Immigration Law Commons^™

Should Indonesia Accede To The 1951 Refugee Convention And Its 1967 Protocol?, Dita Liliansa, Anbar Jayadi

Indonesia Law Review

Being a non-party to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (“1951 Refugee Convention”) and 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees (“1967 Protocol”), Indonesia does not have legal obligations to provide permanent resettlement for asylum seeker and/or refugee. However, as a transit country for those seeking shelter in Australia, Indonesia undergoes a myriad of issues resulting from illegal entrance by asylum seeker and/or refugee. Besides having neither legal framework nor domestic mechanism to handle asylum seekers and/or refugee, Indonesia’s immigration law identifies every foreigner including asylum seeker and refugee who unlawfully enter Indonesia’s territory into the …

Constitutional Law-Aliens-Equal Protection Clause Does Not Require Extension Of Special Immigrant Status To Aliens From Non-Contiguous Countries, Laurie C. Gregory

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

An Administrative Stopgap For Migrants From The Northern Triangle, Collin Schueler

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

From 2011–2014, the United States Department of Homeland Security recorded an extraordinary increase in the number of unaccompanied children arriving at the southern border from Central America’s “Northern Triangle”—the area made up of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. In fact, in fiscal year 2014, United States Customs and Border Protection apprehended over 50,000 unaccompanied children from the Northern Triangle. That is thirteen times more than just three years earlier. This Article examines the intersecting humanitarian and legal crises facing these children and offers an administrative solution to the problem. The children are fleeing a genuine humanitarian crisis—a region overrun by …

State-Created Immigration Climates And Domestic Migration, Huyen Pham, Pham Hoang Van

Faculty Scholarship

With comprehensive immigration reform dead for the foreseeable future, immigration laws enacted at the subfederal level -- cities, counties, and states -- have become even more important. Arizona has dominated media coverage and become the popular representation of the states' response to immigration by enacting SB 1070 and other notoriously anti-immigrant laws. Illinois, by contrast, has received relatively little media coverage for enacting laws that benefit the immigrants within its jurisdiction. The reality on the ground is that subfederal jurisdictions in the United States have taken very divergent paths on the issue of immigration regulation.

Compiling city, county, and state …

Tortured Language: Lawful Permanent Residents And The 212(H) Waiver, Julianne Lee

Fordham Law Review

    Recent amendments to the Immigration and Nationality Act have greatly expanded the grounds for removal of lawful permanent residents (LPRs) and, at the same time, constricted judicial review of agency decisions to deport immigrants. Language added to the 212(h) waiver of inadmissibility has increased the number of LPRs that are now ineligible for relief from removal by barring certain LPRs from applying for a waiver if, since the date of their admission, they have committed an aggravated felony or have failed to accrue seven years of continuous presence. The controversy discussed in this Note stems from differing interpretations of this …

Protecting Syrian Refugees: Laws, Policies, And Global Responsibility Sharing, Susan M. Akram, Sarah Bidinger, Aaron Lang, Danielle Hites, Yoana Kuzmova, Elena Noureddine

Faculty Scholarship

This article provides an excerpt of a report that maps out how the Syrian refugee crisis is being played out in four of the main states hosting the refugees, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt and Turkey. This excerpt focuses on the laws and policies in the host states and how they are creating particularly devastating consequences for Palestinian refugees. The excerpt sets out the Report’s conclusions and recommendations, primarily the call for a global Comprehensive Plan of Action (cpa), with various components within and outside the Middle East region that build on existing legal obligations to better allocate responsibility for the refugee …

Immigration Federalism As Ideology: Lessons From The States, Lina Newton

Publications and Research

Over the last decade states passed hundreds of immigration bills covering a range of policy areas. This article considers the recent state legislative surge against scholarly treatments of immigration federalism, and identifies the symbolic politics in state lawmaking. The analysis combines a historical treatment of key court decisions that delineated boundaries of state and federal immigration roles with a legislative analysis of over 2200 immigration bills passed between 2006 and 2013, to identify the numerous ways in which national immigration policy shapes state measures. It argues that recent laws must be considered against symbolic federalism which privileges state sovereignty and …

Forced Migration, The Human Face Of A Health Crisis, Lawrence O. Gostin, Anna E. Roberts

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Nearly 60 million refugees, asylum-seekers and internally displaced persons (IDPs) fled their homes in 2014, predominately from war-torn Syria, Afghanistan and Somalia. The global response to assisting this vulnerable group has been wholly incommensurate with the need given the profound health hazards faced by forced migrants at each stage of their journey. The majority of forced migrants are housed in lower-income countries that do not have the infrastructure to assist the significant numbers of individuals who are crossing their borders and the humanitarian organizations who seek to assist in the response are grossly underfunded and under-resourced.

