Law Commons^™

Stalling A Norm's Trajectory?: Revisiting U.N. Security Council Resolution 1973 On Libya And Its Ramifications For The Principle Of The Responsibility To Protect, Tiyanjana Maluwa

Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

Asylum Under Attack: Restoring Asylum Protections In The United States, Lindsay M. Harris

Journal Articles

The U.S. asylum system has endured four years of systematic attack. The Trump Administration attempted to dismantle the United States’ system to protect asylum seekers through changes to case law, executive orders, presidential proclamations, internal agency guidance and sweeping regulatory changes, among other measures. The system largely ground to a halt after the Trump Administration co-opted the coronavirus public health crisis to effectively close the southern border to asylum seekers with its March 2020 Centers for Disease Control order. This catastrophic order was not even the last in a long line of the Trump Administration’s efforts since assuming power to …

Asylum Attorney Burnout (Model Survey And Additional Survey Responses), Lindsay M. Harris, Hillary A. Mellinger

Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

Human Dignity Has No Borders: Respecting The Rights Of "People On The Move" And The Rights And Religious Freedom Of Those Who Aid Them, Christine Venter

Journal Articles

This Article argues that states must desist from and be held accountable for the ongoing practices of denying refugees due process and denying humanitarian groups the rights to freely associate and freely exercise their religion in assisting refugees.

Vicarious Trauma And Ethical Obligations For Attorneys Representing Immigrant Clients: A Call To Build Resilience Among The Immigration Bar, Hannah C. Cartwright, Lindsay M. Harris, Liana M. Montecinos, Anam Rahman

Journal Articles

This article analyzes the ethical obligations for attorneys representing immigrant clients and the consequences of vicarious trauma, compassion fatigue, and burnout for the immigration bar and immigrant clients. The authors identify barriers for immigration attorneys in preventing, recognizing, and responding to vicarious trauma in themselves and colleagues and suggest practical ways that the immigration bar can and should seek to build resilience.

Withholding Protection, Lindsay M. Harris

Journal Articles

In June 2018, President Trump wrote a pair of tweets en route to his golf course, calling for “no Judges or Court Cases” at our border and swift deportation of immigrants, essentially without due process. While immigrant advocates were quick to explain the myriad constitutional problems with this proposal, elements of Trump’s dream are already a reality. This Article reveals how a single Customs and Border Protection officer can short-circuit the checks and balances prescribed by U.S. and international law to protect refugees from being returned to harm, and cast a long shadow over a future, meritorious asylum claim. In …

Dreamers Deferred: The Broken Promise Of Immigration Reform In The Obama Years, Kristina M. Campbell

Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

La Proteccion De Los Inmigrantes Irregulares En Los Estados Unidos Y La Libertad De Circulacion En Una 'Union Americana', Kristina M. Campbell

Journal Articles

Este artículo es una continuación y ampliación de una propuesta que formulé en 2009, y se plantea si —y cómo— los Estados Unidos pueden apartarse de su actual sistema de regulación de la inmigración punitivo, cuasi-penal y de exigencia dura de su cumplimiento. ¿Es posible para los Estados Unidos y sus vecinos acercarse a un sistema de protección de los refugiados y otros migrantes irregulares del resto de las Américas, modelado sobre el concepto de «libertad de circulación» de la Unión Europea? Si es así, ¿a qué debería parecerse dicho sistema? Permitiendo a todos los ciudadanos de una «Unión Americana» …

Sanctuary, Temporary Protected Status, And Catholic Social Teaching, Kristina M. Campbell

Journal Articles

The concept of sanctuary has deep roots in many religious traditions, including the Roman Catholic Church. Indeed, during the Sanctuary Movement of the 1980s, many Roman Catholic congregations in the United States provided physical sanctuary to Central American refugees fleeing the brutal wars in their countries. In more recent times, Roman Catholic Churches have participated in the “New Sanctuary Movement,” providing not only physical sanctuary to undocumented immigrants and refugees facing detention and removal by federal immigration authorities, but engaging in advocacy and activism on some of the larger questions surrounding immigration policy in the 21st century. Since initiating his …

