Law Commons^™

Defining “Sexual Abuse Of A Minor” In Immigration Law: Finding A Place For Uniformity, Fairness And Feminism, Kate Barth

Kate S. Barth

This article examines the circuit split over the proper definition of the term "sexual abuse of a minor" in the Immigration and Nationality Act, using considerations of fairness, uniform application of the law, and feminist perceptions of the purpose of statutory rape laws to help guide analysis. The Board of Immigration Appeals, the Second, Third, Fifth, Seventh, and Eleventh Circuits have tied the term "sexual abuse of a minor" to the definition given in 18 U.S.C § 3509(a)(8). The Ninth Circuit, on the other hand, recently decided that the term should more properly be tied to the definition given in …

The New Sanctuary Movement: When Moral Mission Means Breaking The Law, And The Consequences For Churches And Illegal Immigrants, Kara L. Wild

Kara L. Wild

Are the churches involved in the New Sanctuary Movement -- a movement that hides illegal immigrants in churches to prevent them from being deported -- acting legally? If not, is there a way that they could pursue their goals in a legal manner? The author explores the movement's goal, to win public sympathy and eventual legality for the nation's illegal immigrant population by using methods that were popular during the successful 1980s Sanctuary Movement. The author examines the differences between the 1980s Movement and the current one, the likelihood of success for the New Sanctuary Movement's legal arguments, and the …

"Streamlining" The Rule Of Law: How The Department Of Justice Is Undermining Judicial Review Of Agency Action, Shruti Rana

Shruti Rana

Judicial review of administrative decision making is an essential institutional check on agency power. Recently, however, the Department of Justice dramatically revised its regulations in an attempt to insulate its decision making from public and federal court scrutiny. These “streamlining” rules, carried out in the name of national security and immigration reform, have led to a breakdown in the rule of law in our judicial system. While much attention has been focused on the Department of Justice’s recent attempts to shield executive power from the reach of Congress, its efforts to undermine judicial review have so far escaped such scrutiny. …

Two Years Later, How Far Have We Come: A Review Of The 2006 Measures Of Improvement To The Immigration Courts And Board Of Immigration Appeals, Christina M. Workman

Christina M Workman

I have attaches for your review a copy of “How Far Have We Come: A Review of the 2006 Measures of Improvement to the Immigration Courts and Board of Immigration Appeals”. In this article I first explore the causes of large disparities in asylum denial rates both between and within Immigration Courts across the United States. In one Court alone, one judge grants asylum 9% of the time, while another judge on that same Court grants asylum 91% percent of the time. Critics of the Immigration Courts, including Federal Appellate Courts, have citied reasons including but not limited to poor …

“Otherness” As The Underlying Principle In Israel’S Asylum Regime, Tally Kritzman-Amir

Tally Kritzman-Amir

This paper aims to be one of the first thorough descriptions of the developing asylum system in the State of Israel. The argument presented in this paper is that, despite the inherent moral and doctrinal differences between asylum and immigration regimes, the Israeli asylum system is essentially an extension of Israel’s immigration and citizenship regime, as it excludes the non-Jewish refugees and frames the refugee as the “other.”

I begin this paper with a description of the Israeli immigration and citizenship regime. I show how the Israeli regime favors and includes Jews, and discriminates and excludes non-Jews, with the exclusion …

Day Labor Markets And Public Space, Gregg Kettles

Gregg Kettles

Day laborers standing on street corners have become a more common, and more controversial, sight in many U.S. cities. Taking them to be evidence of public disorder and illegal immigration out of control, some communities have responded by adopting the strategy of exclusion. They have revived the enforcement of ordinances against loitering and vagrancy, and changed traffic rules to discourage drivers from stopping to pick up workers. Other communities have responded by adopting the strategy of shelter. Viewing street corner day laborers as vulnerable, these communities have opened indoor work centers that offer job placement and other services. Both of …

Looking Behind ‘Protection Gap’: The Moral Obligation Of The State To Necessitous Immigrants, Tally Kritzman-Amir

Tally Kritzman-Amir

Do states have a moral obligation towards immigrants whose immigration is a result of necessity? While some types of necessitous immigrants receive international protection because states hold legal duties towards them, many others are left unprotected. This article looks into this “protection gap” and examines that moral justification for eliminating it by imposing additional obligations on states towards additional immigrants. Part I examines the international law foundations of this dilemma. Part II offers a typology of the different moral obligations that states might owe to different immigrants. Parts III, IV and V suggest a theoretical moralistic argument on the scope …

Coming To Illinois May Mean Loss Of Rights To Decide Under Guardianship, James T. Struck

