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University of Denver

2015

Immigration law

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Law

The Life Of Crimmigration Law, César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández Jan 2015

The Life Of Crimmigration Law, César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

This short essay introduces a collection of articles that arose from the Denver University Law Review’s symposium Crimmigration: Crossing the Border Between Criminal Law and Immigration Law, held in February 2015 at the University ofDenver Sturm College of Law. The essay borrows heavily from the Epilogue to my book Crimmigration Law.


Immigration Law By Proxy: The Case Of Colorado’S Human Smuggling Crime, César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández Jan 2015

Immigration Law By Proxy: The Case Of Colorado’S Human Smuggling Crime, César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

Despite the federal government’s well known expansive reach in creating and enforcing immigration law, the states retain substantial authority to play an important role in migrants’ lives. Through their traditional powers to adopt criminal statutes and police their communities, states can indirectly — but intentionally — inject themselves into the incidents of ordinary life as a migrant. Colorado’s human smuggling statute, currently being challenged before the state supreme court, illustrates this type of state regulation of migration. This essay addresses the statute’s reach, its shaky constitutional footing, and places it in a broader context in which states criminalize immigration-related activity.