Expanding Immigrant Legal Capacity in a New Destination

• In Event: Methodological Challenges in Community-Engaged Research (Co-sponsored by the Sociology Advisory Network (SAN) and the Community on Community-Engaged Scholarship & Teaching (CEST))

Abstract

This paper examines how immigrants and their advocates navigate legal precarity in rural Massachusetts. It draws on ethnographic observations of a pilot legal clinic and interviews with immigrant clients and local advocates. I highlight how immigrants engage with formal and informal legal networks, outreach to public agencies, and pro bono support to address systemic gaps. My findings demonstrate how community-based interventions and relational knowledge can mitigate the risks of legal abandonment, offering a model for collaborative, context-sensitive approaches to civil law practice and immigrant legal support.

Author

• Phi Hong Su, Williams College