Immigration Law Commons^™

Crimmigration: How It Can Protect Immigrant Rights, Aspen Griffing

Criminal Law Society Blog

“Crimmigration: How it Can Protect Immigrant Rights,” addresses the expansion of Immigration and Customs Enforcement under the Trump II Administration and its impact on the immigrant community in the United States. This Article recognizes the punitive nature that civil immigration proceedings, oftentimes posing consequences as severe as those in criminal proceedings. As such, this Article proposes a procedural concept of “crimmigration” to protect immigrant rights. A “crimmigration” framework would offer immigrants the right to Miranda warnings, prompt judicial determinations of probable cause, the right to a speedy trial, and the right to appeal, among other protections. While the harms caused …

Bringing Order To Chaos: Hearsay Rules In Immigration Courts, Joseph Romano

Immigration Law Blog

This Article examines the admission of hearsay evidence in immigration courts, where judges apply a flexible “probative and fundamentally fair” standard rather than the Federal Rules of Evidence. The Article identifies a lack of clear doctrinal guidance and resulting disparities across cases. To address this gap, the Article proposes a structured four-factor framework focusing on reliability, corroboration, opportunity for rebuttal, and outcome centrality to better ensure consistent and fair adjudication.

Fluctuating Hallucinations: On The Boundaries Of Immigration Judges’ Discretion In The Determination Of Asylum Based On Political Opinions, Yan Zhang

Immigration Law Blog

This article examines the enigmatic nature and blurred boundaries of the discretionary power exercised by immigration judges in asylum cases, highlighting how the scope of such discretion—whether broad or narrow—proves decisive for the applicants and their families. Through a comparative analysis of specific cases, the article underscores the critical importance of immigration judges seeking to discern and follow the true intent of the law—specifically, by deeply understanding and defining the threshold of “persecution,” delineating the boundaries of “political opinion,” and appropriately weighing and prioritizing immigration policies within their specific historical contexts. Furthermore, it is essential that judges conduct a comprehensive …

The Illusion Of Justice: How Criminalizing Status Undermines The Rule Of Law, Luz M. Payán

Immigration Law Blog

In May of 2025, United States Senator Cornyn introduced the Justice for American Victims of Illegal Aliens Act. The Act creates an additional aggravating factor in determining whether to impose the death sentence. The aggravating factor would only be applicable when a noncitizen is found guilty of killing a United States citizen. This Article first argues that this Act would create grave constitutional concerns and severely undermine the rule of law. Next, this Article urges that, in order to truly promote public safety, our government should focus on policies meant to empower communities.

The Illusion Of Justice: How Criminalizing Status Undermines The Rule Of Law, Luz M. Payán

Immigration Law Blog

In May of 2025, United States Senator Cornyn introduced the Justice for American Victims of Illegal Aliens Act. The Act creates an additional aggravating factor in determining whether to impose the death sentence. The aggravating factor would only be applicable when a noncitizen is found guilty of killing a United States citizen. This Article first argues that this Act would create grave constitutional concerns and severely undermine the rule of law. Next, this Article urges that, in order to truly promote public safety, our government should focus on policies meant to empower communities.

Workers’ Rights: Legal Protections Against Discrimination For Undocumented Employees, Nathan C. Zipperian, Mark Xiao, Kari Siegenthaler

Immigration Law Blog

Although undocumented workers are protected from workplace discrimination through federal and state laws, increasingly common immigration raids on workplaces coupled with widespread racist sentiment has caused some employers to preemptively terminate employees they suspect are undocumented. Even if undocumented workers succeed in keeping their employment, employers often weaponize the threat of immigration enforcement to create an environment of exploitation in which undocumented workers feel they cannot report abusive employer conduct.

This article will outline the legal protections afforded to undocumented people in the workplace, as well as detailing empirical studies that outline the types of discrimination undocumented workers often experience. …

Immutable Suffering: How The Bia’S Decision In Matter Of K-E-S-G- Complicates Asylum For Victims Of Gender-Based Persecution, Phoebe Appel

Immigration Law Blog

This article addresses the recent BIA decision in Matter of K-E-S-G-, which held that a social group defined by sex and nationality fails to meet the definition of a particular social group eligible for relief under U.S. asylum law. The article argues that while the issue of gender-based persecution is widespread, victims of such harm are united by a unique form of suffering and immutable characteristics. To offer an example of the distinct effects of gender-based persecution, the article highlights women in Eurasia who have been subject to forced marriages.

