Law Commons^™

Beyond The Plenary-Power Doctrine: How Critical Race Theory Can Help Move Us Past The Chinese Exclusion Case, Freddy R. Funes

Freddy R Funes

In few areas does Critical Race Theory (CRT) give as much insight as it does in analyzing immigration law’s plenary-power doctrine. When in need of cheap labor, the United States opens its border, and, when the economy struggles, the United States reacts with racist violence against aliens. The plenary-power doctrine, which prevents courts from reviewing the actions of the political branches in the immigration context, furthers the aliens’ oppression. Thus, while the legislative and executive branches discriminate, the courts idly stand by. But the courts’ rationalizations for the plenary-power doctrine lack merit. Due to its precarious foundation, this Paper questions …

When Immigration Borders Move, Huyen T. Pham

Huyen T. Pham

With our recent immigration enforcement efforts, we have created a new paradigm of moving borders: laws enacted at all levels of government that require proof of legal immigration status in order to obtain essential benefits like a driver’s license, a job, and rental housing. Without proof of legal status, the applicant is denied an important benefit; after cumulative denials, the applicant can be effectively denied the ability to live in the United States. What are the implications of moving border laws? Now, more than ever, proof of legal immigration status has become centrally important, not just to gain admission at …

Removal Of Central American Gang Members: How Immigration Laws Fail To Reflect Global Reality, Freddy Funes

Freddy R Funes

Central American gangs have created numerous difficulties for Central American nations. Some of the violence and tactics learned by these gangs came from the United States, via it's new immigration policies. This article explains the faults of the current removal policy and offers solutions to mitigate the growing violence in Central America. Part II discusses the United States’ removal policy. Part III explains the myriad problems that this removal policy produces in Central America and within the United States. Part IV discusses how the United States’ current law fails to further the United States’ interests and how courts refuse to …

Rethinking Johnson V. M’Intosh (1823): The Root Of The Continued Forced Displacement Of American Indians Despite Cobell V. Norton (2001), T S. Twibell

Ty Twibell

“The Longest Journey, With A First Step”: Bringing Coherence To Sovereignty And Jurisdictional Issues In Global Employee Benefits Law, Paul Secunda

Paul M. Secunda

One of the most neglected areas of employee benefits law in the United States today is the extraterritorial application of ERISA to U.S. employees in other countries. Additionally, the courts and legislature have not spent the necessary time to discuss ERISA coverage issues for foreign employees, both legal and illegal and both working for foreign government and non-government employers, in the United States. These are increasingly crucial areas of U.S. employee benefits law as the globalization of the world's workplaces continues apace.

After surveying the tangled web of ERISA law in this context, the article proposes two statutory fixes and …

A More Perfect Union, Michele Pistone, John Hoeffner

Michele R. Pistone

No abstract provided.

The Thirteenth Amendment And Access To Education For Children Of Undocumented Workers: A New Look At Plyler V. Doe, Maria Ontiveros, Joshua Drexler

Maria L. Ontiveros

This paper examines the extent to which the Thirteenth Amendment can be used to guarantee access to public education for the children of undocumented workers. It offers a reimagined version of Plyer, written using the Thirteenth Amendment, instead of the Fourteenth Amendment. After offering a brief summary of Thirteenth Amendment jurisprudence, it offers a variety of theoretical frameworks for analyzing the denial of education under the U.S. Constitution. It argues that the Thirteenth Amendment can provide a powerful tool for litigation, moral persuasion, organizing and legislation in the area.

Can't Live With 'Em, Can't Deport 'Em: Why Immigration Reform Efforts Have Failed, Marisa Cianciarulo

Marisa S. Cianciarulo

Abstract: The United States has a passionate love/hate relationship with undocumented immigrants. The refrain “We are a nation of immigrants” competes with the exhortation “We are being invaded.” Many Americans fault undocumented immigrants for breaking U.S. laws, not waiting their turn in line for lawful immigration and diluting already scarce public resources. Other Americans applaud the strong work ethic that many undocumented immigrants exhibit and the economic strength they bring to the country. In the post-September 11 years, the debate has reached a boiling point.

The conflicting emotions of the immigration debate aside, the United States’ need for immigration is …

Toward A True Elements Test: Taylor And The Categorical Analysis Of Crimes In Immigration Law, Rebecca Sharpless

Rebecca Sharpless

When determining the legal effect of a conviction under immigration law, adjudicators claim to apply a uniform, federal standard that prohibits fact finding regarding the underlying circumstances that gave rise to the conviction. This categorical analysis of crimes is firmly rooted in all levels of administrative and federal court case law. Yet fundamental confusion exists concerning what it means to apply a categorical approach to evaluating when a criminal conviction is of a type that triggers deportation. This article demonstrates that a source of this confusion is a misunderstanding of the nature of a conviction and the difference between a …

Stripping Judicial Review During Immigration Reform: The Certificate Of Reviewability, Jill E. Family

Jill E. Family

Threats To The Future Of The Immigration Class Action, Jill E. Family

Jill E. Family

The Trafficking And Exploitation Victims Assistance Program: A Proposed Early Response Plan For Victims Of International Human Trafficking In The United States, Marisa S. Cianciarulo

Marisa S. Cianciarulo

The Trafficking Victims Protection Act, ground-breaking legislation designed to punish traffickers and protect victims, is not reaching its full potential as a powerful tool against international human trafficking. A principal component of the Act - the availability of special T visas for trafficking victims who cooperate with law enforcement officials against their traffickers - is failing to reach its intended beneficiaries. According to U.S. government statistics, less than one percent of individuals trafficked into the United States have received protection in the form of a T visa. This article identifies weaknesses in the T visa system and proposes reforms designed …

What Is Choice? Examining Sex Trafficking Legislation Through The Lenses Of Rape Law And Prostitution, Marisa S. Cianciarulo

Marisa S. Cianciarulo

Sex trafficking has proven particularly immune to attempts to eradicate it. One reason may be that some types of demand will always be illegal and thus always vulnerable to trafficking, such as violent sex or sex with minors. Another reason, however, and the one that is the subject of this article, is the lack of cohesive policy on one of the main issues surrounding trafficking: consent. As discussed below, conflicting perspectives on the nature of consent have impeded the development of effective anti-trafficking efforts. One of the main debates plaguing efforts to eliminate sex trafficking involves the definition of the …

Liars And Terrorists And Judges, Oh My: Moral Panic And The Symbolic Politics Of Appellate Review In Asylum Cases, Eric M. Fink

Eric M Fink

As part of the REAL ID Act, Congress amended the Immigration and Nationality Act to restrict judicial review of adverse credibility determinations by immigration judges. The change came in the wake of controversy of judicial reversals of adverse credibility determinations that the reviewing courts saw as inappropriately speculative and lacking in evidentiary support. Critics, including some appellate judges, have in turn alleged that the appellate courts have been insufficiently deferential to the factual determinations of Immigration Judges (IJs) and the BIA.

This paper examines the argument offered in support of limiting judicial review in this area, and provides an empirical …

"In All Things Love" Immigration, Policy-Making And The Development Of Preferential Options For The Poor, Michele R. Pistone, John J. Hoeffner

Michele R. Pistone

The invitation to write for this symposium stated that the preferential option for the poor “asks us to define what law and public policy would look like if consideration for the poor was at the heart of our conception of the common good.” Inquiries of this kind are useful and necessary—to a point. They also can become counter-productive. The issue of immigration, which we discuss here to illustrate our larger point about the general appropriateness of claiming that a specific policy prescription is demanded by the preferential option for the poor, presents the complications of the matter in particularly stark …