Immigration Law Commons^™

The Cost Of Humanitarian Assistance: Ethical Rules And The First Amendment The Second Annual Symposium On Legal Malpractice & Professional Responsibility., Jack P. Sahl

St. Mary's Law Journal

Abstract Forthcoming.

Tactical Considerations In Defending Assigned Legal Malpractice Claims Essay., William D. Cobb Jr.

St. Mary's Law Journal

Every Texas lawyer with a legal malpractice defense docket should be aware of the Zuniga rule and its possible exceptions. Although the general rule in Texas is that causes of action are freely assignable, because of the ruling in Zuniga v. Groce, Locke & Hebdon, legal malpractice causes of action are unassignable. The Texas Supreme Court declined to hear the case with the notation “writ refused” essentially adopting the lower court’s opinion as its own. Nonetheless, the decision in Zuniga did not resolve the problem of the insolvent judgment debtor, nor did Zuniga purport to invalidate all agreements that dispose …

Insurance Companies Use Of Captive Or In-House Counsel To Represent Insured Constitutes The Unauthorized Practice Of Law: Is American Home The Right Decision For Texas Comment., Daniel M. Martinez

St. Mary's Law Journal

Insurance companies should not be allowed to continue the practice of hiring in-house or captive counsel to defend against a claim covered by their insurance policy. Under a typical liability insurance policy, the insurer has a duty to defend. When legal counsel is retained, the insurer pays for the representation and has a contractual right to control the defense. This places defense counsel in a precarious situation because he or she has to balance the contractual obligations to the insurer against his or her ethical responsibilities to the insured. The defense counsel may be exposed to a malpractice claim by …

Jury Patriotism: The Jury System Should Be Improved For Texans Called To Serve., K. B. Battaglini, Mark A. Behrens, Cary Silverman

St. Mary's Law Journal

Many citizens seem to embrace the jury system, so long as they do not have to participate. The reason for this is not that most citizens are “un-American” but rather the burden jury duty imposes on potential jurors. Texans, in general, continue to overwhelmingly support the jury system. Yet, many citizens fail to appear for jury duty when summoned or strive to get out of jury duty after entering the courthouse. Most of these individuals do not lack a sense of civic duty. Rather, they are discouraged from jury service due to the hardship and headache imposed by an antiquated …

Punitive Damages In Texas: Examining The Need For A Split-Recovery Statute., Meredith Matheson Thoms

St. Mary's Law Journal

As a result of the increasing number and amounts of punitive damage awards, a call for reform is much warranted. Reformers and legislators continue to seek out measures to effectively limit excessive punitive damage awards and deter unnecessary and frivolous litigation. But they must consider not only the effects of the statutes but also the purposes they will serve. Split-recovery statutes can become valuable reform tool which will continue to serve the goals of punishment and retribution attached to punitive damages as well as deterrence. Split-recovery statutes arguably enlarge government, but they also serve a valuable purpose in furthering the …

Ferpa And The Immigration And Naturalization Service: A Guide For University Counsel On Federal Rules For Collecting, Maintaining And Releasing Information About Foreign Students, Laura A.W. Khatcheressian

Law Faculty Publications

The devastating terrorist attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001, destroyed the World Trade Center in New York City, badly damaged the Pentagon, and took the lives of thousands of individuals. As more details became available about the terrorists who hijacked four U.S. planes to carry out these deadly attacks, universities around the U.S. struggled with the news that several of the hijackers had entered the U.S. on, or had later applied for, "student" visas. University officials began to grapple with new questions presented by these attacks: What responsibilities do the universities have to report foreign students who …

Federal Courts Reminded Of Executive Branch Asylum Authority, Heather Anne Egan

Public Interest Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

Where Is The Protection?: A Failed Response To Gender-Based Persecution, Elissa Steglich

Public Interest Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

Special Registration: Past And Present, Consequences And Remedies, Diana C. Bauerle

Public Interest Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

Congress Considers Bill To Provide In-State Tuition To Immigrant Children, John Anderson

Public Interest Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

Workers’ Compensation And Vocational Rehabilitation Benefits For Undocumented Workers: Reconciling The Purported Conflicts Between State Law, Federal Immigration Law, And Equal Protection To Prevent The Creation Of A Disposable Workforce, Robert I. Correales

Scholarly Works

This Article argues that sound public policy supports states providing vocational rehabilitation services to undocumented workers who have been injured in work-related accidents. Part I of the Article provides context by analyzing some of the complexities of undocumented immigrants’ lives in the United States. Part II discusses the history and economics of vocational rehabilitation programs established by workers’ compensation systems. Part III discusses ways in which immigration law and enforcement contribute to the formation of this shadow population. Part IV analyzes purported conflicts between vocational rehabilitation programs and the Immigration Reform Control Act of 1986 as they arose in Tarango …

Slings And Arrows Of Outrageous Fortune: The Deportation Of "Aggravated Felons", Valerie Neal

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Any foreign national who is convicted of an "aggravated felony," as that term is defined in the Immigration and Nationality Act, is subject to deportation from the United States. Deportation of so-called "aggravated felons" is in no way contingent upon the particular facts and circumstances in a given case. More troublingly, on the judiciary has no authority to review a deportation order based "aggravated felony" grounds. In the past decade, Congress has expanded the definition of "aggravated felony" to encompass many minor crimes that are neither aggravated nor felonious.

