Immigration Law Commons^™

The States Of Immigration, Rick Su

William & Mary Law Review

Immigration is a national issue and a federal responsibility. So why are states so actively involved? Their legal authority over immigration is questionable. Their institutional capacity to regulate it is limited. Even the legal actions that states take sometimes seem pointless from a regulatory perspective. Why do they enact legislation that essentially copies existing federal law? Why do they pursue regulations that courts are likely to enjoin or strike down? Why do they give so little priority to the immigration laws that do survive?

This Article sheds light on this seemingly irrational behavior. It argues that state laws are being …

Closing The Schoolhouse Doors: State Efforts To Limit K-12 Education For Unauthorized Migrant School Children, Angela M. Banks

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

"Alien" Litigation As Polity-Participation: The Positive Power Of A "Voteless Class Of Litigants", Daniel Kanstroom

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Dreams Deferred: Deferred Action, Prosecutorial Discretion, And The Vexing Case(S) Of Dream Act Students, Michael A. Olivas

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Immigration Policy From Scratch: The Universal And The Unique, Stephen H. Legomsky

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Workplace Enforcement Workarounds, Stephen Lee

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

The Transformation Of Immigration Federalism, Jennifer M. Chacón

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Guns And Membership In The American Polity, Pratheepan Gulasekaram

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Immigration And Civil Rights: Is The "New" Birmingham The Same As The "Old" Birmingham, Kevin R. Johnson

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Urban Politics And The Assimilation Of Immigrant Voters, Rick Su

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Reverse-Commandeering, Margaret Hu

Faculty Publications

Although the anti-commandeering doctrine was developed by the Supreme Court to protect state sovereignty from federal overreach, nothing prohibits flipping the doctrine in the opposite direction to protect federal sovereignty from state overreach. Federalism preserves a balance of power between two sovereigns. Thus, the reversibility of the anticommandeering doctrine appears inherent in the reasoning offered by the Court for the doctrine’s creation and application. In this Article, I contend that reversing the anti-commandeering doctrine is appropriate in the context of contemporary immigration federalism laws. Specifically, I explore how an unconstitutional incursion into federal sovereignty can be seen in state immigration …

Introduction: Noncitizen Participation In The American Polity, Angela M. Banks

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Section 4: International Law, Institute Of Bill Of Rights Law, William & Mary Law School

Supreme Court Preview

No abstract provided.

Climate Change, Environmental Degradation, And Migration: A Complex Nexus, Mostafa Mahmud Naser

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

The individual or combined effects of climate change are likely to trigger mass human movement both within and across international borders. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (“UNHCR”) predicts that between 50 and 200 million people may be displaced by 2050. Thus, the human impact on the environment is creating a new kind of global casualty for the twenty-first century—an emergent class of environmental migrants. The exact number of individuals cannot be predicted as scholars and international agencies provide varying statistics depending on underlying methods, scenarios, time frames, and assumptions. Many authors challenge the concept of climate change as …

The Curious Relationship Between "Self-Deportation" Policies And Naturalization Rates, Angela M. Banks

Faculty Publications

Governor Mitt Romney has stated that the country’s immigration problems can be solved through “self-deportation.” Arizona, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and Virginia agree. For example, K–12 public schools in Alabama are required to ascertain the immigration status of all enrolling students. Police officers in Arizona, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and Virginia check the immigration status of all individuals booked into jail. These “self-deportation” laws and policies, also known as immigration enforcement through attrition, are designed to discourage and deter unauthorized migration. Yet these policies are having a broader impact; they are creating a hostile context of reception for immigrants regardless …

The "Padilla Advisory" And Its Implications Beyond The Immigration Context, Hanh H. Le

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Enabling Refugee And Idp Law And Policy: Implications Of The U.N. Disability Convention On The Rights Of Persons With Disabilities, Michael Ashley Stein, Janet E. Lord

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Deporting Families: Poliltical Question Or Legal Issue?, Angela M. Banks

Faculty Publications

Last year 245,424 noncitizens were removed from the United States, and courts played virtually no role in ensuring that these decisions did not violate individual substantive rights like freedom of speech, substantive due process, or retroactivity. Had these individuals been deported from a European country, domestic and regional courts would have reviewed the decisions to ensure compatibility with these types of rights. Numerous international law scholars and immigration scholars seek to minimize the gap between the legal processes offered in the United States and Europe for noncitizens challenging deportation orders. Many of these scholars contend that greater recognition of international …

Section 9: Immigration, Institute Of Bill Of Rights Law, William & Mary Law School

Supreme Court Preview

No abstract provided.

