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Fugitives In Immigration: A Call For Legislative Guidelines On Disentitlement, Kiran H. Griffith

Seattle University Law Review

In light of Supreme Court jurisprudence regarding the fugitive disentitlement doctrine, the circuit courts of appeal have readily expanded the doctrine’s use to civil matters, as well as immigration. But the Supreme Court’s nuanced treatment of the rationales underlying this doctrine, specifically in Ortega-Rodriguez v. United States and Degen v. United States, has led to inconsistent application across the circuits. Specifically, a split has arisen among the Second, Fifth, Seventh, and Ninth Circuits as to whether these rationales support invocation of the fugitive disentitlement doctrine to find fugitivity and dismiss an alien’s petition for review when an alien fails to …