The Popular But Unlawful Armed Reprisal, Mary Ellen O'Connell

Journal Articles

The United States and Iran carried out armed reprisals in Syria during 2017 in the wake of chemical and terror attacks. Despite support for their actions even by countries such as Germany and France, retaliatory uses of force are clearly prohibited under international law. International law generally prohibits all use of armed force with narrow exceptions for self-defense, United Nations Security Council authorization, and consent of a government to participate in a civil war. Military force after an incident are reprisals, which have been expressly forbidden by the UN. Prior to the Trump administration, the U.S. consistently attempted to justify …

Operation Sojourner: The Government Infiltration Of The Sanctuary Movement In The 1980s And Its Legacy On The Modern Central American Refugee Crisis, Kristina M. Campbell

Journal Articles

This Article will discuss “Operation Sojourner,” the federal government’s covert infiltration, and subsequent criminal prosecution, of persons involved in the Sanctuary Movement in the 1980s, as well as its impact on the modern Sanctuary Movement in Arizona and the Southwest occurring in response to the current Central American refugee crisis. Section I will provide an overview of the Sanctuary Movement in the 1980s, and the general religious beliefs and philosophies of those involved in the movement. Section II will discuss the genesis of Operation Sojourner by the former Immigration and Nationality Service (INS) in the early 1980s, and the criminal …

The One-Year Bar To Asylum In The Age Of The Immigration Court Backlog, Lindsay M. Harris

Journal Articles

Imagine being forced to flee your home, separated from your children, and undergoing the perilous journey to seek safety and protection in the United States. Upon arrival, you are immediately detained and questioned about your intentions. You explain that you fear for your life and seek asylum protection. You may even undergo a detailed interview with an asylum officer, who finds that you have a significant possibility of establishing asylum eligibility. You are released from detention to pursue your asylum claim in immigration court. You diligently attend check-ins with an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer for the next two years …

From Surviving To Thriving? An Investigation Of Asylee Integration In The United States, Lindsay M. Harris

Journal Articles

This article assesses the efficacy of the legal framework for asylees, individuals granted refugee status within the United States, through an examination of the human outcomes following the grant of asylum. To understand how the asylee benefits system actually functions, I conducted more than fifty field interviews with advocates, service providers, and government officials in the San Francisco Bay Area and the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. This research fills a conspicuous gap in our understanding of what happens after the grant of asylum and reveals a number of insights about the ways in which the prevailing laws, policies, and programs …

International Legal Protections For Migrants And Refugees: A Response To Father Brennan, Mary Ellen O'Connell

Journal Articles

Father Brennan’s Essay, “Human Rights and the National Interest: The Case Study of Asylum, Migration, and National Border Protection,” is a complex legal and ethical analysis of refugee law. This Commentary focuses on one aspect of the international law relevant to the Essay, namely, state obligations to migrants. Father Brennan’s main argument that migrants and refugees may be turned back, so long as the action respects human rights law, is consistent with the human right to life. Justly stopping migrants and refugees requires states to stop them before they enter either international waters or the state’s territorial waters. Further, Father …

A Dry Hate: White Supremacy And Anti-Immigrant Rhetoric In The Humanitarian Crisis On The U.S.-Mexico Border, Kristina M. Campbell

Journal Articles

Beginning with the passage of its anti-immigrant “Show-Me-Your-Papers” law in April 2010, S.B. 1070, much has been written about the hostile political climate toward noncitizens in the State of Arizona specifically and the U.S.-Mexico border generally. However, the recent influx of refugees from Central America to the United States has seen a resurgence in the anti-immigrant rhetoric, which is particularly disturbing since a large percentage of the individuals fleeing violence and poverty are children. In this vein, one aspect of the genesis of S.B. 1070 and other anti-immigrant laws that have not received a great deal of attention is the …

Beyond War: Bin Laden, Escobar, And The Justification Of Targeted Killing, Luis E. Chiesa, Alexander K.A. Greenawalt

Journal Articles

Using the May 2011 killing of Osama bin Laden as a case study, this Article contributes to the debate on targeted killing in two distinct ways, each of which has the result of downplaying the centrality of international humanitarian law (IHL) as the decisive source of justification for targeted killings.

