Human Rights Law Commons^™

Citizenship, Rights, And Culture, Alison Brysk

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Shortly after German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s repudiation of multiculturalism, the Soros Foundation announced the winners of its Fellowships for New Americans—an award for graduate study for foreign-born students whose career paths show initiative, accomplishment, and “commitment to the values expressed in the U.S. Constitution.” Dozens of America’s best and brightest are pursuing degrees in law, medicine, public policy, business, and the arts that will immensely enrich our national and global communities.

A Protection Post-Mortem On The "Death" Of Multiculturalism In Germany, Erin Mooney

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Noticeably absent from the recent pronouncements of the “death” of multiculturalism in Germany, including Chancellor Angela Merkel’s own conclusion that the policy had “utterly failed,” has been any interest to seriously examine, let alone address, the reasons for such a failure.

Welcoming Women: Recent Changes In U.S. Asylum Law, Jillian Blake

Michigan Law Review First Impressions

The Statue of Liberty, which has been called the "Mother of Exiles," stands as a reminder of one of the foundational ideals of U.S. immigration policy-providing refuge to the vulnerable. Women worldwide have new reason to believe in this promise, because victims of domestic violence may now have a better chance of being granted asylum in a U.S. immigration court.

Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor…And Your Convicted? Teaching “Justice” To Law Students By Defending Criminal Immigrants In Removal Proceedings, Michael S. Vastine

University of Maryland Law Journal of Race, Religion, Gender and Class

No abstract provided.

The Veil That Covered France's Eye: The Right To Freedom Of Religion And Equal Treatment In Immigration And Naturalization Proceedings, Kendal Davis

Nevada Law Journal

In June 2008, France’s highest administrative court upheld a decision to deny citizenship to a Muslim woman because, essentially, she was ‘not French enough.’ This decision incited both praise and outrage in the international human rights arena regarding considerations such as the right to freedom of religion, gender equality, and citizenship.

This Note examines relevant French domestic law and international human rights instruments, and argues that while immigration and naturalization decisions remain an exercise of broad sovereign powers, the emerging human rights norm to be free from discrimination should apply in naturalization proceedings. Furthermore, despite judicial deference and flexibility to …

As Old As The Hills: Detention And Immigration, Lenni Benson

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

Robbed Of The American Dream, Megan Walker

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Many people have immigrated to the United States, hoping to live the “American dream.” Unfortunately, this romantic notion is part of the reason that the United States has become one of the most sought after destination countries for human trafficking. It is easy for traffickers to convince potential victims that they can live the American dream. Traffickers from all over the world and all walks of life profit in this booming market, by promising poor and vulnerable people high wages in legitimate jobs as farm workers, maids, and waitresses. Many of these people end up in terrible conditions as indentured …

International Standards For Detaining Terrorism Suspects: Moving Beyond The Armed Conflict-Criminal Divide, Monica Hakimi

Articles

Although sometimes described as war, the fight against transnational jihadi groups (referred to for shorthand as the "fight against terrorism") largely takes place away from any recognizable battlefield. Terrorism suspects are captured in houses, on street corners, and at border crossings around the globe. Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the high-level Qaeda operative who planned the September 11 attacks, was captured by the Pakistani government in a residence in Pakistan. Abu Omar, a radical Muslim imam, was apparently abducted by U.S. and Italian agents off the streets of Milan. And Abu Baker Bashir, the spiritual leader of the Qaeda-affiliated group responsible for …

Proportional Deportation, Angela M. Banks

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

International Standards For Detaining Terrorism Suspects: Moving Beyond The Armed Conflict-Criminal Divide, Monica Hakimi

Articles

Although sometimes described as war, the fight against transnational jihadi groups (referred to for shorthand as the "fight against terrorism") largely takes place away from any recognizable battlefield. Terrorism suspects are captured in houses, on street comers, and at border crossings around the globe. Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the high-level Qaeda operative who planned the September 11 attacks, was captured by the Pakistani government in a residence in Pakistan. Abu Omar, a radical Muslim imam, was apparently abducted by U.S. and Italian agents off the streets of Milan. And Abu Baker Bashir, the spiritual leader of the Qaeda-affiliated group responsible for …

