Matthew Boaz
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About Matthew
Boaz's scholarship is concerned with the intersection of criminal law and immigration law, critical theory, abolition, and issues related to immigration proceedings, including detention and universal representation. Prior to teaching, Boaz was a Senior Detention Attorney with the Immigrant Rights Project of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) in Newark, NJ, where he represented individuals held in immigration detention centers while in removal proceedings. He is a graduate of Georgetown University Law Center (J.D., with a certificate in Refugees and Humanitarian Emergencies).
Contributions
Could You be Deported?
In the News
Publications
Considers whether and how theories of abolition developed by criminal law scholars are transferrable to the realm of immigration enforcement. Identifies and illuminates a methodology adopted by critical and decarceral criminal law scholars: (i) denouncing the harms of a structural system, (ii) identifying the normative justification(s) for this system, and (iii) proposing alternatives that might better satisfy these principles.
Considers how speculative fiction was wielded by the Trump administration to implement destructive U.S. immigration policy. Proposes that the harmful outcomes are not due to the use of speculative fiction, but rather the failure to consider the speculative voices of those who have been historically marginalized within the United States. Argues that radical imagination could help produce better immigration policies.
Primarily relies on a fiscal argument that has broader appeal than the typical theoretical underpinnings of an abolitionist framework. Proposes that funds that would normally fuel the immigration detention apparatus instead be reallocated to local non-profits and public defender offices. These local organizations could provide universal representation in immigration proceedings.