First, we argue that the IHL rules governing the killing of combatants in wartime should be understood to apply more strictly in cases involving the targeting of single individuals, particularly when the targeting occurs against nonparadigmatic combatants outside the traditional battlefield. As applied to the bin Laden killing, we argue …

Expert Evidence In Gender-Based Asylum Cases: Cultural Translation For The Court, Lindsay M. Harris

Journal Articles

This article examines the use of country conditions experts in gender-based asylum claims, with a focus on African women and girls facing gender-based violence in their countries of origin. Using anonymous case examples from the work of the Tahirih Justice Center’s African Women’s Empowerment Project, the article explores the role of experts and the critical bridge that experts can provide in asylum claims adjudicated at the asylum office and in immigration court. A brief overview of U.S. asylum law and procedures sets the stage for a deeper look at expert evidence.

Humanitarian Aid Is Never A Crime? The Politics Of Immigration Enforcement And The Provision Of Sanctuary, Kristina M. Campbell

Journal Articles

In September 2010, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed the federal criminal conviction of humanitarian Daniel Millis for placing water for migrants crossing the United StatesMexico border in the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge.1 In 2008 Mr. Millis, an activist with the Sierra Club and the Tucson faith-based organization No More Deaths/No Mas Muertes,2 had been found guilty of “Disposal of Waste” pursuant to 50 C.F.R. § 27.94(a), in the United States District Court for the District of Arizona.3 No More Deaths, along with other faith-based organizations in Southern Arizona,4 have adopted the slogan “Humanitarian …

Imagining A More Humane Immigration Policy In The Age Of Obama: The Use Of Plenary Power To Halt The State Balkanization Of Immigration Regulation, Kristina M. Campbell

Journal Articles

The first decade of the twenty-first century has been grim for immigrants to the United States—both legal and undocumented—and the lawyers and advocates who work on their behalf. Following the failure of comprehensive immigration reform at the federal level, states and municipalities have seen fit to take matters into their own hands and pass a patchwork of local ordinances, statutes, and ballot initiatives ostensibly designed to do what the federal government had failed to do—regulate the flow of immigration into their cities and towns. As the economy continues to spiral downward into what may very well be the next Great …

Untold Stories: Gender-Related Persecution And Asylum In South Africa, Lindsay M. Harris

Journal Articles

South Africa receives more asylum seekers than any other country in the world.1 United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres proclaimed, “If you look at the policy and legal statutes of South Africa, refugees enjoy one of the most advanced and progressive systems of protection in the world today.”2 Increasing numbers of women seek South Africa’s protection. In 2006, 20.2% of asylum seekers were women; a significant increase from previous years.3 Given South Africa’s prominence in the region, its handling of female asylees and gender-related persecution claims influences the adjudication of these claims regionally and even worldwide.4

Local Illegal Immigration Relief Act Ordinances: A Legal, Policy, And Litigation Analysis, Kristina M. Campbell

Journal Articles

Obtaining comprehensive immigration reform is one of the most important legal issues facing the Latino community today. For the nation, virtually every family, business, and community is touched by immigration. In 2006, when millions marched for comprehensive immigration reform, prospects for federal action increased. During the summer of 2006, as the U.S. House failed to move forward to complete legislative action, frustrations by anti-immigrant activists led to a small number of cities and towns attempting to enact restrictions and prohibitions against illegal immigrants at the local level. These measures violate the Constitution, and pit neighbor against neighbor. Immigration policy must …

Proposals To Expel Palestinians From The Occupied Territories As Catalyst For A Civil Adjudication Campaign, Catherine A. Rogers

Journal Articles

I begin in Part II with a brief sketch of the history of stated policies to expel Palestinians from what is now Israel and the Occupied Territories, and then examine recent proposals that have been made and actions that have been taken to implement modern re-articulations of those historic policies. In Part III, I then review the grounds on which international law proscribes mass expulsions of indigenous and occupied peoples. While international law governing this issue is clear in its application and has been overwhelmingly endorsed by the larger international community, international law seems to have little influence on Israel's …

The Command And Control Of United Nations Forces In The Era Of "Peace Enforcement", James W. Houck

Journal Articles

This Article explores how concerns regarding the United Nations' authority to make political, strategic, and operational decisions that comprise the right to command and control UN forces might be reconciled within the framework of the United Nations Charter to create a contemporary and more enduring regime for the command and control of United Nations forces. As Part II demonstrates, command and control issues are not new to the United Nations; indeed, in 1945 the signatories to the United Nations Charter created a model for the command and control of United Nations forces.

While the cold war ensured that this model …