The deportation of foreign nationals on "aggravated felony" grounds is effectively …

Iolta In The Balance: The Battle Of Legality And Morality Between Robin Hood And The Miser Recent Development., Katherine L. Smith

St. Mary's Law Journal

Interest on Lawyers Trust Account (IOLTA) programs recently survived a constitutional challenge. IOLTA programs require interest earned from trust accounts deposited with client money to fund legal services for the poor. Many states, including Texas, maintain a mandatory IOLTA program, requiring all lawyers who handle client funds to participate. Proponents of IOLTA argue it benefits civil justice. Opponents argue it is an unconstitutional taking in violation of the Fifth Amendment. The Fifth Circuit held IOLTA accounts to be an unconstitutional taking of client property. The Ninth Circuit, however, found IOLTA accounts constitutional, holding that IOLTA accounts are not a taking …

Accountants' Accountability To Nonclients In Texas., Jessica P. Gomez

St. Mary's Law Journal

This Comment proposes that accountants be held liable to any foreseeable user of their work product to ensure the deterrence of negligence on their part. Currently, the three main common law theories concerning whether nonclients can sue accountants for negligence are: (1) the privity rule; (2) the Restatement (Second) of Torts § 552; and (3) the foreseeability standard. Many states follow the Restatement approach entitled “Information Negligently Supplied for the Guidance of Others.” Texas imposes liability on accountants but fails to extend protections to third parties who rely upon the accuracy of financial statements. Further, Texas liability does not expose …

In The Wake Of The Tampa: Conflicting Visions Of International Refugee Law In The Management Of Refugee Flows, Mary Crock

Washington International Law Journal

The Australian Government's decision in August 2001 to close its doors to a maritime Good Samaritan, Norwegian Captain Rinnan, his crew, and 433 Afghan and Iraqi rescuees, provided a curious contrast to the image of humanity, generosity, and openness that Australia tried so hard to foster during the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. Victims or villains according to how the facts and the law are characterized, the MI/V Tampa rescuers represented for lawyers the intersection of a variety of areas of law and a clash of legal principles. The ambiguities in both international and state law pertaining to asylum seekers …

Citizenship And Severity: Recent Immigration Reforms And The New Penology, Teresa A. Miller

Journal Articles

Over the past twenty years, scholars of criminal law, criminology and criminal punishment have documented a transformation in the practices, objectives, and institutional arrangements underlying a range of criminal justice system functions that are at the heart of penal modernism. In contrast to the preceding eighty years of criminal justice practices that were progressively more modern in their belief in the rationality of the criminal offender and their concern for enhancing civilization through rehabilitative responses to criminality, these scholars note that since the mid-198''0s the relatively settled assumptions about the framework that shaped criminal justice and penal practices for nearly …

Revisiting Social Group And Nexus In Gender Asylum Claims: A Unifying Rationale For Evolving Jurisprudence, Karen Musalo

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Racism And U.S. Immigration Law: Prospects For Reform After "9/11?", Richard A. Boswell

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

An Enduring Fear: Recent Limitations On The Past Persecution Ground For Asylum, Susannah C. Vance

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Decoupling 'Terrorist' From 'Immigrant': An Enhanced Role For The Federal Courts Post 9/11, Victor C. Romero

Faculty Scholarship

Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Attorney General John Ashcroft has utilized the broad immigration power ceded to him by Congress to ferret out terrorists among noncitizens detained for minor immigration violations. Such a strategy provides the government two options: deport those who are not terrorists, and then prosecute others who are. While certainly efficient, using immigration courts and their less formal due process protections afforded noncitizens should trigger greater oversight and vigilance by the federal courts for at least four reasons: First, while the legitimate goal of immigration law enforcement is deportation, Ashcroft's true objective in targeting …

Noncitizen Students And Immigration Policy Post-9/11, Victor C. Romero

Faculty Scholarship

The purpose of this article is to describe the post-9/11 world for noncitizen students and scholars in light of recent federal legislation, specifically focusing on three laws: the USA-PATRIOT Act of 2001, the Border Commuter Student Act of 2002, and the proposed Capital Student Adjustment Act, currently pending in Congress. In all three, Congress is seen trying to walk the fine line between providing fair access to postsecondary education to noncitizen students and guarding against the possibility that such institutions are being used as a springboard for terrorist activity.

