Law Commons^™

The Contested Boundaries Of Emerging International Migration Law In The Post-Pandemic, Ian M. Kysel, Chantal Thomas

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

One measure of how and whether the COVID-19 pandemic reshapes the emerging field of international migration law will be the extent to which transnational civil society and activist movements can counteract the intensification of state border controls that the pandemic has triggered. Before the pandemic, transnational efforts to establish a new normative framework for migration seemed to be accelerating. These efforts included new, if nonbinding, global compacts on refugees and migration, and new, if modest, efforts at facilitating global cooperation, alongside innovative approaches to scholarly engagement. Such developments arguably contributed to an emerging framework for protecting migrants under international law. …

Recruiting For The Future: A Realistic Road To A Points-Tested Visa Program In The United States, Stephen W. Yale-Loehr, Mackenzie Eason

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

For over 40 years, lawmakers and academics have been debating whether the United States should adopt a merit-or skills-based approach to labor immigration and a points-based program for selecting foreign workers. Despite having bipartisan support, efforts to adopt such a program thus far have been unsuccessful.

This idea is now back at the center of public debate, having been given new life by President Trump. He has called for “merit-based” immigration reforms that would make the United States more effective at attracting the world’s “best and brightest” and make it more competitive in the global marketplace for highly skilled foreign …

Challenging H-1b Denials In Federal Courts: Trends And Strategies, Hun Lee, Stephen W. Yale-Loehr

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

The denial rate for H-1B petitions has quadrupled over the past few years, increasing from six percent in fiscal year (FY) 2015 to twenty-four percent in FY 2018. After President Trump issued his ‘‘Buy American and Hire American’’ executive order in April 2017, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has effectively raised the standard of proof on H-1B petitions.

USCIS has used several reasons to deny H-1B petitions, including claims that the employer failed to show that a position qualifies as a ‘‘specialty occupation,’’ impermissibly assigned employees to third-party worksites, or failed to pay the required wage.

Under USCIS’s recent …

Post-Denial Strategies: How To Get From "No" To "Yes", Diane M. Butler, Leslie K. Dellon, David Isaacson, Stephen W. Yale-Loehr

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) seems to be denying more petitions than ever these days. Cases that were solid approvals a few years ago now are receiving denials, even though the law and regulations have not changed. But don’t give up hope. Opportunities exist to overcome denials.

This practice advisory focuses on post-denial strategies for petitions filed with USCIS, not strategies in immigration court. The article discusses motions to reopen, motions for reconsideration, appeals to the USCIS Administrative Appeals Office (AAO), and litigation. This practice advisory also discusses when filing a new petition may be a better option, and …

Noncitizens In The U.S. Military: Navigating National Security Concerns And Recruitment Needs, Muzaffar Chishti, Austin Rose, Stephen W. Yale-Loehr

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Foreign nationals have served in the U.S. military throughout American history. Indeed, in many chapters in U.S. history, they have been encouraged to serve with the promise of expedited avenues for naturalization. However, in recent years, noncitizens have faced increasing hurdles to serving their new country. Citing national security concerns, Congress and the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) have introduced a series of policies that significantly increase the vetting requirements for noncitizen military recruits and modify the processes by which they are trained and given a chance to naturalize. These new policies have limited the enlistment of noncitizen soldiers, delayed …

Settlers And Immigrants In The Formation Of American Law, Aziz Rana

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

This paper argues that the early American republic is best understood as a constitutional experiment in “settler empire,” and that related migration policies played a central role in shaping collective identity and structures of authority. Initial colonists, along with their 19th century descendants, viewed society as grounded in an ideal of freedom that emphasized continuous popular mobilization and direct economic and political decision-making. However, many settlers believed that this ideal required Indian dispossession and the coercive use of dependent groups, most prominently slaves, in order to ensure that they themselves had access to property and did not have to engage …

Convergences And Divergences In International Legal Norms On Migrant Labor, Chantal Thomas

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

This essay will argue that even where disparate treaties converge doctrinally, they may diverge normatively and that normative divergence may be significant in its own right. Section I of this essay seeks to chart out an initial such analysis, conducting a concise comparison of particular rules affecting migrant workers from different realms of international law. Section I concludes with both a graphic representation of doctrinal convergences and divergences, and a further discussion the doctrinal relationships among treaties as elucidated through consideration of hypothetical legal disputes.

