Publications

Peer-Reviewed Articles

• Clair, Matthew, Jesus Orozco, and Iris H. Zhang. 2025. “Spatial burdens of state institutions: The case of criminal courthouses.” Social Service Review 99(2):201-257. (Runner-up for the Frank R. Breul Memorial Prize)
  https://doi.org/10.1086/734463
  • Abstract: This article theorizes how space shapes access to state institutions, and with what consequences. Drawing on 125 interviews and over 400 hours of ethnographic observations concerning two criminal courthouses within the same county, we identify four spatial features that differentially shape access while working alongside institutional rules and norms: functional distance, neighborhood social life, exterior built forms, and interior built forms. When they constrain access, these features constitute spatial burdens, which contribute to distinct institutional and collateral costs concentrated among marginalized groups. We theorize how these costs likely reproduce systemic patterns of inequality by extending people’s burdensome interactions with the state institution they seek to access and compelling them to interact with other state institutions that further the state’s power over their lives. The theory of spatial burdens has implications for the study of poverty governance and institutional inequality. 
• Romanello, Brittany, Gustavo Sanchez-Bachman, and Jesus Orozco. 2025. “Asylum Seekers’ Rights Denied and Border Communities Disrupted: Ethnographic Accounts on the 2023 Border Closure in Lukeville, Arizona.” Social Sciences 14(10):617.
  https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci14100617
  • Abstract: This paper examines the humanitarian, social, and economic disruptions resulting from the 2023–2024 closure of the Lukeville, Arizona, Port of Entry (PoE). Drawing on collaborative ethnographic fieldwork, including semi-structured and informal interviews, observation, and participation in local community events, we examine how a rural, unincorporated community handled a historic border closure. Further, we analyze how the closure impacted migrants, especially asylum seekers, who were excluded from protection due to bureaucratic and discretionary decision-making. The closure not only disrupted asylum access but also humanitarian aid networks, local economies, cross-border families, and Indigenous sovereignty, producing a geography of sanctioned neglect. These findings demonstrate how federal enforcement decisions, often made without considering borderland communities’ realities, frequently lead to their further destabilization while these areas are already navigating structural abandonment. We conclude with recommendations emphasizing harm reduction and preparation practices to mitigate future disruptions.
• Aguilar, Nathan, William Wical, Jesus Orozco, Mihir Chaudhary, Che Bullock, and Joseph Richardson. 2025. “Silent Suffering: Understanding the Experiences of Black Caregivers of Violently Injured Men.” Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research 16(1):145-166.
  https://doi.org/10.1086/725432
  • Abstract: Objectives: Young Black men (ages 15–34) experience the disproportionate burden of violence-related death and injury, largely due to firearms. They experience 10 times more gun homicides and 18 times more nonfatal firearm injuries than white Americans. The responsibility to support survivors often falls on Black women caregivers. However, the literature centering the experiences of these caregivers is sparse. Method: This paper uses a case-study approach focusing on the experiences and intersectionality of 5 Black women caregivers who were supporting Black men who sustained a nonfatal violent firearm injury. To understand the caregiving experience, we collected data between 2017 and 2018 from focus groups that included Black women caregivers. Results: Findings suggest four novel themes that capture the experience of Black women caregivers: (a) vicarious trauma, (b) emotionally disconnected, (c) the need for support groups, and (d) medical education regarding the physical and mental health needs of gunshot survivors. Conclusion: This study illuminates the challenges of caring for male gunshot survivors, highlights caregivers’ needs, and demonstrates the importance of hospital-based violence intervention programs. Findings underscore the role of social workers in supporting caregivers of young Black male gunshot survivors. Suggestions for promising social work services are offered.