Countries have varying responsibilities …

My Turn: Halting Refugee Admissions Is Misguided, Erin B. Corcoran

Law Faculty Scholarship

Article excerpt: In the aftermath of terrorist attacks in Paris, state governors from more than 25 states, including the governor of my state, New Hampshire, have stated that they are shutting down their borders and not allowing Syrian refugees to live in their states. While their pronouncements carry no legal weight, because state governors don’t have the authority to decide whether to admit refugees into the United States (that is the president’s prerogative), they are misguided and morally reprehensible.

Us Leaders Cave To Popular Fear On Syrian Refugees, Lauren Carasik

Media Presence

No abstract provided.

Where The American Dream Becomes A Nightmare: Lgbt Detainees In Immigration Detention Facilities, Lauren Zitsch

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

No abstract provided.

Enforcing Immigration Equity, Jason A. Cade

Fordham Law Review

    Congressional amendments to the immigration code in the 1990s significantly broadened grounds for removal while nearly eradicating opportunities for discretionary relief. The result has been a radical transformation of immigration law. In particular, the constriction of equitable discretion as an adjudicative tool has vested a new and critical responsibility in enforcement officials to implement rigid immigration rules in a normatively defensible way, primarily through the use of prosecutorial discretion. This Article contextualizes recent executive enforcement actions within this scheme and argues that the Obama Administration’s targeted use of limited enforcement resources and implementation of initiatives such as Deferred Action for …

Enforcing Immigration Equity, Jason A. Cade

Scholarly Works

Congressional amendments to the immigration code in the 1990s significantly broadened grounds for removal while nearly eradicating opportunities for discretionary relief. The result has been a radical transformation of immigration law. In particular, the constriction of equitable discretion as an adjudicative tool has vested a new and critical responsibility in enforcement officials to implement rigid immigration rules in a normatively defensible way, primarily through the use of prosecutorial discretion. This Article contextualizes recent executive enforcement actions within this scheme and argues that the Obama Administration’s targeted use of limited enforcement resources and implementation of initiatives such as Deferred Action for …

Marrying Up: The Unsettled Law Of Immigration Marriage Fraud And The Need For Uniform Statutory Guidelines, Michael Virga

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

This Note argues that courts should interpret § 1325(c) as applicable to anyone who enters a marriage with any intent of evading immigration laws, regardless of any other underlying motivations. Part I examines the motivations for and prevalence of immigration marriage fraud, as well as the historical context in which the statute in question was drafted. Part II analyzes the unsettled landscape of § 1325(c)'s interpretation and application, in addition to the competing arguments for the respective tests. Part III argues for the universal adoption of the Evade the Law standard, premised on the need for plain meaning statutory …

Suspicious Suspect Classes - Are Nonimmigrants Entitled To Strict Scrutiny Review Under The Equal Protection Clause?: An Analysis Of Dandamudi And Leclerc, John Harras

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

Part I of this Note provides the background necessary to understand the different alienage classifications, equal protection jurisprudence, and the confusion in the Supreme Court's alienage equal protection precedent. Part II describes the differences of opinion among the circuit courts on the application of the Equal Protection Clause to nonimmigrants. Part III argues, in greater detail, that nonimmigrants are not a suspect class for the reasons stated above.

Let Ghosts Be Ghosts, Toni L. Mincieli

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

Part I of this Note discusses the rise of pro se status in civil matters, specifically in immigration proceedings, and how courts and the legal community have responded with limited scope representation, including ghostwriting. Part II discusses in detail the controversy surrounding ghostwriting. It also illustrates how ghostwriting is, fortunately, beginning to gain acceptance. Lastly, Part III urges the acceptance of ghostwriting in immigration proceedings. It explains why ghostwriting is essential to immigrants and how the arguments put forth against the practice are not applicable to immigration proceedings.

