Law Commons^™

Sovereignty Migrates In Us And Mexican Law: Transnational Influences In Plenary Power And Non-Intervention, Ernesto Hernandez-Lopez

Ernesto A. Hernandez

Mexico and the US exercise increasingly transnational, less absolute, sovereignty with respect to migration. This is evident in changes to Mexico's norm of non-intervention (NIV) and the US' plenary power doctrine (PPD), two doctrines sourced in international sovereignty. Both historically defined sovereign authority in absolute terms, avoiding any foreign influence or domestic limitation. NIV prohibits Mexican foreign relations from interfering in another state's domestic affairs. Traditionally it barred a foreign policy on migrants in the US, leading to Mexico's 'no policy' on migrants. PPD labels immigration law as immune from judicial review because the political branches have complete, 'plenary,' authority …

Special Project: Current Issues In Immigration, Anna Byrne

Vanderbilt Law Review

These words, so famously engraved upon a plaque inside the Statue of Liberty, have become an anachronism in modern American politics. In recent years our society has witnessed a maelstrom arise concerning immigration law and enforcement, with vocal factions spouting angry vitriol about the need to tighten borders and crack down on illegal immigration. Intense debate was sparked 2006 after the House of Representatives passed a restrictive bill that called for a wall to be built along 700 miles of the U.S.-Mexican border, criminalized the aiding or encouraging of illegal immigrants to remain in the country, and imposed new penalties …

Barring Too Much: An Argument In Favor Of Interpreting The Immigration And Nationality Act Section 101(A)(42) To Include A Duress Exception, Nicole Lerescu

Vanderbilt Law Review

The asylum system is in disarray. The United States is unable to guarantee that every asylum seeker will receive a fair and impartial hearing. Although media attention recently has focused on the asylum system's procedural flaws, unjust statutory interpretations also work against those seeking refuge in the United States. This Note focuses on one particular example within this commonly criticized area of the law: the prevailing interpretation of section 101(a)(42) of the Immigration and Nationality Act to bar those who have persecuted others under duress from attaining refugee status.

It is intuitively appealing that a system of laws should hold …

Immigrants And Their International Money Flows, Susan Pozo Editor

Upjohn Press

This book consists of a series of studies on the topic of international migration with an emphasis on workers' remittances. Chapters cover the impact of remittances on economic development and the interplay of immigration policies with human capital acquisition and labor markets in out-migration areas.

Statute Of Liberty?, Emily A. Harrell

Emily A Harrell

This essay presents a brief overview of the United States’ immigration policy with respect to sponsorship laws, as well as a brief introduction to the Federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and how it has affected these laws. This essay also illustrates the extent of judicial deference toward Congress in the realm of immigration. Following this introductory material, there is a discussion of the traditional and modern view of homosexuals as pertains to immigration law. Aside from an analysis of the sponsorship laws, this essay also glances at the exigent circumstances that create loopholes for homosexuals in immigration law, such …

Municipal Overreaching; Federal Preemption As It Applies To Town Ordinances Outlawing The Rental Of Housing To Undocumented Aliens, Hayden Patrick O'Byrne

Hayden Patrick O'Byrne

Within the past year or so a handful of towns around the United States have passed ordinances prohibiting undocumented aliens from renting housing. This paper explores how these ordinances are incompatible with the Federal Immigration Scheme and preempted by Federal Law.

The Immigrant Rights Marches (Las Marchas): Did The "Gigante" (Giant) Wake Up Or Does It Still Sleep Tonight?, Sylvia R. Lazos

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Employers On The Fence: A Guide To The Immigratory Workplace, Natalie Prescott

Natalie Prescott

The Article discusses potential problems employers across the nation face when hiring, promoting, or employing foreign workers. It gives practical advice to employers on how to prevent discriminatory practices and avoid discrimination lawsuits and penalties and serves as an abbreviated employer's manual to immigration law.

Temporary Protected Status: An Immigration Statute That Redefines Traditional Notions Of Status And Temporariness, Eva Segerblom

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Recovering The Face-To-Face In American Immigration Law, Marie Failinger

Faculty Scholarship

Professor Failinger’s article begins with stories of the Chinese Exclusion period and modern Arizona border immigration. Tracing Emmanuel Levinas’ argument about violence and totalization of the vulnerable Other as it is manifested in discriminatory legislation in these periods, she argues for a return to the Face-to-Face in deciding immigration requests for admission to the U.S. through a rubric of equitable guided discretion.

