Other Law Commons^™

Refugee Credibility Assessment And The “Religious Imposter” Problem, Michael Kagan

Scholarly Works

Credibility assessment in refugee status determination (RSD) poses unique challenges when the outcome of asylum applications turns on the question of whether an asylum seeker is actually a member of a persecuted religious minority. These cases require secular adjudicators to delve into matters of religious identity and faith that are, by their nature, subjective and beyond the realm of objective analysis. This Article explores practical means of addressing this challenge through a case study of the RSD interviews of Eritrean asylum seekers in Egypt who based their refugee claims on Pentecostal religious associations. Analysis of the interview methods used in …

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 …

Aliens In Our Midst Post-9/11: Legislating Outsider-Ness Within The Borders, Sylvia R. Lazos, Raquel E. Aldana

Scholarly Works

Three recent books written by Professors Bill Ong Hing, Kevin R. Johnson, and Victor C. Romero provide skillfully crafted roadmaps with which to understand the key emerging issues that will shape immigration law well into the next decade: the relationship of immigration control to national security. This Review captures the insights provided by these three authors to examine the restrictive laws and policies aimed at noncitizens in the name of national security as highlighted by the current efforts to federalize driver’s licenses. As this Review explains, these three books map the current antagonistic attitudes towards noncitizens post 9/11, and serve …

“Latina/Oization” Of The Midwest: Cambio De Colores (Changes Of Colors) As Agromaquilas Expand Into The Heartland, Sylvia R. Lazos

Scholarly Works

This article focuses on important developments in Latina/o experience in the United States. Latinas/os are now the majority minority group in the United States. Increasingly, Latinas/os are rural dwellers, living in areas without a historical Latina/o presence. Latinas/os are no longer concentrated into the land geography that was Mexico prior to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Rather, the most recent wave of Latina/o immigration has dispersed settlement throughout the United States. This article discusses these changes in Midwest rural communities, and describes this new pattern of Latina/o immigration to the United States. The article then focuses on the cultural, socio-economic, …

Missouri, The “War On Terrorism,” And Immigrants: Legal Challenges Post 9/11, Sylvia R. Lazos

Scholarly Works

This article explains how the 2000 census confirmed what many already knew--the traditional image of what it means for Missouri to be a heartland state is changing. The 2000 census shows that the fastest growing racial/ethnic group in Missouri are Latinos. This growth in first generation immigrants has not been limited to Missouri's large urban centers. In rural Missouri and its small towns, the major group of first generation immigrants is Latinos.

Critical Race Theory And Autobiography: Can A Popular Genre Make A Serious Academic Contribution?, Sylvia R. Lazos

Scholarly Works

This Essay reviews “Notes of a Racial Caste Baby, Colorblindness and the End of Affirmative Action” by Bryan K. Fair, “How Did You Get to Be a Mexican? a White/Brown Man's Search for Identity” by Kevin R. Johnson, and “To be an American: Cultural Pluralism and the Rhetoric of Assimilation” by Bill Ong Hing. This Essay examines the potential contributions each book makes to legal scholarship and the popular press. The Essay first describes how each author uses the autobiographical narrative and what these narratives accomplish. The Essay examines each book's legal agenda and assesses how well each author achieves …