Law Commons^™

Immigration And Nationality, Robert Charles Hill, Dana Neacsu

Law Faculty Publications

During the year 2000, there were significant developments in immigration law and policy with respect to employment-based immigration, family visas, asylum regulations and jurisprudence, refugee admissions, Temporary Protection Status (TPS) designations, and the implementation of the United Nations Torture Convention.

The net effect of changes in employment-based immigration was a gain to both the business community and to immigrants under most categories. There was a virtual unanimous consent among lawmakers to increase the number of temporary H-1B specialty workers in the United States and to ameliorate some of the unintended consequences of previous legislation such as the Illegal Immigration Reform …

The Dynamics Of The Illegal Immigration Reform And Immigrant Responsibility Act Of 1996: The Splitting-Up Of American Families, Emma O. Guzman

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract Forthcoming

Sentenced To Purgatory: The Indefinite Detention Of Mariel Cubans, Yvette M. Mastin

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Indefinite detention of Cuban immigrants is unconstitutional. Immigrants detained in American jails are being treated the same as individuals serving criminal sentences or awaiting disposition of their cases. Congress should, therefore, create a mandatory and uniform system of procedural due process. The system should be modeled after the procedural due process system established by the Kansas Legislature in the Kansas Sexually Violent Predator Act of 1994.  Although the U.S. Supreme Court has yet to rule on the indefinite detention of the Mariel Cubans, lower courts have held that the indefinite detention of Mariel Cubans does not violate the Constitution. Nonetheless, …

Beyond The Supreme Court: A Modest Plea To Improve Our Asylum System, Andrew I. Schoenholtz

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Moderating a session at the Workshop on the Supreme Court and Immigration and Refugee Law at the Georgetown University Law Center, Peter Spiro asked just how important the Supreme Court really is to refugee and immigration law. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court has actively interpreted the Refugee Convention and Protocol, and its decisions have had an adverse affect on important protection issues. James Hathaway knows this well. Yet his article focuses on the two Supreme Court decisions that most practitioners and scholars agree have not translated into serious protection problems in the United States or abroad.

American-Arab -- Getting The Balance Wrong -- Again!, John A. Scanlan

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Call And Response: The Particular And The General, John A. Scanlan

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Book Annotations, Leah Chan Grinvald

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Detention Of Asylum-Seekers In The United States, Barbara Cochrane Alexander

Human Rights Brief

No abstract provided.

Race And Immigration Law: A Paradigm Shift?, George A. Martinez

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

For many years, controversies impacting many areas of legal scholarship have left the field of immigration law virtually untouched. Thus, although other areas of law have felt the critique advanced by critical scholars, immigration law has proceeded as a virtually self-contained unit. In doing so, immigration law has developed a paradigm for legal research.

As Thomas Kuhn uses the term, a paradigm, or normal science, "suppl[ies] the foundation" for research in the area. Scholars who participate in a shared paradigm "are committed to the same rules and standards" for research, and the paradigm "define[s] the legitimate problems and methods of …

The International Refugee Rights Regime, James C. Hathaway

Book Chapters

The origins of refugee rights are closely intertwined with the emergence of the general system of international human rights law. Like international human rights, the refugee rights regime is a product of the twentieth century. Its contemporary codification by the United Nations took place just after the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and was strongly influenced by the Declaration's nonnative structure. More fundamentally, however, the refugee rights regime draws heavily on the earlier precedents of the law of responsibility for injuries to aliens and international efforts to protect national minorities.

In this overview of the refugee rights …

Current Trends In Illegal Reentry Cases, Stephen W. Yale-Loehr, Rachel J. Valente

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

As the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) begins removing more and more aliens, a growing number are reentering illegally after their removal. Many of those reentering do not realize that by doing so they are committing a crime. The case law in this area is quite complex and fraught with constitutional considerations. This article provides an overview of the crime of illegal reentry under Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) § 276.

