Immigration Law Commons^™

Who Am I And Who Do You Want Me To Be? Effectively Defining A Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, And Transgender Social Group In Asylum Applications, Keith Southam

Chicago-Kent Law Review

Asylum law provides an area within immigration law that is unexpectedly friendly to lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, and transgender persons. Persons who suffer persecution on account of "membership in a particular social group" are eligible to live and work in the United States. This encompasses lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, and transgender persons who suffer persecution. However, United States law does not clearly define applicable standards in this area. As a result, different adjudicators in the asylum process focus on different methodological approaches and sometimes inject bias into the process. In addition, because the terms "lesbian," "gay," "bisexual," and "transgender" are …

Deportation Is Different, Peter L. Markowitz

Articles

Over one hundred years ago, the Supreme Court emphatically declared that deportation proceedings are civil, not criminal, in nature. As a result, none of the nearly 400,000 individuals who were deported last year enjoyed any of the constitutional protections afforded to criminal defendants under the Sixth or Eighth Amendments. Among those 400,000 were numerous detained juveniles and mentally ill individuals who, as a result of the civil designation, were forced to navigate the labyrinth of immigration law alone, without appointed counsel. Others were lawul permanent residents who had pled guilty to minor offenses upon the correct advice of counsel that …

Visa As Property, Visa As Collateral, Eleanor Marie L. Brown

Vanderbilt Law Review

Three decades ago Guido Calabresi and Philip Bobbit famously wrote about "tragic choices," namely tough policy choices which offend deeply held values, and the accompanying "subterfuges," that is, efforts by policy elites to shield such choices from public view.' Strangely, the "tragic choice" framework has not been applied in the context of U.S. immigration law, although current immigration policy is rife with tragic choices and subterfuges. A case in question is the issue of commodification of visas. It is clear that U.S. policymakers remain deeply committed to maintaining an illusion that U.S. visas are not being "sold."2 For example, in …

A Season Of Change: Reforming The H2b Guest Worker Program, Jayesh Rathod

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

INTRODUCTION: Each year, as spring and summer arrive, Americans partake in range of seasonal traditions: beautifying their lawns and gardens; enjoying harvests of fresh fruits, vegetables, and seafood; and attending local fairs and festivals. Although these rituals have become part of the American cultural fabric, few know that they are supported by thousands of temporary guest workers who enter the United States each year under the H-2 visa program.' The H-a program allows U.S employers to petition for seasonal agricultural workers (via the H-2A program) and seasonal nonagricultural workers (via the H-2B program) to work in this country on a …

Should I Stay Or Should I Go: Why Immigrant Reunification Decisions Should Be Based On The Best Interest Of The Child, Marcia Zug

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Protecting Refugees And Immigrants On United States Soil But Not "In The United States": The Unique Case Of The Commonwealth Of The Northern Mariana Islands, Estelle Hofschneider

Buffalo Law Review

No abstract provided.

(Re)Constituting The Immigrant Body Through Policy: A Rhetorical Analysis Of The Narratives Within The Discourses Of The Development, Relief, And Education For Alien Minors Act (Dream Act), Emily Rae Ironside

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Using the testimonies surrounding the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act (DREAM Act) as a primary case study, this project provides a rhetorical investigation of the interplay between narratives, nation building, national identity, policymaking, and the American immigrant. This project first identifies the grand narrative of exclusionary nationalism as the primary narrative constituting the American identity. Then, this project examines the rhetoric of policymakers to demonstrate how an Anglo-Saxonized, elitist notion of American identity is rhetorically constituted by assimilationist, racist, xenophobic, and classist discourses. Moreover, it argues policymakers maintain the narrative dominance of exclusionary nationalism through restrictive immigration …

Contested Legality And The Insecurity Of Status: Some Snapshots From A Decade Of Refugee Law, Donald Galloway

Western Migration Conference Series

Bio:

Donald Galloway is a Professor of Law at the University of Victoria, British Columbia. He specializes in Refugee Law, Citizenship Law and Immigration Law. He was the founding President of the Canadian Association of Refugee and Forced Migration Studies (CARFMS) and is a former member of the Immigration and Refugee Board.

From Brawn To Brains: How Immigration Works For America, Pia Orrenius

Western Migration Conference Series

Bio:

Pia Orrenius is Research Officer and Senior Economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas and Adjunct Professor at the Hankamer School of Business, Baylor University. Her research focuses on the labor market impacts of immigration, unauthorized immigration, and U.S. immigration policy, and her work has been published in the American Economic Review, Journal of Development Economics, Labour Economics, Industrial and Labor Relations Review, among others. She is coauthor of the book Beside the Golden Door: U.S. Immigration Reform in a New Era of Globalization (2010, AEI Press). Dr. Orrenius is a Research Fellow at …

The Labor Market Effects Of U.S. Immigration: What Is The Latest Evidence?, Orn Bodvarsson

Western Migration Conference Series

Bio:

