Law Commons^™

When Immigration Borders Move, Huyen Pham

Huyen T. Pham

With recent immigration enforcement efforts, we have created a completely new paradigm of moving borders: laws, enacted at all levels of government, that require proof of legal immigration status in order to obtain a driver's license, a job, rental housing, government need-based assistance, and numerous other essential benefits. Unlike the fixed physical border, these laws require proof of immigration status at multiple, moving points within the country's interior and are triggered through everyday transactions; if unable to prove her legal status, a person is denied the restricted benefit. If a person is denied access to multiple essential benefits, then she …

State-Created Immigration Climates And Domestic Migration, Huyen Pham, Pham Hoang Van

Huyen T. Pham

With comprehensive immigration reform dead for the foreseeable future, immigration laws enacted at the subfederal level -- cities, counties, and states -- have become even more important. Arizona has dominated media coverage and become the popular representation of the states' response to immigration by enacting SB 1070 and other notoriously anti-immigrant laws. Illinois, by contrast, has received relatively little media coverage for enacting laws that benefit the immigrants within its jurisdiction. The reality on the ground is that subfederal jurisdictions in the United States have taken very divergent paths on the issue of immigration regulation.

Compiling city, county, and state …

Problems Facing The First Generation Of Local Immigration Laws, Huyen Pham

Huyen T. Pham

Colorado made national headlines in 2006 when it passed a series of controversial measures requiring applicants for most state benefits to prove legal immigration status before obtaining that benefit. Signed by out-going Governor Bill Owens, the law makes proof of legal immigration status a prerequisite to obtaining most forms of public assistance (for example, disability payments) and state-issued licenses for professionals and commercial enterprises (for example, licenses for insurance agents and physicians). The law also requires Colorado employers to verify their employees' legal immigration status or risk hefty fines (up to $5000 for a first offense and up to $25,000 …

A Framework For Understanding Subfederal Enforcement Of Immigration Laws, Huyen Pham

Huyen T. Pham

In discussing the varied LEA responses, the normative question naturally arises: Which model of immigration enforcement should an LEA embrace? If an LEA with no current immigration enforcement policy were to decide on a model, which model should it choose? Or, if an LEA wants to reconsider its current enforcement model, what factors should it consider in making its decision? The answers to these questions depend on the interests of individual LEAs-interests that may vary from LEA to LEA. The second contribution of this article then is to raise important questions that LEAs should consider in deciding which model is …

Measuring State-Created Immigration Climate, Huyen Pham, Pham Hoang Van

Huyen T. Pham

The phenomenon of subfederal immigration regulation, in which state and local governments enact laws regulating immigrants within their jurisdictions, has become an enduring part of the American legal landscape. Though still the subject of occasional legal challenges, the focus of the national conversation has shifted from whether to have subfederal immigration regulation, to what form that regulation should take. States have taken widely varying approaches to immigration regulation; some like Arizona and Alabama have enacted restrictive, negative laws, while other states like Illinois and California have enacted laws to benefit the immigrants within their jurisdictions. Thus, in order to understand …

A Framework For Understanding Subfederal Enforcement Of Immigration Laws, Huyen Pham

Huyen T. Pham

No abstract provided.