Practical Considerations for Serving as an Expert Witness for Central American Asylum Cases

The decision for academics, especially ethnographers whose contributions involve rapport and friendship, to serve as expert witnesses, particularly for the growing numbers of applicants from northern Central America, should involve ethical and professional considerations. While expert witnesses do not determine the veracity of individual cases, they should at least reflect when people from populations they know are disadvantaged and under various threats call for help. Professionally, academics should ask if they are really "experts" for the cases at hand, the cases are credible, and the number of requests they can handle before compromising other work obligations

Disadvantaged · Ethnography · Expert witness · Friendship · Political science · Public relations · Sociology · Witness · Work (physics · Engineering · Interpreting and Communication in Healthcare · Law · Migration, Health and Trauma · Psychology · Qualitative Research Methods and Ethics · Social Psychology