U.S. Immigration Policy: Contract Or Human Rights Law?, Victor C. Romero

Faculty Scholarship

The current immigration debate often reflects a tension between affirming the individual rights of migrants against the power of a nation to control its borders. An examination of U.S. Supreme Court precedent reveals that, from our earliest immigration history to the present time, our immigration policy has functioned more like contract law than human rights law, with the Court deferring to the power of Congress to define the terms of that contract at the expense of the immigrant's freedom.

Open Or Closed: Balancing Border Policy With Human Rights, Elizabeth M. Bruch

Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Immigration Relief For Human Trafficking Victims: Focusing The Lens On The Human Rights Of Victims, Carole Angel

University of Maryland Law Journal of Race, Religion, Gender and Class

No abstract provided.

Immigration Relief For Human Trafficking Victims: Focusing The Lens On The Human Rights Of Victims, Carole Angel

Women, Leadership & Equality

No abstract provided.

The U Visa Unveiled: Immigrant Crime Victims Freed From Limbo, Jessica Farb

Human Rights Brief

No abstract provided.

The Land Of The Free: Human Rights Violations At Immigration Detention Facilities In America, Caitlin J. Mitchel

LLM Theses and Essays

In America today, aliens who commit even minor visa violations can be detained in one of many immigration detention facilities throughout the U.S. These detainees may be transferred to a facility far away from their homes, families, and attorneys. While imprisoned in these detention facilities, some detainees are treated as and housed with criminals. Their substantive and procedural rights are limited and their human rights are violated. The U.S. laws that should protect them are the very laws that strip them of their rights to court proceedings, challenges of decisions regarding detention, and judicial review. By issuing substantial reservations, declarations, …

The Immigrant Rights Marches (Las Marchas): Did The “Gigante” (Giant) Wake Up Or Does It Still Sleep Tonight?, Sylvia R. Lazos

Scholarly Works

This article documents the genesis of the March 2006 immigrant rights protests and analyzes their impact. Las Marchas were truly spontaneous grassroots protests, the largest massive civil rights mobilization effort for a single event in the United States to date. This paper provides a macro- and micro-analysis of the forces that account for this success. First, the catalyst, HR 4437, a bill that was successfully approved by the House of Representatives would have criminalized illegal presence. This law was perceived as unjust, and engendered a debate around immigrant rights debate in terms with universal and simple appeal, human dignity, the …

Emerging Latina/O Nation And Anti- Immigrant Backlash, Sylvia R. Lazos

Scholarly Works

This foreword is an introduction to the LatCrit XI, Working and Living in the Global Playground: Frontstage and Backstage symposium, convened at William S. Boyd School of Law, in Las Vegas Nevada, during October 2006 and called upon over 150 academics to focus on the impacts of globalization and immigration. At no time has LatCrit's critical approach of interconnecting the structures of inequality, the market forces of globalization, and the cultural hostility towards outsider groups been more relevant.

Backlash against immigrants, particularly Latina/o “illegals,” is on the rise. This Introduction seeks to outline the challenges that the current immigration quandary …

Falling Through The Cracks: The Impact Of Vawa 2005’S Unfinished Business On Immigrant Victims Of Domestic Violence, Mary B. Clark

University of Maryland Law Journal of Race, Religion, Gender and Class

No abstract provided.

Refugee Solution, Or Solutions To Refugeehood?, James C. Hathaway

Articles

This is the text of a lecture delivered by James C. Hathaway in London in October 2006 to mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of the founding of Jesuit Refugee Service. The lecture was sponsored jointly by the Centre for the Study of Human Rights, London School of Economics; the Heythrop Institute for Religion, Ethics, and Public Life; and Jesuit Refugee Service (UK).