Open Or Closed: Balancing Border Policy With Human Rights, Elizabeth M. Bruch

Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Living Among Guatemalan Mayans Is Fascinating Experience, Irene Scharf

Faculty Publications

I have just lived a dream. Five years ago I learned of a school where students of all ages could study Spanish intensively while living among the Guatemalan Mayans. Peace Accords had been signed in 1996, the government was encouraging tourism, and it was, finally, safe to visit.

Why a dream? Because, 25 years ago, when I traveled through Central and South America, I promised my family I would avoid Guatemala because of the perceived was dangers. During that trip, as I met my Europeans and other who had visited, remained safe, and found it a fascinating country, I vowed …

Introduction To Morality, Justice And The Law, M. Katherine B. Darmer

M. Katherine B. Darmer

MORALITY, JUSTICE AND THE LAW is a co-edited volume pulling together selections on theories of the moral underpinnings of law, morality and lawyering (including the religious lawyering movement), civil disobedience, capital punishment and immigration. The book was published by Prometheus Books in 2007.

Canons, The Plenary Power Doctrine And Immigration Law, Brian G. Slocum

Brian G. Slocum

There is a fundamental dichotomy in immigration law. On one hand, courts have consistently maintained that Congress has “plenary power” over immigration and reject most constitutional challenges on that basis. On the other hand, courts frequently use canons of statutory construction in an aggressive fashion to help interpret immigration statutes in favor of aliens. Immigration scholars have almost exclusively focused on the plenary power doctrine. They have either ignored the important role that canons have played in immigration law or have viewed canons as serving only a temporary and marginally legitimate role as substitutes for the lack of constitutional rights …

Blackwater And The Privatization Of Immigration Control, Robert E. Koulish

Robert E. Koulish

This paper documents the privatization of immigration control being led by the Blacwater Inc. invasion of the border. Preety much the same time that Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki said he would expel Backwater from Iraw, Salon Magazine documented that Blackwater was headed to the US-Mexico Border. I argue that Blackwater symbolizes the privatization of immigration control as well as a larger integration of immigration control with what Klein refers to as a post 9/11 neo-liberal economic shock doctrine. The paper focuses on how the Courts have participated in in the phenomenon through "non-decision," with a focus on the patriot act, …

Curbing Day Laborers: Anti-Solicitation Ordinances, Commercial Speech, And Hiring Centers. A User's Guide To Protecting Municipalities From Day Labor-Related Lawlessness And Litigation, Jon D. Feere

Jon D Feere

As Americans across the country become increasingly frustrated by continuous violations of immigration laws, many legal groups aimed at suing city, state, and federal governments have been created with the hope that increased pressure will result in increased enforcement. Laws not originally designed to specifically address immigration issues, such as the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), and basic laws of trespass are being used by the public to creatively fight immigration violations. At the same time, state and local governments are also discovering a need to act creatively in managing the massive increase of illegal immigrants moving into …

Border Vigilantism And Comprehensive Immigration Reform, Christopher J. Walker

Christopher J. Walker

While many actors and conditions contribute to the problems at the border, one set of actors has been unexplainably missing from the literature and policy analysis: border vigilantes. These vigilantes have painted the border as a dangerous locus of criminal and terrorist activity, necessitating concerned citizen sentinels. They have blitzed the public with portrayals about the number of migrants crossing the border illegally and the need for law enforcement to increase border protection. Their message is powerful because they back their rhetoric with action: these individuals camp out near popular desert border-crossing points, document the rate of undocumented migration, and …

Immigration Relief For Human Trafficking Victims: Focusing The Lens On The Human Rights Of Victims, Carole Angel

Women, Leadership & Equality

No abstract provided.

