Law Commons^™

The Ciudades Modelo Project: Testing The Legality Of Paul Romer’S Charter Cities Concept By Analyzing The Constitutionality Of The Honduran Zones For Employment And Economic Development, Michael R. Miller

Michael R Miller

Over the last several years, the Honduran government has been aggressively advancing a "model cities" project that it argues will provide options for its citizens to escape the extreme violence in their country without migrating to the U.S. The model cities, which are formally called "Zones for Employment and Economic Development" ("ZEDEs"), are purported to be autonomously governed areas that will attract foreign investment and compete for residents by establishing safer communities and better managed institutions governed by the rule of law.

The ZEDEs trace their origin to a concept formulated by development economist Paul Romer, who proposed the idea …

An “I Do” I Choose: How The Fight For Marriage Access Supports A Per Se Finding Of Persecution For Asylum Cases Based On Forced Marriage, Natalie Nanasi

Natalie Nanasi

There is something special about marriage. The U.S. Supreme Court, in striking down anti-miscegenation laws, restrictions on the right to marry for disadvantaged groups, and most recently, the Defense of Marriage Act, has long recognized the marital union to be “sacred” and “fundamental to…existence.” Yet this analysis is dramatically different when courts consider asylum law, where a woman who is seeking refuge in the United States to protect her from a forced marriage abroad will likely be denied protection because the harm she fears is not considered to be a “persecutory” act. She may therefore be forced to spend a …

Legitimate Persecution: The Effect Of Asylum’S Nexus Clause, Nicholas Bolzman

Nicholas Bolzman

The United States adopted its first comprehensive asylum law in 1980, after various ad hoc attempts to craft an immigration scheme for those fleeing persecution had limited success. While the 1980 law does correct for many prior problems, it still retains some arbitrary limitations. Specifically, the requirement that applicants show persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion creates significant hurdles for those whose persecution is not disputed, but whose persecutors’ motives are based on something else. Examples are persecution based on gender, FGM, sexual orientation, recruitment as child soldiers, and those …

A Criminal’S Path To The American Dream: Extradition As A Drug Enforcement Policy Tool, Laura A. Gavilan

Laura A Gavilan

This article explores a little-known avenue of immigration to the United States: the path that criminals from other nations embark on when they are extradited to the United States and, through cooperation agreements with law enforcement, are able to obtain immigration benefits and legal status. To illustrate this phenomenon, this article outlines the case of the United States’ war on drugs, which has led to the extradition of hundreds of Colombian drug traffickers and paramilitary leaders to the United States during the past two decades. While many of these extradited individuals have been deported back to Colombia after fulfilling their …

A Criminal’S Path To The American Dream: Extradition As A Drug Enforcement Policy Tool, Laura A. Gavilan

Laura A Gavilan

This article explores a little-known avenue of immigration to the United States: the path that criminals from other nations embark on when they are extradited to the United States and, through cooperation agreements with law enforcement, are able to obtain immigration benefits and legal status. To illustrate this phenomenon, this article outlines the case of the United States’ war on drugs, which has led to the extradition of hundreds of Colombian drug traffickers and paramilitary leaders to the United States during the past two decades. While many of these extradited individuals have been deported back to Colombia after fulfilling their …

Denying Freedom Rather Than Securing The Country: National Security Is Undermined By Laws Governing Battered Immigrants, Eve Tilley-Coulson

Eve Tilley-Coulson

Relief for battered immigrants is not an obvious national security matter per se, yet remedies are enacted in conjunction with stringent interpretations of immigration law, as though victims pose a security threat. Discrepancies exist between the immigration laws themselves—which attempt to secure the United States from disease, violence, and illegal activity—and the loopholes within remedies under these laws, unnecessarily removing victims and perpetuating a cycle of fear and abuse. By displacing the victim, rather than the abuser, the government allows the cycle of violence to continue, while simultaneously breaking up families and creating disorder and instability. The economic and societal …

Denying Freedom Rather Than Securing The Country: National Security Is Undermined By Laws Governing Battered Immigrants, Eve Tilley-Coulson

Eve Tilley-Coulson

Relief for battered immigrants is not an obvious national security matter per se, yet remedies are enacted in conjunction with stringent interpretations of immigration law, as though victims pose a security threat. Discrepancies exist between the immigration laws themselves—which attempt to secure the United States from disease, violence, and illegal activity—and the loopholes found within remedies under these laws, unnecessarily removing victims and perpetuating a cycle of fear and abuse. This paper addresses how relief for battered immigrants, when implemented with the priority of protecting national security and immigration legislation, creates and perpetuates negative societal consequences. The economic and societal …