The Meaning Of Marriage: Immigration Rules And Their Implications For Same-Sex Spouses In A World Without Doma, Scott C. Titshaw

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

An estimated 35,000 U.S. citizens are living in our country with same-sex foreign partners, but these couples have no right to stay here together on the basis of their relationship. Many of these Americans are faced with a choice between their partners and the country they love. This is true even if the couple is legally married in one of the growing number of U.S. states and foreign countries that recognize same-sex marriage. The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which defines “marriage” for all federal purposes as an exclusively heterosexual institution, stands squarely in their way. Reform options that would …

A New Look At The Original Meaning Of The Diversity Clause, Mark Moller

William & Mary Law Review

Must a federal court have obtained the power to bind a party before her citizenship becomes relevant to diversity jurisdiction? For a long time conventional wisdom has assumed the answer is “no”: Congress can authorize diversity jurisdiction based on the citizenship of persons who, although currently beyond the court’s power to bind, might later join the suit. Congress, in turn, has acted on this assumption. Key provisions of the most ambitious, and controversial, expansion of diversity jurisdiction in the last decade, the 2005 Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA), hinge diversity jurisdiction on the citizenship of persons conventionally believed beyond a …

Standing To Challenge State And Local Immigration Regulation: How The Notion Of Expressive Injury Can Restore Federal Power Over Immigration, Timothy A. Newman

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Mothers Without Borders: Undocumented Immigrant Mothers Facing Deportation And The Best Interests Of Their U.S. Citizen Children, Satya Grace Kaskade

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

This note addresses how deportation of undocumented immigrants affects the U.S. citizen children of those immigrants. The author examines this issue by studying the story of Marta Escoto, a woman facing deportation and also the mother and sole caregiver of a U.S. citizen child with a severely debilitating disease. If Escoto is deported and forced to return to her home country of Honduras, her daughter will likely be unable to continue to receive adequate and necessary health care. Mothers like Escoto who face deportation often plead the well-being of their children, but few can satisfy the high burden of proving …

Proportional Deportation, Angela M. Banks

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Sovereignty, Deference, And Deportation: Allocating And Enforcing Immigrants' Rights In The United States And Europe, Angela M. Banks

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Constitutional Displacement, Timothy Zick

Faculty Publications

This Article examines the intersection between territory and constitutional liberty. Territoriality, as defined by Robert Sack, is the attempt to affect, influence, or control people, phenomena, and relationships by delimiting and asserting control over a geographic area. Territoriality affects constitutional liberty in profound ways. These effects have been apparent in certain infamous historical episodes, including the territoriality of racial segregation, the geographic exclusion and internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II, early state migratory exclusions, and isolation of the sick and mentally ill. Today, governments are resorting to territorial restrictions in an increasing number of circumstances, including detention of enemy …

Ninth Circuit Reversal: The Removal Of Offensive Collateral Estoppel In Alienage Proceedings, Matthew D. Purcell

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Speech: Latinas And Their Families In Detention: The Growing Intersection Of Immigration Law And Criminal Law, Sandra Guerra Thompson

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

In this article, Professor Sandra Guerra Thompson explores the growing enforcement of immigration law within the interior of the United States and the growing intersection of the criminal justice system and immigration law. Through the use of worksite enforcement sweeps and immigration screening by state and local law enforcement, growing numbers of undocumented persons are being taken into custody by federal immigration officials. She examines the plight of women and families held in detention centers under what are often deplorable conditions. Ironically, immigration detention centers offer fewer resources than those available in most state prisons. The immigration law judicial system …

Forced Marriage And The Granting Of Asylum: A Reason To Hope After Gao V. Gonzales, Cara Goeller

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

This note addresses the significance of Gao v. Gonzales through the analysis of the development of asylum gender laws in the United States. The analysis includes a brief history of asylum law in the United States and the issues the courts have addressed concerning gender and asylum law. The note concludes with an analysis of the Gao decision and the potential consequences of the decision.

Even Aliens Are Entitled To Due Process: Extending Mathews V. Eldridge Balancing To Board Of Immigration Appeals Procedural Reform, Bradley J. Wyatt

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.