Birthright Citizenship: Its History And Continued Relevance In Modern America, Shahin Mirzaei

Immigration Law Blog

In light of recent efforts by the Trump administration to challenge birthright citizenship, this article addresses the history of the principle of jus soli in the United States and the reasoning behind its incorporation in the U.S. Constitution. The article also explores existing debates surrounding this principle, including those stemming from historical distortions and misconceptions about U.S.-born children of noncitizen parents, and ultimately highlights the importance of its preservation.

Pathway To The American Dream: The National Interest Waiver, Sapna Sharma

Immigration Law Blog

This article provides a roadmap for individuals seeking to obtain a lawful permanent residency in the United States through the EB-2 National Interest Waiver (NIW). It explains how qualified applicants with advanced degrees or exceptional ability can self-petition without employer sponsorship. The article walks the readers through the key eligibility requirements and offers guidance on how applicants can present a strong case.

From 180 To 30: A Case For Shortening The Asylum Ead Clock, Faith Hegstad

Immigration Law Blog

This article explores the challenges posed by the mandatory 180-day wait for work authorization for asylum applicants in the United States, and evaluates the potential solutions offered by the Asylum Seeker Work Authorization Act and the ASPIRE Act. Although these proposed bills have expired, this article posits that Congress should pass future bills modeled after either the ASPIRE Act, the House version of the Asylum Seeker Work Authorization Act, or both.

After Chevron’S Demise, Should Courts Be Giving Deference To The Trump Administration’S Foreign Policy Considerations When Deporting A Noncitizen?, Cyrus D. Mehta, Kaitlyn Box

Immigration Law Blog

No abstract provided.

Eb-5 Visas: Selling Citizenship?, Riley Amdor

Immigration Law Blog

This article analyzes the EB-5 Investor Visa Program, specifically discussing whether this program could be considered a means of selling of United States citizenship and, conversely, how it may be beneficial to the U.S. economy. This will be done by examining the EB-5 Program requirements and the contributions it has made to the United States. On one hand, the EB-5 Program provides a direct path to citizenship if an immigrant can invest enough money in a U.S. company. On the other hand, the economic benefits that result from the EB-5 program are vast, stimulating the U.S. economy. Conversely, President Trump’s …

Administrative Closure: A Codified Shield For Justice And Judicial Efficiency, Abhilasha Khanal

Immigration Law Blog

Immigration Judges and the Board of Immigration Appeals have long fought for the ability to manage their dockets efficiently, often using administrative closure to prioritize high-impact cases and de-escalate low-priority removals. This article explores how the codification of administrative closure safeguards this critical judicial tool against shifting political agendas. By examining the history of administrative closure, from its contentious beginnings to its recent formalization, this article highlights why its preservation is essential for protecting vulnerable immigrants while maintaining judicial efficiency.

Rights Violations Faced By Women And Girls Migrating Through The Darién Gap, Jessica Alejandra Arroyave Buitrago

Immigration Law Blog

This article aims to highlight how the rights of women and girls migrating through the Darién Gap are specifically violated due to their gender, making them disproportionately vulnerable to certain forms of rights violations.

Big Words, Questionable Legality: Constitutional Impediments To Restricting Birthright Citizenship, Kristin Hommel

Immigration Law Blog

This article analyzes the nuances of Trump's Day One executive order restricting the grant of birthright citizenship only to children whose parents possess either a green card or U.S. citizenship. The article discusses the constitutional impediments to this executive order, as well as prior caselaw and academic articles, positing that the executive order stands on rather shaky ground constitutionally.

Immigration, Due Process, And Executive Power, Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia, Peter Margulies

Faculty Scholarship

The current Administration's approach to immigration law enforcement has augmented executive power and reduced procedural safeguards. That approach has raised questions under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) and the Constitution. Courts have often pushed back, although the Supreme Court has stayed judicial curbs on one area we'll discuss: Removal to a country other than the home country of the noncitizen (sometimes called third-country removal (TCR)). In other areas, such as the First Amendment rights of foreign students and the reach of the Alien Enemies Act (AEA), adjudication is moving through the courts, although the Supreme Court has imposed limits …

Border Decriminalization As A State Project: Lessons From Marijuana And Assisted Suicide Legalization Across The United States, Victor C. Romero

Faculty Scholarship

My prior work argued for the decriminalization of border crossings without proof of specific intent to violate another law (like drug trafficking), which is even less likely to happen now than it was when the piece was published, given the current presidential administration’s zealous deportation strategy and Congress’s seeming acquiescence. As such, I advocate for a second-best solution involving federal-state cooperative agreements wherein border states abutting both Mexico and Canada are given the option by the federal government to pass local legislation decriminalizing border crossings into their states as their communities desire. To the extent that the current presidential administration …

Parole Under Ina 212(D)(5)(A): Balancing Humanitarian Needs And Legal Boundaries, Jorge Miguel Magdaniel Manzur

Immigration Law Blog

This article examines how various uses and interpretations of parole under INA § 212(d)(5) have shaped immigrants' access to benefits, highlighting the balance between executive discretion and statutory limits within recent political and humanitarian contexts.