Section II considers the normative implications of divergent rule systems. In particular, Section II raises …

Attracting The Best And The Brightest: A Critique Of The Current U.S. Immigration System, Chris Gafner, Stephen W. Yale-Loehr

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

The United States has long benefited as a leader in attracting the "best and brightest" immigrants. However, the world has changed since the U.S. immigration system's last major modification in 1990. The United States is no longer the primary destination for many talented immigrants. Many other nations have enacted immigration systems meant to attract the best and brightest immigrants. These immigration systems are often point- based and allow potential immigrants to quickly determine eligibility. By comparison, the U.S. immigration system is slow and complicated. Many now question the United States' ability to attract talented immigrants. This Article first examines how …

Globalization And The Border: Trade, Labor, Migration, And Agricultural Production In Mexico, Chantal Thomas

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

The debate over immigration policy in the United States has reached a crescendo in recent years, with particular concern over illegal workers and their impact on social well-being in this country. Yet in the prevailing analysis of this issue, the relationship between immigration and contemporary international trade policy is often overlooked. In particular, few commentators recognize or understand that a significant part of the surge in illegal labor from Mexico--the source of the majority of undocumented workers in the United States—stems from reforms that Mexico undertook in cooperation with the United States to liberalize trade flows across the Mexico-United States …

Why Are So Many People Challenging Board Of Immigration Appeals Decisions In Federal Court? An Empirical Analysis Of The Recent Surge In Petitions For Review, John R.B. Palmer, Stephen W. Yale-Loehr, Elizabeth Cronin

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Odyssey Of The J-2: Forty-Three Years Of Trying Not To Go Home Again, Naomi Schorr, Stephen W. Yale-Loehr

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

We wrote this article to address one question: Should a J-2 nonimmigrant exchange visitor be subject to the two-year foreign residence requirement of section 212(e) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) if the J-1 principal is so subject? In trying to answer that question, the authors confronted additional issues that seem to have gone unresolved for close to half a century. If a J nonimmigrant is subject, be it J-1 or J-2, where can he fulfill the foreign residence requirement: in the country of his nationality or the country of his last residence? Does he have a choice? Where …

A Comparative Look At Immigration And Human Capital Assessment, Stephen W. Yale-Loehr, Christoph Hoashi-Erhardt

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

This article examines the formation of an immigration policy designed to build up the skill and human capital of a country. We discuss how the process of selecting economic-stream migrants could be designed to yield economic benefits to the host country. Part I examines the theoretical considerations involved in framing a policy that governs economic-stream immigration. In this section, we outline the goals that a host country seeks to achieve in selecting these migrants and propose important elements of a selection scheme. Part II takes a comparative look at existing points-based schemes for selecting economic migrants, focusing on Canada and …

The Gestation Of Birthright Citizenship, 1868-1898: States' Rights, The Law Of Nations, And Mutual Consent, Bernadette Meyler

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

This article considers the inheritance of the seventeenth-century English common law conception of the subject in nineteenth-century America and, ultimately, in the Supreme Court’s decision in United States v. Wong Kim Ark (1898). It examines the claims for birthright citizenship derived from British common law and the three principal arguments against them. These latter included: objections to the assertion of a federal common law of citizenship from the perspective of state sovereignty; arguments that the United States should embrace citizenship by blood rather than by birth in order to conform to the practice of the law of nations and other …

Current Trends In Illegal Reentry Cases, Stephen W. Yale-Loehr, Rachel J. Valente

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

As the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) begins removing more and more aliens, a growing number are reentering illegally after their removal. Many of those reentering do not realize that by doing so they are committing a crime. The case law in this area is quite complex and fraught with constitutional considerations. This article provides an overview of the crime of illegal reentry under Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) § 276.

Maury Roberts: Man, Editor, Teacher, Stephen W. Yale-Loehr

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Remarks made at the American Immigration Law Foundation dinner in honor of Maurice A. Roberts in Seattle, Washington on June 7, 1990.

Employers As Junior Immigration Inspectors: The Impact Of The 1986 Immigration Reform And Control Act, Maurice A. Roberts, Stephen W. Yale-Loehr

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA), also known as the Simpson-Rodino Act, is the most significant piece of immigration legislation in over thirty years. It radically revamps this already complicated area of law. Its impact on employers is particularly great, and can be seen in three ways. First, fines of up to $10,000 and even jail sentences can be imposed on businesses that knowingly hire undocumented aliens. Second, every employer must now verify and maintain records on the immigration and citizenship status of each prospective employee, even if the applicant is a U.S. citizen. Third, antidiscrimination provisions …

Foreign Farm Workers In The U.S.: The Impact Of The Immigration Reform And Control Act Of 1986, Stephen W. Yale-Loehr

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

The enactment of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 ("IRCA"), popularly known as the Simpson-Rodino Act, was in large part spurred by Congressional desire to exercise more effective control over the influx of foreign farm workers in this country. This is not a new issue; the U.S. has admitted temporary foreign agricultural workers since 1917, and their entry has always been the subject of heated debate. Between 1942 and 1964 the "bracero" program allowed Mexicans to work temporarily in U.S. agriculture, but this program resulted in massive civil rights and labor violations and depressed wages in the Southwest. …