Law Commons^™

Immigration Law, Bianca N. Dibella, Hannah L. Baskind

Mercer Law Review

This Article surveys cases from the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit from January 1, 2023, through December 31, 2023, in which immigration law was a central focus of the case. During this time, the Eleventh Circuit decided several of these cases. As such, the cases discussed herein are those that explore jurisdictional boundaries of the Eleventh Circuit’s appellate review of immigration cases, and those that interpret standards that impact an immigrant’s ability to obtain relief. This Article discusses (1) removal cancellation, including the court’s jurisdiction to review such decisions, the standard for removal cancellation, and the …

Immigration Law, Bianca N. Dibella, Michael C. Duffey

Mercer Law Review

This Article surveys cases from the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit from January 1, 2022 through December 31, 2022, in which immigration law was a central focus of the case. The Article begins with a discussion of cases addressing procedural and jurisdictional issues and the interpretation of decisions by lower and state courts. Then, the Article describes the Eleventh Circuit’s recent jurisprudence around discretionary relief from removal, asylum, and habeas corpus law.

An Ouroboros Of Sorts: Eleventh Circuit Remands To Bia As “Moral Turpitude” Continues Creating Division, Emma Blue

Mercer Law Review

The blue sky stretches endlessly across the open road, a red pickup coasting down the highway. The truck’s cabin is warm from the summer sun. A father holds the steering wheel in a loose grip, relaxed against the plastic bench seat. His daughter sits beside him, staring out the window at the sky ripping by—it’s them against the world, and for a breath, the peace is infinite. But then the deepest pothole snags the back wheel. The pickup veers off road in a chorus of metallic screeching. The father tries to correct, but the tire shudders against the dirt, careening …

Grabbing The Bull By The Horns: Jurisprudential, Ethical, And Other Lessons For Lawyers And Law Students In The Immigration Labyrinth And Beyond, Mark L. Jones

Articles

No abstract provided.

International Digital Nomads: Immigration Law Options In The United States And Abroad, Scott Titshaw

Articles

Remote work has become common, allowing many people to choose to work anywhere with an adequate internet connection. Some are adopting a “digital nomad” lifestyle, moving with the seasons or years from place to place, including foreign locations. Yet, such international movement raises immigration and other legal issues. Many countries have adopted specific digital nomad visas and other immigration policies to encourage and regulate this trend. The United States is not one of them. Arguing that the United States should consciously plan for digital nomads, this article compares the current U.S. approach with the innovations of other countries, identifying the …

Immigration Law, Bianca N. Dibella, Hannah Couch

Mercer Law Review

This Article surveys cases from the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit from January 1, 2021, through December 31, 2021, in which immigration law was a central focus of the case. The Article begins with a discussion of asylum relief, followed by summaries of cases disposed on procedural or jurisdictional grounds. It then discusses the standard of review the Eleventh Circuit applies to cases decided by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) and the Immigration Court. It then describes the Eleventh Circuit’s recent jurisprudence around issues of habeas corpus law.

Inheriting Citizenship, Scott Titshaw

Articles

Most of us become citizens at birth based either on our birthplace or our parents' citizenship status. Over thirty countries recognize birthplace citizenship, but inherited citizenship is nearly universal. Such universal legal rules are rare, and they are particularly remarkable in the context of citizenship, where state sovereignty is near its apex. This Article explores why inherited citizenship is necessary, even in nations recognizing birthplace citizenship. It surveys the history, definitions, purposes, current rules, politics, and global trends in this area and identifies three modern categories of birthright citizenship laws: primary inherited citizenship systems, dual inherited and birthplace systems, and …

Immigration Law, Bianca N. Dibella, Andrew J. Mueller

Mercer Law Review

This Article surveys cases from the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit from January 1, 2020 through December 31, 2020, in which immigration law was a central focus. During this time, the Eleventh Circuit decided hundreds of cases on immigration law related issues. The cases discussed herein are those that annunciate important issues, add flourishes to the existing standards and rules, offer important reminders of precedent and practice points, or otherwise illuminate the boundaries of the Eleventh Circuit’s immigration jurisprudence. This Article discusses: (1) the standard of judicial review of administrative decisions; (2) the procedural and jurisdictional …

Whose Job Is It Anyway: How The Statutory And Regulatory Scheme Prohibiting Employers From Hiring Undocumented Workers Falls Short Of Achieving Its Intended Purpose, Antonio Solomon

Mercer Law Review

Illegal immigration and jobs are and have been hot-button issues in American politics for quite some time. The further politicization of immigration policies and immigrants themselves in the 2016 presidential election cycle only exacerbated the prescience of America’s illegal immigration woes. Inflammatory rhetoric suggesting that illegal immigrants are “stealing” jobs from American citizens permeated the political landscape in 2016. Rhetoric, which, at the same time, gives little credence to the fact that some American companies and industries actively lure immigrant workers as a source of cheap labor, which, in turn, allows those companies to offer their goods and services to …

Immigration Defense Waivers In Federal Criminal Plea Agreements, Donna Lee Elm, Susan R. Klein, Elissa C. Steglich

Mercer Law Review

Immigration policy is back on the American public's radar screen. The fields of immigration--a civil-law subject-and criminal law-a public-law subject-are quite distinct in both litigation practice and law school curricula. With exceptions along the U.S.--Mexican border, only in a small minority of federal cases do criminal attorneys need to know more than some very basic premises of immigration law. Aside from some very general information necessary for defense attorneys to provide adequate advisements according to Padilla v. Kentucky to their clients before entering guilty pleas and Continued Legal Education (CLE) training regarding what offenses have severe immigration consequences, the body …

Immigration, Charles H. Kuck, Keith N. Jensen

Mercer Law Review

During the January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2015 survey period, the Eleventh Circuit courts decided hundreds of cases affecting immigration law. The following is a discussion of some of those decisions that clarified important issues pertaining to immigration law in the Eleventh Circuit.

