Immigration Law Commons^™

Trump's Torture Legacy: Isolating, Incarcerating, And Inflicting Harm Upon Migrant Children, Brendan Lokka

American University International Law Review

No abstract provided.

What Matters More: Preserving A Fundamental Right To Privacy Or Tampering With Another's Dignity Through Searches Because Of "Reasonable Suspicion", Darianne De Leon

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.

Between The Margins And The Mainstream: The Case Of Women's Rights, Hilary Charlesworth, Christine M. Chinkin

Book Chapters

This chapter investigates the conceptual limits of the field of women’s rights. It identifies two main currents of activity in the field: the elaboration of human rights standards, particularly through the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women of 1979; and the development of the ‘Women, Peace and Security’ agenda by the UN Security Council since 2000. Both areas are limited in their understandings of the diverse lives of women. The chapter argues that campaigns for the recognition of women’s rights shuttle between the mainstream and the margins of international law and that the structural …

Critiquing Matter Of A-B-: An Uncertain Future In Asylum Proceedings For Women Fleeing Intimate Partner Violence, Theresa A. Vogel

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

The #MeToo movement has brought renewed attention to the impact of gender inequality on our society’s ability to provide protection to women from physical and sexual violence, including intimate partner violence. Despite advances in legal protections and increased resources to prevent, prosecute, and bring an end to intimate partner violence, in the absence of true efforts to combat gender inequality as a whole, intimate partner violence will continue to pervade our society. The discussion of gender inequality’s impact on the treatment of intimate partner violence must expand beyond the violence that occurs in the United States to gender inequality’s impact …

Broken Bones And Pepper Spray: The State-Sanctioned Abuse Of Immigrant Juveniles In Custody, Alex Bruce

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.

Defending Refugees: A Case For Protective Procedural Safeguards In The Persecutor Bar Analysis, Charles Shane Ellison

Faculty Scholarship

For refugees and asylum seekers, application of the so-called persecutor bar is tantamount to a death sentence. However, the Board of Immigration Appeals -- without any real deliberation--has arrived at an interpretation of a generic-relief, burdenshifting regulation to allow for application of the persecutor bar based upon very little evidence. Even mere membership in a group with a poor human rights record has been held sufficient to switch the burden of proof and apply the bar. While the recent holding of Matter of Negusie, 27 I&N Dec. 347 (June 28, 2018) can be read and understood largely as a victory …

The Price Is Rights: Getting The United Arab Emirates Up To International Speed In The Labor Law Department, Janae C. Cummings

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

Despite a rapidly growing economy and a tremendous accumulation of wealth, the United Arab Emirates has facilitated many human rights abuses against migrant workers from impoverished countries throughout the world. The UAE’s system of recruitment, payment and living conditions put already vulnerable populations in considerably worse economic conditions by exploiting their labor and creating significant barriers to challenging the unjust employment system. After being sold on the idea that migrating to the UAE would bring a semblance of economic advancement, many migrants find themselves in inhumane working conditions and debt from having to pay excessive amounts of money to recruitment …

The Best Interests Of The Child Or The State? The Rights Of The Child In Non-Lpr Cancellation Of Removal, Lizzie Bird

Master's Theses

This thesis argues that the United States is failing to fulfill its obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in its adjudication of the hardship standard in non-LPR cancellation of removal. It is well-documented that the current interpretation of the “exceptional and extremely unusual hardship” standard results in the separation of families and de facto deportation of children, many of whom are U.S. citizens. This thesis contends that this practice is not only unjust, but also unlawful.

First, it argues that the CRC in general and Article 3 (the “best interests” principle) in particular have risen …

Assessing The Impact Of The Global Compacts On Refugees And Migration In The Middle East, Susan M. Akram

Faculty Scholarship

Today, the overwhelming burden of the global refugee and migrant crisis is borne by the Middle East region, driven by protracted armed conflict and exacerbated by a deficit of applicable international legal norms. Most States in the Middle East have not adopted the international treaties that provide protection guarantees for refugees and stateless persons, the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol, the 1954 Convention on the Status of Stateless Persons, and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. The lack of legal status for persons displaced by conflict, many of whom are stateless refugees, leaves them in situations …

A Life Absolutely Bare? A Reflection On Resistance By Irregular Refugees Against Fingerprinting As State Biopolitical Control In The European Union, Ziang Zhou

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

In a legally transitory category, irregular refugees- experience a double precariousness. They risk their lives to travel across treacherous seas to Europe for a better life. However, upon the long-awaited embarkation on the European land, they are exposed once again to the precariousness of the asylum application. They are “powerless”, “with no rights” and “to be sacrificed” as Giorgio Agamben and Hannah Arendt suggested in their respective understanding of a “bare life”, la nuda vita. In light of the administrative difficulties in managing asylum application, the European Union introduced the “Dublin Agreement”, which stipulates mandatory biometric data collection for …

The Search For Protection For Stateless Refugees In The Middle East: Palestinians And Kurds In Lebanon And Jordan, Susan M. Akram

