Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Law Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 31 - 38 of 38

Full-Text Articles in Law

Sharing Secrets Examining Deferred Action And Transparancy In Immigration Law, Shoba S. Wadhia Dec 2010

Sharing Secrets Examining Deferred Action And Transparancy In Immigration Law, Shoba S. Wadhia

Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia

This Article is about deferred action and transparency in related immigration cases falling under the jurisdiction of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). While scholars from other genres have written extensively on the topic of prosecutorial discretion, the subject is largely absent from immigration scholarship, with the exception of early research conducted by Leon Wildes in the late 1970s and early 2000s, and a law review article I published in 2010 outlining the origins of prosecutorial discretion in immigration law and related lessons that can be drawn from administrative law and criminal law. That article ends with specific recommendations for …


The Morton Memo And Prosecutorial Discretion An Overview, Shoba S. Wadhia Dec 2010

The Morton Memo And Prosecutorial Discretion An Overview, Shoba S. Wadhia

Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia

On June 17, 2011, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director John Morton issued two significant memoranda on the use of prosecutorial discretion in immigration matters. Prosecutorial discretion refers to the agency’s authority to not enforce immigration laws against certain individuals and groups. The primary memo (the Morton Memo on Prosecutorial Discretion) calls on ICE attorneys and employees to refrain from pursuing noncitizens with close family, educational, military, or other ties in the U.S. and instead spend the agency’s limited resources on persons who pose a serious threat to public safety or national security. Morton’s second memo focuses on exercising discretion …


Reading The Morton Memo Federal Priorities And Prosecutorial Discretion, Shoba Wadhia Jan 2010

Reading The Morton Memo Federal Priorities And Prosecutorial Discretion, Shoba Wadhia

Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia

On June 30, 2010, the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), John Morton, issued a memo to the agency that reflected the Obama administration’s oft repeated intent to focus removal efforts on serious offenders. Morton noted: In light of the large number of administrative violations the agency is charged with addressing and the limited enforcement resources the agency has available, ICE must prioritize the use of its enforcement personnel, detention space, and removal resources to ensure that the removals the agency does conduct promote the agency's highest enforcement priorities, namely national security, public safety, and border security. …


The Role Of Prosecutorial Discretion In Immigration Law, Shoba S. Wadhia Dec 2009

The Role Of Prosecutorial Discretion In Immigration Law, Shoba S. Wadhia

Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia

The concept of "prosecutorial discretion" appears in the immigration statute, agency memoranda and court decisions about select immigration enforcement decisions. Prosecutorial discretion extends to decisions about which offenses or populations to target; whom to stop, interrogate, and arrest; whether to detain or release a noncitizen; whether to initiate removal proceedings; and whether to execute a removal order; among other decisions. Similar to the criminal context, prosecutorial discretion in the immigration context is an important tool for achieving cost-effective law enforcement and relief for individuals who present desirable qualities or humanitarian circumstances. Yet there is a dearth of literature on the …


Business As Usual Immigration And The National Security Exception, Shoba S. Wadhia Dec 2009

Business As Usual Immigration And The National Security Exception, Shoba S. Wadhia

Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia

Javaid Iqbal is a native and citizen of Pakistan and a Muslim. After moving to the United States, Iqbal worked as a cable television installer on Long Island. Iqbal was one among hundreds of men apprehended and detained by the United States Department of Justice in the weeks that followed the September 11, 2001 attacks. Iqbal was held in a federal prison in Brooklyn, New York called the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC), for more than one year. In January 2002, Iqbal was transferred to the maximum security section of the jail known as the Administrative Maximum Special Housing Unit (ADMAX …


Under Arrest: Immigrants' Rights And The Rule Of Law, Shoba S. Wadhia Dec 2007

Under Arrest: Immigrants' Rights And The Rule Of Law, Shoba S. Wadhia

Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia

The discussion is broken down into four parts. First, I will review some basic historical points and terminology. Second, I will describe some of the government's immigration enforcement policies following the comprehensive immigration reform ("CIR") debate and the human consequences and concerns behind such policies. Third, I will describe the relevant legal authorities for arresting and detaining noncitizens. Finally, I will provide some recommendations for moving forward.


The Policy And Politics Of Immigrant Rights, Shoba S. Wadhia Dec 2006

The Policy And Politics Of Immigrant Rights, Shoba S. Wadhia

Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia

This article examines how immigration policies over the past decade have affected immigrant rights, scrutinizes administrative and legislative efforts to improve or eliminate these measures, and makes recommendations for advancing a due process agenda in the future. The first part of this article analyzes administrative and legislative proposals under four themes: 1) checks and balances, 2) punishment does not fit the crime, 3) judicial review, and 4) detention. The second part of this article identifies efforts to redress measures emanating from the 1996 immigration laws and policies issued after September 11, 2001. For example, it analyzes legislation introduced in the …


Immigration: Mind Over Matter, Shoba S. Wadhia Dec 2004

Immigration: Mind Over Matter, Shoba S. Wadhia

Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia

This article examines the current field of debate and legislation on immigration reform and related due process issues. "Comprehensive Immigration Reform" is an expression in the immigration debate and embraces five tenets. First, reform addresses the eleven million people who are living in the United States without documentation and specifically provide them with an incentive to make themselves known to the government, register for some kind of work visa, and if they wish, get on the path to permanent residence. Second, reform embodies what lobbyists in Washington, D.C. call the "future flow," which corresponds to the flow of people who …