Citation

Longazel JG, Fleury-Steiner B. Theor. Criminol. 2013; 17(3): 359-376.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/1362480613491521

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Drawing on David Garland's (1996, 2001) observations about the 'limits of the sovereign state', we seek in this article to develop a critical understanding of the recent response in the USA to 'notario fraud'--an unlawful act committed when a non-lawyer poses as an immigration attorney. While efforts to protect immigrants from fraud on their surface represent a counter to recent anti-immigrant policies, our analysis of materials distributed by what we term an anti-notario fraud apparatus suggests that such activity amounts to neoliberal governance. Specifically, we study immigrant advocacy groups' discourse around the issue and argue that anti-notario efforts are akin to responsibilization. We also study how law enforcement officials discuss the issue and theorize how a one-dimensional framing of notarios as villains supports the neoliberal regime by protecting the state's sovereignty to manufacture what Nicholas De Genova (2002) has called 'deportability'.

Language: en