Faculty Scholarship

Most Arab countries have not ratified the 1951 Refugee Convention/1967 Protocol or the 1954 Convention on the Status of Stateless Persons, and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness has no ratifications in the Middle East. While regional conventions dealing with refugees in the Arab world have been developed, they have been honoured primarily in the breach. Further, many Arab countries do not have domestic laws governing the status of refugees or stateless persons per se, but have applied ad hoc policies to the waves of refugees that have entered and stayed – some for decades – in …

The Consideration Of Male Victims Of Sexual Violence As A Subset Of The Particular Social Group “Homosexual” In Adjudicating Asylum Claims, Christiana Desrosiers

Pace International Law Review

This Article analyzes the difficulties African male victims of sexual violence experience when seeking asylum in homophobic host countries and the lack of attention they receive from international and national governments and organizations. It concludes by recommending that male victims of sexual violence be able to seek asylum in host countries due to lack of medical care that they receive in their countries on account of imputed homosexual status.

Kunm Interviews Jennifer Moore About Refugees, Asylum, And International Law, Jennifer Moore

Faculty Scholarship

How The U.S. Ignores Immigration And Asylum Laws, by Megan Kamerick. Immigrant. Refugee. Asylum. These are words we’ve been hearing a lot this year. But what are the laws around refugees in the United States and internationally and is the U.S. following its legal obligations? On this episode of University Showcase, we talk with Professor Jennifer Moore. She's an expert on refugee law and teaches it at UNM. Moore co-authored one of the first law school text books on refugee law. Prior to joining UNM in 1995, she worked with the United Nations High Commission on Refugees in West Africa …

Effects Of Senate Bill 4 On Wage-Theft: Why All Workers Are At Risk In Low-Income Occupations, Daniella Salas-Chacon

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract forthcoming

Sanctuary Cities And The Trump Administration: The Practical Limits Of Federal Power, Joshua W. Dansby

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

On January 25, 2017, President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order with the supposed purpose of enhancing public safety of the interior of the United States. Part of the Administration’s plan includes threatening “sanctuary jurisdictions,” also known as “sanctuary cities,” with the loss of federal funds for failing to comply with federal law, specifically 8 U.S.C. § 1373.

There are several problems with this plan: (1) there is no solid definition for what makes a city a “sanctuary;” (2) if we accept the Administration’s allusion that a sanctuary jurisdiction is one that “willfully” refuses to comply with 8 U.S.C. …

Undocumented Crime Victims: Unheard, Unnumbered, And Unprotected, Pauline Portillo

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract forthcoming

After Years Of Working With ‘Ritmo’ Detainees, I Know The Inhumane Facility Doesn’T Deserve A Second Chance, Erica B. Schommer

Faculty Articles

No abstract provided.

Enforcing/Protection: The Danger Of Chevron In Refugee Act Cases, Maureen A. Sweeney

Faculty Scholarship

United States immigration courts that decide asylum cases are situated within the Justice Department – a law enforcement agency deeply invested in enforcing border control – and are subordinate to the Attorney General, the nation’s politically appointed chief law enforcement officer. This institutional subjugation of immigration judges and the Board of Immigration Appeals challenges the system’s integrity and leaves people seeking protection promised by international treaty to the whims of an enforcement agency. Courts exacerbate the problem when they give Chevron deference to those Justice Department decisions rather than reviewing them rigorously. Given the prosecutorial nature of the Justice Department, …

Legal Responses To The European Union’S Migration Crisis, Graham Butler

San Diego International Law Journal

The European Union (“EU”) imposes on itself its own constraints in which it performs as an external actor, and yet, there is little acknowledgment of this imposed constraint. It is the post-2015 migration crisis, an unexpected occurrence, which has brought the fields of EU external relation law and EU migration law together. Europe’s external border, on both land and sea, has tightened through legal acts of non-traditional nature, namely, the resort to securitisation and militarisation. Challenges, such as mass irregular migration, require more than just individual responses from a few selected Member States that are directly affected by the issue. …

Modern Application Of The Islamic Principle Of Brotherhood: An Assessment Of The Syrian Refugees’ Relocation Solution In Egypt, Shams Al Din Al Hajjaji

San Diego International Law Journal

This Article argues that the Islamic principle of Brotherhood provides a feasible basis to solve the Arab refugee crisis. The Islamic solution is based on relocating Syrian refugees to Egypt. The solution has many positive factors that make it the most promising solution among the various other proposed solutions. The Syrian refugee crisis has been one of the major challenges for many Western countries, who have found themselves between a rock and a hard place, faced with two options. The first option involves agreeing to host the massive waves of refugees, to honor their principles of human dignity and morality. …

The Uncertain Future Of Australia’S Pacific Solution, Chandra Roam

San Diego International Law Journal

The plight of a refugee is one that many of us will never understand. However, the ugly truth is that there is a global rise in the number of displaced persons seeking asylum. By the end of 2015, the number of displaced persons surpassed post World War II numbers, prompting developed nations around the world to enforce, amend, or implement policies targeted at controlling the flood of refugees at their borders. This Comment examines the policies of Australia, a nation that has had strict immigration policies in place for decades. Specifically, it discusses the Australian stance on refugee migration and …