Texas Workers' Compensation: A Ten-Year Survey - Strengths, Weaknesses, And Recommendations., Phil Hardberger

St. Mary's Law Journal

The present Texas Workers’ Compensation system began development in January of 1989 and has been in effect since 1991. Texas is the only state in which workers’ compensation coverage is optional. Alternative benefits plans are provided in some cases; however, many injured workers receive less than they would under the Texas Workers’ Compensation system. The current system uses supplemental income benefits (SIBs), meaning injured workers can be cut off from benefits if they are less than 15% impaired, and the maximum time to appeal each case is ninety days (Rule 130.5(e)). The 71st Texas Legislature focused on decreasing attorney involvement …

Creative Sanctions For Discovery Abuse In Texas., Travis C. Headley

St. Mary's Law Journal

Creative sanctions are necessary to deter litigants from abusing the discovery process. Under both the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, creative sanctions are allowed and within a judge’s discretion. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37 and Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 215 provide judges a non-exhaustive list of available sanctions to deter abusive discovery practices. Nonetheless, discovery abuse has continued to escalate, and limited precedence exists in the field despite the increased use of sanctions. An unprecedented creative sanction was imposed by Judge Brotman of the District Court for the Virgin Islands. On …

Much Ado About Spam: Unsolicited Advertising, The Internet, And You., Scot M. Graydon

St. Mary's Law Journal

Internet users need protection from unsolicited commercial emails (UCEs), and this protection should come from federal legislation. Despite seventeen states having passed some sort of legislation regulating UCEs, this is insufficient to protect Internet users from UCEs. State laws are not uniformed and UCEs frequently cross state lines. Internet advertisers prefer commercial emails because of the ability to market to millions of consumers at a low cost. Consumers, however, suffer delays to their Internet access because of the amount of data UCEs accumulate, and in some cases may have to pay additional fees if they exceed the data limits of …

A Holy Mess: School Prayer, The Religious Freedom Restoration Act Of Texas, And The First Amendment., David S. Stolle

St. Mary's Law Journal

In Employment Division, Department of Human Resources of Oregon v. Smith, the U.S. Supreme Court held the traditional compelling state interest standard for Free Exercise Clause jurisprudence should be replaced by a new test requiring a statute or government action to be facially neutral and generally applicable. In response to Smith, Congress, relying on its Enforcement Clause powers under the Fourteenth Amendment, attempted to resurrect the compelling state interest standard by passing the Religious Freedom of Restoration Act (RFRA). In June 1999, the Texas legislature passed the Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act (TRFRA). This Comment argues the TRFRA is unnecessary …

Forward To Amicus Brief On The Status Of Palestinian Refugees Under International Refugee Law, Guy Goodwin-Gill, Susan M. Akram

Faculty Scholarship

Palestinian refugees have a status that is unique under international refugee law. Unlike any other group or category of refugees in the world, Palestinians are singled out for exceptional treatment in the major international legal instruments which govern the rights and obligations of states towards refugees: the 1951 Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol; the Statute of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees; and, specifically with regard to the Palestinians, the Regulations governing the mandate of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East. Almost all states …

Recommendations For Durable Solutions For Palestinian Refugees: A Challenge To The Oslo Framework, Susan M. Akram, Terry Rempel

Faculty Scholarship

I. Introduction ...................................................................................................... 2 II. International Legal Framework and the Palestinian Refugees .................... 9 A. The International Scheme of Refugee Protection and Protection of Stateless Persons .................................................................................................... 9
B. The Regime for Protection of Palestinian Refugees - Three Provisions and Three Agencies ......................................................................... 16
C. The Standard Interpretation of the Provisions Applying to the Status of Palestinian Refugees and Stateless Persons, and their Ramifications ........................................................................................................... 22
D. Reinterpreting the Provisions Based on Plain Language ....................... 27
E. Reinterpreting the Provisions in Light of the Drafting History and their Scope and Purpose ..................................................................................... 31 III. Durable Solutions and Palestinian Refugees ........................................... …