Lee Ann S. Wang, "The Violence of Protection: Policing, Immigration Law, and Asian American Women" (Duke UP, 2026)

In this episode of New Books in Law, host Aileen Zhou interviews Professor Li-Anne Wong about her groundbreaking book, *The Violence of Protection: Policing, Immigration Law, and Asian American Women*, published by Duke University Press in 2026. Wong critically examines how U.S. legal protections for immigrant survivors of gender and sexual violence—such as the U visa, T visa, and provisions under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA)—are deeply entangled with law enforcement cooperation, effectively transforming survivors into state collaborators. Drawing on ethnographic research with legal advocates and community organizers in the Bay Area, Wong reveals how these 'protective' frameworks reproduce racialized and gendered state violence, particularly through the racialized construction of the 'good immigrant' versus 'bad immigrant' and the model minority myth. She argues that legal protection is not a remedy but a mechanism of punishment, normalizing surveillance and policing under the guise of rescue. Wong challenges the dominant narrative of victimhood in legal and feminist discourse, advocating instead for the term 'survivor' to center care, resistance, and community-based accountability over state-sanctioned validation. She situates her analysis within abolition feminism, emphasizing that protection through law enforcement perpetuates the very systems of violence it claims to address. The conversation explores how Asian American women are disproportionately affected by these legal logics, even when not the primary target of legislation, and how the nonprofit industrial complex and neoliberal state structures reinforce these dynamics. Ultimately, Wong calls for a radical reimagining of safety rooted in abolitionist politics, community care, and solidarity across racial and social lines, positioning her work as a vital intervention in both Asian American studies and feminist legal theory.