Critical Race Theory In Three Acts: Racial Profiling, Affirmative Action, And The Diversity Visa Lottery, Victor C. Romero

Faculty Scholarship

The usual debates surrounding multiculturalism pit individual rights against group grievances in a variety of contexts including racial profiling, affirmative action, and the diversity visa lottery, often with seemingly contradictory results. Liberals often favor affirmative action but decry both racial profiling and the diversity visa lottery, while many conservatives hold the opposite view. Critical race theory provides a unique alternative to stock liberal and conservative arguments, allowing one to draw meaningful and persuasive distinctions among these seminal issues surrounding law enforcement, education, and immigration policy.

What's In A Label?, James C. Hathaway

Articles

One of the most striking features of the international refugee regime as it has evolved over the last quarter century is the proliferation of labels. Rather than simply assessing the circumstances of applicants against the Convention refugee definition, the governments of most developed states have instead invented a seemingly endless list of alternative statuses - "B" status, humanitarian admission, temporary protected status, special leave to remain, Duldung, and the like. Persons assigned one of these labels have generally been protected against refoulement in line with Article 33 of the Refugee Convention. But in a variety of other ways, they have …

Their Liberties, Our Security: Democracy And Double Standards, David Cole

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Some maintain that a "double standard" for citizens and noncitizens is perfectly justified. The attacks of September 11 were perpetrated by nineteen Arab noncitizens, and we have reason to believe that other Arab noncitizens are associated with the attackers and will seek to attack again. Citizens, it is said, are presumptively loyal; noncitizens are not. Thus, it is not irrational to focus on Arab noncitizens. Moreover, on a normative level, if citizens and noncitizens were treated identically, citizenship itself might be rendered meaningless. The very essence of war involves the drawing of lines in the sand between citizens of our …

Putting Health Care Providers At A Loss And Consumers At Risk: Why Hmos Should Be Held Accountable For The Financial Instability Of Their Delegated Networks., Anish P. Michael

St. Mary's Law Journal

This Comment explores why health maintenance organizations (HMOs) such as PacifiCare should be held accountable for the financial instabilities of their delegated networks. Part II discusses the organization of the managed care system and the assessment of Texas laws currently enforcing managed care in the state. Incorporated in this discussion is a look at the risks delegated networks bear when contracting with HMOs to provide payment for individualized care. Part III analyzes the increasing trend of financial instability by presenting the views of the HMOs, the delegated networks, the health care providers, and the consumers enrolled in the health plan. …

Privacy Lost: Comparing The Attenuation Of Texas's Article 1, Section 9 And The Fourth Amendment., Kimberly S. Keller

St. Mary's Law Journal

The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution requires that all searches and seizures be reasonable. Article I, Section 9 of the Texas Constitution mirrors its federal counterpart, requiring reasonableness in regard to intrusive governmental action. In examining these texts, both the federal and state provisions are comprised of two independent clauses: (1) the Reasonableness Clause, which prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures; and (2) the warrant clause, which provides that warrants may issue only upon a showing of probable cause. Both the federal and Texas constitutions include explicit language regulating the government’s right to intrude on a person’s privacy. This …

Due Process Erosion: The Diminution Of Live Testimony At The Icty, Megan A. Fairlie

Faculty Publications

Shortly after its creation in 1993, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) adopted an adversarial construct and advocated a preference for the presentation of direct evidence, or live witness testimony, in its criminal trials. In the wake of that decision and under considerable pressure to expedite its proceedings, the ICTY judges responded with efforts to streamline the trial process, amending the Tribunal’s Rules of Procedure and Evidence so as to incrementally increase the admissibility of written evidence. This article tracks the relevant rule changes and questions the merit of the decision to move away from live testimony. …

Burdened By Proof: How The Australian Refugee Review Tribunal Has Failed Lesbian And Gay Asylum Seekers, Catherine Dauvergne, Jenni Millbank

All Faculty Publications

Our argument in this paper is that the evidentiary practices and procedures that have been developed by the Australian Refugee Review Tribunal are operating at a routinely low standard. Such practices contribute to decisions that are manifestly unfair and potentially wrong in law. Our conclusions are drawn from our detailed study of more than 300 refugee tribunal decisions made in Canada and Australia in response to asylum claims brought by lesbians and gay men.

Inter-American Court Of Human Rights Amicus Curiae Brief: The United States Violates International Law When Labor Law Remedies Are Restricted Based On Workers' Migrant Status, Sarah H. Cleveland, Beth Lyon, Rebecca Smith

Faculty Scholarship

Immigrant workers in the United States of America are among the most poorly paid and poorly treated in the workforce. Amici’s attempts to protect the rights of immigrants, including unauthorized workers, have been severely hampered by domestic U.S. laws that discriminate on the basis of alienage and immigration status, and especially by a recent decision of the United States Supreme Court in Hoffman Plastic Compounds, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board, 535 U.S. 137 (2002).

Immigrant workers in particular employment-related visa categories are explicitly excluded from the protections of certain U.S. labor and employment laws. So, too, immigrant workers …