited the country. My areas of expertise are Mexico, theDominican Republic, El Salvador, and Nicaragua. I feel comfortable that I’ve been in those countries enough andknow enough about their social, political and environmental history to be able to contextualize the problems.How did you get involved in doing this work?I had no idea about this kind of work until a professor friend of mine, also a Latin Americanist, visited me and she saiddoing this work is the most valuable thing she does in her  eld, because she’s helping an individual and putting herknowledge to good use. She urged me to get involved. I have another friend who works as an immigration attorneyand has been referencing me to attorneys on these cases. I also recently added my name to the University ofCalifornia, Hastings College of Law database of scholars willing to be an expert witness for asylum cases.With what’s been happening with detaining and deporting refugees at the border, a social media grassrootsmovement is growing among Latin American specialists. There’s been a call for action looking for academics withPh.D. standing who are willing to lend their credentials toward expert witness testimony. I’ve added my voice to thatto encourage others.6/26/2018 6 Questions On: Providing Expert Witness Testimony for Asylum-Seekers | Roger Williams Universityhttps://www.rwu.edu/news/news-archive/6-questions-providing-expert-witness-testimony-asylum-seekers 3/4I’m humbled to work as #expertwitnesstestimony#Latam expert consultant on#asylum cases. Seekers pursue #paino ear interview & months to make anappeal requests are valid & VERY real. Live in those shoes & walk that life.#whatwouldyoudo#immigration@myrwu@FitzProv#history— Otoño Quezada, PhD (@autumnquezada) June 20, 2018How do you conduct research on these dangerous groups while maintaining your own safety?The answer to that is I don’t know. The document I’m giving to the attorney is a history of very dangerous people, andmy name is going to be attached to it. The cases I’ve worked on have ranged from religious persecution, domesticviolence to major organized crime. You research these organized crime groups, write the narrative about what theydo and what could probably happen to the client if they return, and it's bone chilling. That is worrisome to me. Butit’s also really important because someone’s life is on the line.ACADEMICS LIFE @ RWU FEINSTEIN SCHOOL OF HUMANITIES, ART AND EDUCATIONShare This: REQUEST INFO VISIT CAMPUS APPLY MAKE A GIFTMap & DirectionsContact UsDirectoryNewsEventsAthleticsrwu.eduUndergraduate SiteGraduate SiteSchool of LawSchool of Continuing StudiesOne Old Ferry Road, Bristol, RI 028091-800-458-71446/26/2018 6 Questions On: Providing Expert Witness Testimony for Asylum-Seekers | Roger Williams Universityhttps://www.rwu.edu/news/news-archive/6-questions-providing-expert-witness-testimony-asylum-seekers 4/4    © 2018 Roger Williams University. All rights reserved.GMAIL AT RWU BRIDGES MY RWU IT HELP SITE POLICIES WORK AT RWU

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