James T Struck

About 500,000 people die in U.S. nursing homes each year some related to second hand smoke. One Illinois nursing home has staff blow smoke in my face, drive a truck near me, throw parental belongings into the garbage, deny dental and religious services. The nursing home administrator said "you are going to be dead" for expressing concerns with shaking hands, saying I would contact the US attorney about slavery like treatment of disabled persons, requesting that my mother get fresh air from second hand smoke. I have been litigating for over 31 months to visit, phone, take home, take parent …

Coming To Illinois May Mean Loss Of Rights To Decide Under Guardianship, James T. Struck

James T Struck

About 500,000 people die in U.S. nursing homes each year some related to second hand smoke. One Illinois nursing home has staff blow smoke in my face, drive a truck near me, throw parental belongings into the garbage, deny dental and religious services. The nursing home administrator said "you are going to be dead" for expressing concerns with shaking hands, saying I would contact the US attorney about slavery like treatment of disabled persons, requesting that my mother get fresh air from second hand smoke. I have been litigating for over 31 months to visit, phone, take home, take parent …

Latina/Os, Locality, And Law In The Rural South, Lisa R. Pruitt

Lisa R Pruitt

In this era of municipal anti-immigrant ordinances and federal-local cooperation to enforce immigration laws, legal issues associated with immigration are playing out at multiple scales, from the national down to the local. Legal actors at the municipal, county, and state levels have become front-line policymakers and law enforcers in relation to immigrant populations. This essay calls attention to phenomenal surge in Latina/o immigration into the rural South in recent years, and it considers how that socio-spatial milieu may influence these legal matters at the local level.

Among other issues, the essay discusses the enhanced opportunity for racial profiling in the …

Institutional Racism, Ice Raids, And Immigration Reform, Bill Hing

Bill Ong Hing

This Article argues that the structure of immigration laws has institutionalized a set of values that dehumanize, demonize, and criminalize immigrants of color. The result is that these victims stop being Mexicans, Latinos, or Chinese and become “illegal immigrants.” We are aware of their race or ethnicity, but we believe we are acting against them because of their status, not because of their race. This institutionalized racism made the Bush ICE raids natural and acceptable in the minds of the general public. Institutionalized racism allows the public to think ICE raids are freeing up jobs for native workers without recognizing …

A Broader View Of The Immigration Adjudication Problem, Jill Family

Jill E. Family

Exceptional Justice: A Discourse Ethical Contribution To The Immigrant Question, David Ingram

David Ingram

Flying Passports Of Convenience, Karl T. Muth

Karl T Muth

This paper proposes an economic alternative to the legal construct of citizenship that currently dominates international law.

Law And Popular Culture: Examples From Colombian Slang And Spanish-Language Radio In U.S., Ernesto A. Hernandez-Lopez

Ernesto A. Hernandez

This article argues that critical analysis of popular culture themes benefits legal scholarship by providing distinct cross-border perspectives and illuminating popular resistance efforts to hegemonic forces. This examination occurs in an Inter-American context, characterized by a south-north dynamic and migration's transnational influence. In these dynamics, there is significant popular resistance and anti-subordination to hegemonic forces. Legal scholarship often overlooks this by focusing on formal legal texts and processes. This resistance is visible within popular culture, as part of ¿hidden transcripts.¿ This article makes two claims about popular culture's relevance, one methodological/theoretical claim and one substantive claim. First, observing how popular …

Law And Popular Culture: Examples From Colombian Slang And Spanish-Language Radio In The U.S., Ernesto A. Hernandez-Lopez

Ernesto A. Hernandez

This article argues that critical analysis of popular culture themes benefits legal scholarship by providing distinct cross-border perspectives and illuminating popular resistance efforts to hegemonic forces. This examination occurs in an Inter-American context, characterized by a south-north dynamic and migration's transnational influence. In these dynamics, there is significant popular resistance and anti-subordination to hegemonic forces. Legal scholarship often overlooks this by focusing on formal legal texts and processes. This resistance is visible within popular culture, as part of ¿hidden transcripts.¿

This article makes two claims about popular culture's relevance, one methodological/theoretical claim and one substantive claim. First, observing how popular …

Fitting Punishment, Juliet P. Stumpf

Juliet P Stumpf

Proportionality is conspicuously absent from the legal framework for immigration sanctions. Immigration law relies on one sanction – deportation – as the ubiquitous penalty for any immigration violation. Neither the gravity of the violation nor the harm that results bears on whether deportation is the consequence for an immigration violation. Immigration law stands alone in the legal landscape in this respect. Criminal punishment incorporates proportionality when imposing sentences that are graduated based on the gravity of the offense; contract and tort law provide for damages that are graduated based on the harm to others or to society. This Article represents …