Immigration, Charles H. Kuck, Keith N. Jensen

Mercer Law Review

During the January 1, 2013 to December 31, 2013 survey period, courts in the Eleventh Circuit decided hundreds of cases affecting immigration law. The following is a discussion of some of those decisions that clarified important issues pertaining to immigration law in the Eleventh Circuit.

Perpetual Congressional Inaction: State Regulation Of Immigration In Response To Lack Of Reform, Benjamin D. Galloway

Mercer Law Review

The debate over the issue of immigration has been raging for years now, culminating in a nationwide demand for general immigration law reform-with states attempting to take matters into their own hands by passing immigration enforcement laws. For the most part, these forays into immigration legislation by states have been struck down by the United States Supreme Court. However, as immigration reform looms in the future of Congressional action, open questions still remain as to what avenues states have left to participate in immigration regulation. This Comment will attempt to answer those questions by analyzing the development of immigration law …

The Beginning Of The End: United States V. Alabama And The Doctrine Of Self-Deportation, Benjamin D. Galloway

Mercer Law Review

In United States v. Alabama, a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit struck down several sections of Alabama's Hammon-Beason Alabama Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act (H.B. 56). This Act-which has been called the strictest anti-immigration law in the country-demonstrates a growing trend among states to exert more control over immigration regulation. Writing for the court, Judge Wilson concluded that federal law preempted sections 10, 11(a), 13(a), 16, 17, and 27 of H.B. 56. In so holding, the Eleventh Circuit gave a victory to those championing the rights of illegal immigrants while also …

Revisiting The Meaning Of Marriage: Immigration For Same-Sex Spouses In A Post-Windsor World, Scott Titshaw

Articles

As U.S. states and foreign nations began recognizing same-sex marriages over the last dozen years, the anti-gay definitions of "marriage" and "spouse" in Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act ("DOMA'') rendered those marriages invisible for immigration purposes. Thousands of U.S. citizens were left with a cruel choice between country and family: Remain alone in the United States or start anew with spouses and stepchildren abroad. Other couples did not qualify to emigrate anywhere together, leaving them no choice at all. DOMA also devastated children. Not only might they be separated from one parent, but their own immigration or …

Aliens In A Foreign Field: Examining Whether States Have The Authority To Pass Legislation In The Field Of Immigration Law, Jonathan Futrell

Mercer Law Review

There is no question that immigration regulation is primarily a national issue. The federal government regulates when people can come into the country, how long they can stay, and what they can do while they are here. The United States Supreme Court has continually reaffirmed Congress's plenary power to create and regulate immigration laws. Any comprehensive immigration reform law must come from Congress. The recent laws passed by Arizona, Georgia, and Alabama cannot be classified as immigration reform laws. Instead, these are immigration "related" laws. The question then becomes just how far can the states go in passing laws that …

Detention Of Non-Citizens: The Supreme Court's Muddling Of An Already Complex Issue, Blake Sharpton

Mercer Law Review

Emma Lazarus's poem was engraved on a plaque and affixed to the base of the Statue of Liberty in 1903. Ms. Lazarus's words may have reflected the sentiment of the country in 1903, but the United States no longer throws its doors open to any and every person hoping for a better life. Rather, potential immigrants are faced with a labyrinth of legal hurdles in order to gain entry into the United States.

Under current U.S. immigration law, every person in the world is either a United States "national" or an "alien." With few exceptions, the term national today basically …

Return To Sender: Supreme Court Authorizes Removal Of Aliens Without Prior Consent From The Destination Country In Jama V. Ice, Jennifer E. Richter

Mercer Law Review

In a 5-4 decision in Jama v. ICE, the United States Supreme Court rejected prior interpretations of alien removal statutes and held that the Secretary of Homeland Security (the "Secretary") may remove aliens without prior consent from the receiving country. The decision has important ramifications for both statutory interpretation and immigration law. The majority, written by Justice Scalia, concluded that in the new version of the removal statute, 8 U.S.C. § 1231, the rule of statutory interpretation, known as the last antecedent rule, precluded the court from reading an acceptance requirement into subsection (b)(2)(E)(iv). In contrast, the dissent concluded …

Reversion Back To A State Of Nature In The United States Southern Borderlands: A Look At Potential Causes Of Action To Curb Vigilante Activity On The United States/Mexico Border, Jessica Conaway

Mercer Law Review

Since the late 1980s and early 1990s, groups of concerned citizens have banded together to pick up where the federal government failed and to combat illegal immigration at its source: the unguarded borders. Armed with the concepts of citizen's arrest and property rights, vigilante ranchers in California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas began detaining illegal aliens and turning them over to the authorities. As the vigilante ranchers grew in number, so did the rumors of their violent and abusive tactics. Now, in the national post-9/l1 environment, vigilante ranchers have a renewed sense of purpose, and with the country on alert, …

Haitian Centers Council, Inc. V. Mcnary: If At First You Don't Succeed..., Robert A. Weber Jr.

Mercer Law Review

At what territorial point do aliens become entitled to the protections accorded them under the Immigration and Naturalization Act ("INA")? Contrary to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals holding in Haitian Refugee Center, Inc. v. Baker, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in Haitian Centers Council, Inc. v. McNary held that the protections accorded aliens in Section 243(h)(1) of the INA apply to all aliens, regardless of their location within or outside the territorial jurisdiction of the United States. The Eleventh Circuit in Baker had previously determined that Section 243(h)(1) applied only to aliens found within the jurisdictional confines …