Örn Bodvarsson is Professor of Economics, Chair of the Department of Management, and Interim Chair of the Department of Social Work at St. Cloud State University. He is also a Research Fellow at the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in Bonn, Germany. A labor economist, Bodvarsson has been working in the immigration field since 2001, focusing on host country distributional effects of immigration, determinants of migration, internal migration in China, and wage discrimination against the foreign-born. In 2009 Springer published his co-authored book, The Economics of Immigration: Theory and Policy, recently reviewed in Journal of Economic …

Recruitment And Retention Of Immigrants In A Global Labour Market: Implications For Policy, Christopher Robinson

Western Migration Conference Series

Bio:

Chris Robinson studied economics at the London School of Economics and the University of Chicago, and has been a faculty member at the University of Western Ontario since 1977. His research has focused on human capital and wage issues including human capital specificity, labour supply, migration, and unions and he has published a wide range of articles on these topics in scholarly journals. From 1993 to 2003 he served as associate editor of the Journal of
Labor Economics. From 2001 to 2010 he held the CIBC Chair in Human Capital and
Productivity at the University of Western Ontario …

Rural Centres And Immigration: Policy, People, And Applied Research, William Ashton

Western Migration Conference Series

Roles of immigrants in rural centres is not well understood. Research is needed to define a welcoming community, yet Steinbach and Brandon, Mantioba serve as examples of welcoming immigrants. From interviews, immigrant priorities are housing and employment. Recent research described rural housing strategies and pathways for hiring immigrants. Rural policy implications are also noted.

Trends And Inconsistencies In Immigration And Refugee Board Case Decisions, Julianna Beaudoin

Western Migration Conference Series

The last fifteen years have included dramatic policy changes to the Canadian Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB). These changes are reflected through IRB year-end statistics/graphs and an anthropologically focused discussion that illustrates the need for reform to correct current inconsistencies in the IRB decision-making process.

Immigration And The Population Of Canada: The 2000-2010 Decade In Historical Context, Roderic Beaujot, Muhammed Raza

Western Migration Conference Series

The paper elaborates the role of immigration and immigration policy in Canada. Certain phases of immigration are identified in historical and policy contexts. The consequences of immigration in terms of population growth, age structure and geographical distribution are highlighted. The paper concludes with the social, economic and cultural impact of immigration.

Sociolinguistics Barriers: Constructing And Reproducing Temporary Migrants' Social Inequalities, Maria Eugenia De Luna Villalón

Western Migration Conference Series

This study explores the sociolinguistic barriers that Mexican Agricultural Temporary Workers (MATW) experience during their temporary stays in Canada. Following an ethnographic approach, some of the findings were that the sociolinguistic barriers lead to sociolinguistic dependency, increasing and perpetuating human and social inequalities of the MATW.

Arizona's Grand Question: Who Can Regulate The Hire Of Unauthorized Labor Under Chamber Of Commerce V. Whiting?, Larry Nackerud, Dale Schwartz, Karen Weinstock

Working in the Public Interest Conferences

Explores recent state legislation that cracks down on employers who hire illegal immigrants, and considers that larger impact on national immigration reform.

A Need For Culture Change: Glbt Latinas/Os And Immigration, Berta E. Hernández-Truyol

UF Law Faculty Publications

In conversations about Latina/o immigration, such as the one that took place at LLEADS #2: The U.S. Immigration Crises: Enemies at Our Gates or Lady Liberty's Huddled Masses?, there is one issue that we tend not to address. There exists a Latina/o immigration cuento normativo (normative narrative) that obscures and denies an entire group of Latinas/os. This cuento normativo is not only insufficiently attentive to, but is downright erasing of GLBT Latinas/os. In this Article, I want to urge participation in a movement for cultural change within the various and varied comunidades Latinas (Latina/o communities) to embrace a new, inclusive …

Reaffirming The Role Of The Federal Courts: How The Sixties Provide Guidance For Immigration Reform, Robbie Clarke

Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice

No abstract provided.

The Role Of Counsel In Canada's Refugee Determinations System: An Empirical Assessment, Sean Rehaag

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

This article examines the role of counsel in Canada's refugee determination process through an investigation of over 70,000 refugee decisions from 2005 to 2009. The article demonstrates that counsel is a key factor driving successful outcomes. The article also shows that legal aid programs are increasingly restrictive in funding legal representation for refugee claimants. The author argues that these restrictions put the lives of refugees at risk. The article also demonstrates that claimants represented by immigration consultants are less likely to succeed than claimants represented by lawyers. This, combined with evidence that the immigration consulting industry has not established adequate …

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 …

The Citizenship Shibboleth: Is The American Dream Everyone Else's Nightmare?, Emily Marr

Michigan Law Review

The American Dream is a trope with global reach. Although the "city upon a hill" may have lost some of its luster in recent years, the idea that America is a country where citizens can rise above "the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position" largely continues to resonate. Professor Ayelet Shachar's provocative new book, however, suggests otherwise. In The Birthright Lottery, Shachar condemns birthright citizenship laws as a feudal anachronism analogous to an inherited-property regime. For her, birthright citizenship in a prosperous nation confers a morally arbitrary windfall that determines life opportunities (pp. 4-7). Shachar further argues that in a …