Crossing Borders: Loving V. Virginia As A Story Of Migration, Victor C. Romero

Journal Articles

The struggle of binational same-gender partners today parallels the struggles of Mildred and Richard Loving during the heyday of the Civil Rights Movement - not only in the obvious parallels between race and sexual orientation as barriers to freedom, but also in the way the law uses these immutable characteristics to limit the freedom of movement. It is this freedom of movement - this migration or immigration - that I want to focus on in this essay. Lest we forget, the Lovings' story is, importantly, a story of migration: It's a story of the great lengths to which an interracial …

Flying The Mexican Flag In Los Angeles, Anupam Chander

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Engagements Across National Borders, Then And Now, Nancy Foner

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Against Citizenship As A Predicate For Basic Rights, David D. Cole

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Welcome To Hazelton - Illegal Immigrants Beware, Karla M. Mckanders

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

On July 13, 2006, the city of Hazleton made national news as the first municipality in the country to pass ordinances against illegal immigrants. The majority of municipal legislation that passed regulated the employment of undocumented workers. The ordinances resulted from municipal perceptions that the federal government has failed to enact and enforce comprehensive immigration legislation. Thereafter, several states and municipalities across the country passed ordinances against illegal immigration. Since then, the federal courts have been inundated with lawsuits challenging the validity of municipal ordinances.

This article delves into the profound impact that municipal ordinances that sanction businesses for employing …

Emerging Latina/O Nation And Anti- Immigrant Backlash, Sylvia R. Lazos

Scholarly Works

This foreword is an introduction to the LatCrit XI, Working and Living in the Global Playground: Frontstage and Backstage symposium, convened at William S. Boyd School of Law, in Las Vegas Nevada, during October 2006 and called upon over 150 academics to focus on the impacts of globalization and immigration. At no time has LatCrit's critical approach of interconnecting the structures of inequality, the market forces of globalization, and the cultural hostility towards outsider groups been more relevant.

Backlash against immigrants, particularly Latina/o “illegals,” is on the rise. This Introduction seeks to outline the challenges that the current immigration quandary …

The Meaning Of American Citizenship In A Post-9/11 World, Peter H. Schuck

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Land Of The Free: Human Rights Violations At Immigration Detention Facilities In America, Caitlin J. Mitchel

LLM Theses and Essays

In America today, aliens who commit even minor visa violations can be detained in one of many immigration detention facilities throughout the U.S. These detainees may be transferred to a facility far away from their homes, families, and attorneys. While imprisoned in these detention facilities, some detainees are treated as and housed with criminals. Their substantive and procedural rights are limited and their human rights are violated. The U.S. laws that should protect them are the very laws that strip them of their rights to court proceedings, challenges of decisions regarding detention, and judicial review. By issuing substantial reservations, declarations, …

Sending The Bureaucracy To War, Elena Baylis, David Zaring

Articles

Administrative law has been transformed after 9/11, much to its detriment. Since then, the government has mobilized almost every part of the civil bureaucracy to fight terrorism, including agencies that have no obvious expertise in that task. The vast majority of these bureaucratic initiatives suffer from predictable, persistent, and probably intractable problems - problems that contemporary legal scholars tend to ignore, even though they are central to the work of the writers who created and framed the discipline of administrative law.

We analyze these problems through a survey of four administrative initiatives that exemplify the project of sending bureaucrats to …

The Immigrant Rights Marches (Las Marchas): Did The “Gigante” (Giant) Wake Up Or Does It Still Sleep Tonight?, Sylvia R. Lazos

Scholarly Works

This article documents the genesis of the March 2006 immigrant rights protests and analyzes their impact. Las Marchas were truly spontaneous grassroots protests, the largest massive civil rights mobilization effort for a single event in the United States to date. This paper provides a macro- and micro-analysis of the forces that account for this success. First, the catalyst, HR 4437, a bill that was successfully approved by the House of Representatives would have criminalized illegal presence. This law was perceived as unjust, and engendered a debate around immigrant rights debate in terms with universal and simple appeal, human dignity, the …

Refugee Solution, Or Solutions To Refugeehood?, James C. Hathaway

Articles

This is the text of a lecture delivered by James C. Hathaway in London in October 2006 to mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of the founding of Jesuit Refugee Service. The lecture was sponsored jointly by the Centre for the Study of Human Rights, London School of Economics; the Heythrop Institute for Religion, Ethics, and Public Life; and Jesuit Refugee Service (UK).

Selecting By Origin: Ethnic Migration In The Liberal State By Christian Joppke (Book Review), David Abraham

Articles

No abstract provided.