Crossing Borders: Loving V. Virginia As A Story Of Migration, Victor C. Romero

Faculty Scholarship

The struggle of binational same-gender partners today parallels the struggles of Mildred and Richard Loving during the heyday of the Civil Rights Movement - not only in the obvious parallels between race and sexual orientation as barriers to freedom, but also in the way the law uses these immutable characteristics to limit the freedom of movement. It is this freedom of movement - this migration or immigration - that I want to focus on in this essay. Lest we forget, the Lovings' story is, importantly, a story of migration: It's a story of the great lengths to which an interracial …

J. Eric Dibbern On Forbidden Families: Family Unification And Child Registration In East Jerusalem By Yael Stein. Hamoked: Center For The Defense Of The Individual, 2004. 41pp., J. Eric Dibbern

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Forbidden Families: Family Unification and Child Registration in East Jerusalem by Yael Stein. HaMoked: Center for the Defense of the Individual, 2004. 41pp.

The Day Laborer Debate: Small Town, U.S.A. Takes On Federal Immigration Law Regarding Undocumented Workers, Margaret B. Hobbins

ExpressO

Herndon, Virginia is the latest example of small town immigration issues exploding into the national debate on illegal immigration. This four-square mile town, population 22,000, was propelled into the national spotlight after a dramatic public reaction to Mayor Michael O’Reilly’s proposal to construct a hiring site for day laborers. Three months before the center even opened its doors, Herndon and Fairfax County faced a law suit challenging the legality of funding a day labor center that would inevitably extend its services to undocumented immigrants.

Small towns, adjusting to significant increases in the immigrant worker population, have become a new battlefield …

Children And Immigration: International, Local, And Social Responsibilities, Berta E. Hernández-Truyol, Justin Luna

UF Law Faculty Publications

This essay focuses on the human rights of immigrant children, regardless of the legality of their presence within U.S. borders, especially with respect to health, education, and welfare. In that context, the work explores, as the title suggests, the international, local, and social/cultural normative standards that structure the responsibilities—independently and collectively, that proverbial village—with respect to children's well-being. We develop these ideas in three parts. First, we address the foundations of the human rights idea and specifically enumerate the particular normative notions, including international treaties that govern children's lives. Next, we discuss immigration in the United States, with particular attention …

Designating The Dangerous: From Blacklists To Watch Lists, Daniel J. Steinbock

Seattle University Law Review

This Article aims to remedy that gap with respect to one important component of the country's current anti-terrorism strategy watch lists and to suggest some ways to avoid the worst excesses of the 1950s. A comparison of the two periods also serves to shed some light on the question of whether our institutions have learned from the experiences of the past in striking the balance between security and civil liberties. Part II of this Article gives a brief and broad-brush description of the McCarthy era blacklists and loyalty-security programs. Part III then describes the operation, bases for inclusion, and uses …

Liability For Torts In Violation Of International Law: No Hook Under Sosa For Secondary, Complicit Actors, Helena Lynch

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

Introduction, Lenni Benson

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Nature And Causes Of The Immigration Surge In The Federal Courts Of Appeals: A Preliminary Analysis, John R.B. Palmer

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

Mara Salvatrucha (Ms-13) And Ley Anti Mara: El Salvador's Struggle To Reclaim Social Order, Juan J. Fogelbach

San Diego International Law Journal

MS-13 poses a threat to both Salvadorians and Americans. It is a gang that must be cooperatively contained; it will not be controlled by a simplistic burden-shifting policy that leaves El Salvador, a developing country, to unilaterally deal with the problem. This paper will argue that: (1) the deportation of gang members, which results in the arbitrary deaths of thousands of innocent Salvadorians who have no legal recourse amounts to a grave violation of human rights; (2) deportation of gang members to a society where they are likely to be killed by vigilante death squads, or in prison fires and …

Reforming U.S. Immigration Policy In An Era Of Latin American Immigration: The Logic Inherent In Accommodating The Inevitable, Ryan D. Frei

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.