Magic, Mutilation, And Murder: A Case For Granting Asylum To Tanzanian Nationals With Albinism, Stacy Larson

Pace International Law Review Online Companion

This paper argues that the: language and intent of the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act; current country conditions in United Republic of Tanzania; international treaties; and recent developments in case law defining the scope and coverage of the “particular social group” category, all support the right of Persons with Albinism (PWAs) to seek asylum because of the persecution they have suffered or fear on account of their disability.  It should be noted, that to date, there are no reported cases of PWAs seeking asylum in the U.S.  Although research has not revealed why PWAs have not yet sought asylum in …

One Time Too Many: In Re Briones And The Bia's Rigid Interpretation Of The Life Act And Its Dire Consequences For Undocumented Reentry, Lauren Gonzalez

San Diego International Law Journal

This Casenote will discuss both the origins of the LIFE Act and its early potential, and then focus attention on the BIA decision itself in Briones and its impact on immigration courts and U.S. courts of appeals. In Part II, this Casenote will give a brief overview of the LIFE Act and its creation. Parts III and IV will discuss the issues presented in Briones, the facts of the case, and the BIA?s decision. In Part V, the Casenote will then analyze the decision in Briones as it conflicts with previous case law from multiple circuit courts of appeal and …

Asylum Rights And Wrongs: What The Proposed Refugee Protection Act Will Do And What More Will Need To Be Done, Michele R. Pistone

Working Paper Series

The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA) added major new restrictions to U.S. asylum law. Several other laws passed in the wake of 9/11 produced additional restrictions. Various proposals to modify or even eliminate the changes made by IIRI¬RA and the post-9/11 laws have been introduced over the years; the Refu¬gee Protection Act of 2010 (RPA) is the most prominent recent example of these efforts. As this Article details, the RPA has much to commend within it, especially its proposed elimination of the one year deadline for asylum applications that was originally imposed by IIRIRA.

We Live In A Country Of Unhcr: The Un Surrogate State And Refugee Policy In The Middle East, Michael Kagan

Scholarly Works

Many gaps in the protection of refugees can be connected to a de facto transfer of responsibility for managing refugee policy from sovereign states to United Nations agencies. This phenomenon can be seen in dozens of countries in the Middle East, Africa and Asia, where the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) or the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) manage refugee camps, register newly arrived asylum-seekers, carry out refugee status determination, and administer education, health, livelihood and other social welfare programs.

In carrying out these functions, the UN acts to a great …

Post Padilla: Padilla's Puzzles For Review In State And Federal Courts, Nancy J. King, Gray Proctor

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

This article addresses questions that may face courts as defendants seek relief under the Court’s decision in Padilla v. Kentucky, which held that counsel’s failure to adequately inform the defendant of the deportation consequences of conviction constituted deficient performance under the Sixth Amendment. Issues addressed include: express waivers of review in plea agreements; what constitutes deficient advice and prejudice sufficient for a finding of ineffective assistance; the retroactive application of Padilla to cases on post-conviction review; federal habeas review of state court decisions rejecting Padilla-type claims; procedural default, successive petition, and time bars to federal habeas review of Padilla claims; …

Illegal Aid: Legal Assistance To Immigrants In The United States, Geoffrey Heeren

Law Faculty Publications

There is an enormous unmet need for immigrant legal aid in the United States. This is partly due to regulations that bar federally funded legal services organizations from representing many types of immigrants. The possible repeal of these restrictions is rarely discussed as a means to expand immigrant access to counsel. Federal funding for immigrant legal aid appears to have become taboo, despite the fact that for much of its history, legal aid was deeply connected to immigration. This forgotten history reveals that there was once broad national consensus in favor of immigrant legal aid; it became contentious and faced …

Citizenship Under Fire: The Forging Of The New Americans, Shruti Rana

Faculty Scholarship

This essay reviews and critiques two new books on the debate over immigration and citizenship, Anna O. Law, The Immigration Battle in American Courts, and Ediberto Roman, Citizenship and Its Exclusions: A Classical, Constitutional, and Critical Race Critique. Law’s book takes a procedural approach to unraveling the complex immigration cases emanating from the U.S. courts of appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court. This essay challenges some of Law’s conclusions and suggests methodological alterations that may strengthen her key arguments. Roman’s book is distinct from Law’s in that it takes on a much broader historical and procedurialist view of the …

A Fine Line, Redefined: Moving Toward More Equitable Asylum Policies, Heather M. Kolinsky

Scholarly Articles

This article is an exploration of the inequities that still remain in asylum claims, with particular reference to the experience of Chinese citizens seeking asylum and Cuban refugees.

Balancing National Security And International Responsibility: The Immigration System’S Legal Duty To Asylees Fleeing Gang Violence In Central America, Margot Kniffin

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

No abstract provided.