The Fifth Circuit Court’S Failures With Its Recent Border Fence Ruling, Sydney Newby

Immigration Law Blog

No abstract provided.

Domino Effect: How Scalia Lives On Through The Controversial Texas Immigration Law And Which States Are Itching To Pull The Trigger, Kristin Hommel

Immigration Law Blog

This article examines Texas’s immigration enforcement law, SB 4, and the Supreme Court’s surprising ruling overturning the injunction which prohibited its enforcement. This article posits that SB 4 is by no means a “lone wolf,” but rather is the latest in a series of state laws which seek, quietly or boldly, to take immigration into the state’s hands.

Climate Change And The Future Of Immigration, Rebekah Johnson

Immigration Law Blog

No abstract provided.

From Improper Care To Inadequate Remedies: Continued Discriminatory Treatment Of Migrant Women In The United States Healthcare System, Hannah Finch

Immigration Law Blog

No abstract provided.

Hope Or Hostility On The Forefront: Challenges At The Southwest Border, Pretima Persaud

Immigration Law Blog

No abstract provided.

Protecting The Human Rights Of Venezuelan Migrants And Refugees In The United States, Luis David Escorcia Pimienta

Immigration Law Blog

No abstract provided.

Long-Term Immigration And The Path To Citizenship, Ángela Sánchez-Gago

Immigration Law Blog

This article narrates the personal experience of the author with the American immigration system and provides an insight into the emotional scope of the naturalization process.

Female Genital Mutilation And The Question Of Future Persecution When Seeking Asylum In The United States, Dinithi Sathya Bulathwela

Immigration Law Blog

No abstract provided.

Assessing Visions Of Democracy In Regulatory Policymaking, Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia, Christopher J. Walker

Faculty Scholarship

Motivated in part by Congress’s failure to legislate, presidents in recent years seem to have turned even more to the regulatory process to make major policy. It is perhaps no coincidence that the field of administrative law has similarly seen a resurgence of scholarship extolling the virtues of democratic accountability in the modern administrative state. Some scholars have even argued that bureaucracy is as much as if not more democratically legitimate than Congress, either in the aggregative or deliberative sense, or both.

In our contribution to this Ensuring Democratic Accountability in the Administrative State Symposium, we make a modest intervention …

Interagency Dynamics In Matters Of Health And Immigration, Medha D. Makhlouf

Faculty Scholarly Works

When Congress delegates authority to an executive agency, it tells us something important about the expertise that Congress wishes to harness in policymaking on an issue. In the legal literature on interagency dynamics and cooperation, issues at the nexus of health and immigration are largely understudied. This Article extends this literature by examining how delegations of authority on issues at the intersection of health and immigration influence policymaking. In an analysis of how administrative law models apply to three topics in the shared regulatory space of the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) and the Department of Homeland Security …

Immigration Reforms As Health Policy, Medha D. Makhlouf, Patrick J. Glen

Faculty Scholarly Works

The 2020 election, uniting control of the political branches in the Democratic party, opened up a realistic possibility of immigration reform. Reform of the immigration system is long overdue, but in pursuing such reform, Congress should cast a broad net and recognize the health policies embedded in immigration laws. Some immigration laws undermine health policies designed to improve individual and population health. For example, immigration inadmissibility and deportability laws that chill noncitizens from enrolling in health-promoting public benefits contribute to health inequities in immigrant communities that spill over into the broader population—a fact highlighted by the still-raging COVID-19 pandemic. Restrictions …

Decitizenizing Asian Pacific American Women, Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia, Margaret Hu

Faculty Scholarship

The Page Act of 1875 excluded Asian women immigrants from entering the United States, presuming they were prostitutes. This presumption was tragically replicated in the 2021 Atlanta Massacre of six Asian and Asian American women, reinforcing the same harmful prejudices. This Article seeks to illuminate how the Atlanta Massacre is symbolic of larger forms of discrimination, including the harms of decitizenship. These harms include limited access to full citizenship rights due to legal barriers, restricted cultural and political power, and a lack of belonging. The Article concludes that these harms result from the structure of past and present immigration laws …