Death By Fifty Cuts: Exporting Lunn V. Commonwealth To Maine And The Prospects For Waging A Frontal Assault On The Ice Detainer System In State Courts, Sean Turley

Maine Law Review

As long as the future of federal immigration policy remains unsettled and the use of ICE detainers to capture and deport suspected noncitizens remains widespread, practitioners should focus their attention on waging a frontal assault against the legality of ICE detainers on state law grounds by arguing that they constitute warrantless arrests that are prohibited by state statute. The recent Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court decision in Lunn v. Commonwealth provides a model for how to wage such an attack—not only in states with similar common law and statutory frameworks that are unlikely to resolve the issue legislatively, like Maine, but …

Distant Voices Then And Now: The Impact Of Isolation On The Courtroom Narratives Of Slave Ship Captives And Asylum Seekers, Tara Patel

Michigan Journal of Race and Law

Part I compares the nineteenth century cases of the Antelope and the Amistad to identify why they resulted in different outcomes despite having similar fact patterns. The Antelope concerned the fate of approximately 280 African captives discovered on a slave trade ship upon its interception by a U.S. revenue cutter. Since the slave trade in the United States was illegal at the time, the captives were transported to Savannah for trial through which their status—free or slave—would be determined. After a lengthy trial and appeals process in which Spain and Portugal laid claim to the captives, the Supreme Court determined …

Refugees In The European Union: The Harsh Reality Of The Dublin Regulation, Lana Maani

Notre Dame Journal of International & Comparative Law

The refugee crisis is a highly contested and controversial issue. The world, and specifically Europe, has seen a rapid increase in the number of refugees applying for asylum. In fact, the European Union (“EU”) has received well over one million refugees: the highest number of refugees since the Second World War. The crisis is testing the EU’s main building blocks, including, most importantly, its Member States’ notion of an ever-closer union. Some Member States have been more responsive to the crisis than others. For example, Germany is the highest refugee hosting country in the EU. On the other hand, Hungary …

An Attempt To Evade Liability: Australia's Role In Detention Center Abuse And The Refoulement Of Sri Lankan Asylum Seekers In The Context Of The Convention Against Torture, Carson Masters

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Rethinking Conspiracy Jurisdiction In Light Of Stream Of Commerce And Effects-Based Jurisdictional Principles, Alex Carver

Vanderbilt Law Review

For decades, some courts have been willing to exercise personal jurisdiction over nonresident defendants based solely on the forum contacts of their coconspirators. This practice, termed "conspiracy jurisdiction," has proven controversial among courts and commentators alike. On one hand, the actions of one member of a conspiracy are ordinarily attributable to other members of the conspiracy, and jurisdiction-conferring acts should arguably be no exception. On the other hand, attributing forum contacts from one actor to another based solely on their joint membership in a civil conspiracy seems to stretch due process protections to the breaking point. This Note provides new …

Esan V.The Attorney General (Appeal No. 96/2014) [2016] Zmsc 255, Nicholas Kahn-Fogel

SAIPAR Case Review

No abstract provided.

Due Process And The Right To Legal Counsel For Unaccompanied Minors, Marielos G. Ramos

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Unaccompanied minors arriving to the United States fleeing violence and seeking protection are apprehended, detained in facilities, and placed in removal proceedings in accordance with U.S. immigration laws. Like adults, these children have to appear in immigration court to fight deportation and must apply for any form of legal relief for which they may be eligible. However, removal proceedings work as a civil and not a criminal process, and immigration laws have established that while noncitizens have the right to an attorney, they are not entitled to legal counsel at the government’s expense. This thesis examines how the denial of …

Entering The Trump Ice Age: Contextualizing The New Immigration Enforcement Regime, Bill Ong Hing

Texas A&M Law Review

During the early stages of the Trump ICE age, America seemed to be witnessing and experiencing an unparalleled era of immigration enforcement. But is it unparalleled? Did we not label Barack Obama the “deporter-inchief?” Was it not George W. Bush who used the authority of the Patriot Act to round up nonimmigrants from Muslim and Arab countries, and did his ICE not commonly engage in armed raids at factories and other worksites? Are there not strong parallels that can be drawn between Trump enforcement plans and actions and those of other eras? What about the fear and hysteria that seems …

Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor, Your Pregnant: The Jurisprudence Of Abortion Exceptionalism In Garza V. Hargan, Kaytlin L. Roholt

Texas A&M Law Review

Since a majority of Supreme Court justices created the abortion right in 1973, a troubling pattern has emerged: The Supreme Court has come to ignore—and even nullify—longstanding precedent and legal doctrines in the name of preserving and expanding the abortion right. And with a Supreme Court majority that is blithe to manipulate any doctrine or principle—no matter how deeply rooted in U.S. legal tradition—in the name of expansive abortion rights, it should come as no surprise that lower courts are following suit. Most recently, the D.C. Circuit fired up the “ad hoc nullification machine,” but this time, its victim of …