Analysis of two court cases involving indigenous migrants, one in Oaxaca and one in California, shows what justice means for these people, how the effects of the state are constructed, and what kind of relationships people establish with what we call the state and the justice system. Despite the differences between the two cases, the indigenous subjects involved ended up experiencing these situations in similar ways. They live on the margins of the state and are largely removed from the law as a procedure and justice as an ideal. © 2014 Latin American Perspectives.

Indigenous migrants injustice Law State Ethnography

California ethnic group state role Mexico [North America] ethnicity cultural tradition indigenous population United States Oaxaca law enforcement