"Membership In A Particular Social Group": Why United States Courts Should Adopt The Disjunctive Approach Of The United Nations High Commissioner For Refugees, Hannah Mccuiston

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

This Note calls for the adoption of the Guidelines on International Protection of the UNHCR in defining "membership in a particular social group" under the Refugee Act of 1980. Part I discusses the United States' obligations under the Convention and Protocol, and the process by which these obligations were incorporated into domestic law with the enactment of the Refugee Act of 1980. Part I also demonstrates how deviation from the United States' international obligations led to the circuit split. Part II outlines the views adopted by circuits on both sides of the split. Part III asserts that circuit courts …

Single, Young Female - Seeking Asylum: The Struggles Victims Of Sex Trafficking Face Under Current United States Refugee Law, Diana Squillante

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

This Note argues that the IJ, the BIA, and the circuit courts got it wrong. The courts reject creating a category representing young women in fear of being forced into prostitution because they feel it is too broad and does not establish a common characteristic. However, due to the courts' analyses' inconsistencies with the initiatives of the United Nations ("UN") and the United States to prevent and put an end to sex trafficking, a new analysis should be conducted to fulfill this goal.

Crimes Involving Moral Turpitude: In Search Of A Moral Approach To Immoral Crimes, Patrick J. Campbell

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

This Note seeks to demonstrate that the term "moral turpitude" is sufficiently ambiguous to warrant judicial deference to the Attorney General's opinion in Silva-Trevino. Part I explains the origins of "crimes involving moral turpitude" as grounds for removal and inadmissibility, and how courts have historically defined which crimes fit within this category. Even though courts do not dispute the general definition of moral turpitude, this Note explains how legislation that centers on subjective issues like morality is inherently ambiguous. Part II explains the shortfalls of the approach derived from case law prior to Silva-Trevino, largely because of …

Fragmenting The Community: Immigration Enforcement And The Unintended Consequences Of Local Police Non-Cooperation Policies, Natashia Tidwell

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

Part I traces the historical roots of the relationship between local police and federal immigration authorities, beginning with the changes in enforcement strategy precipitated by the September 11, 2001 attacks and leading up to the launch of S-Comm. The federal government's increased reliance on local police to supplement its internal enforcement efforts has raised several Tenth Amendment concerns as the states struggle to define the proper scope of their "inherent authority" to act in immigration matters, with officials in some so-called sanctuary cities insisting that their inherent authority to enforce federal immigration law is commensurate with the sovereign right …

Submerging Islands: Tuvalu And Kiribati As Case Studies Illustrating The Need For A Climate Refugee Treaty, Rana Balesh

Environmental and Earth Law Journal (EELJ)

Climate change will significantly impact vulnerable populations. Included in those populations are island indigenous peoples. Small island developing states are particularly vulnerable to the rise in seal level. Loss of territory due to rising sea levels is not the only problem however, infrastructure and food supplies are also at risk. As such, this article addresses the need for a comprehensive climate change refugee treaty using Tuvalu and Kiribati's circumstances to illustrate the situation.

Human Trafficking: Statute Comparisons And Attitudes In Nebraska, Katie Sheets

Annual Interdisciplinary Conference on Human Trafficking: 7th (2015)

Human trafficking has become an issue for global concern. Here in the United States, the Federal government and all fifty states are taking steps to combat the pervasive problem. This study looks at the anti-human trafficking statutes of all fifty states and compares them with each other to see how each state stacks up against the other. Nebraska was the focus of the study as the unicameral has recently been enacting changes to the state’s laws against human trafficking. Nebraska was expected to at least be with the majority of states with their human trafficking provisions. The study then looked …

Regional Protection Of The Right To A Nationality, Jonathan Bialosky

Cardozo Journal of International and Comparative Law

The article argues that the concept of nationality, traditionally within the discretion of sovereign states, has evolved into a fundamental human right protected by international and regional human rights bodies. These bodies have developed robust jurisprudence to limit state discretion, emphasizing the importance of nationality for the enjoyment of other rights and advocating for procedural safeguards against arbitrary deprivation or denial of nationality.

Deferred Action And The Bounds Of Agency Discretion: Reconciling Policy And Legality In Immigration Enforcement, Peter Margulies

Law Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Choice As Political Opinion: Women's Reproductive Healthcare As A Viable Ground For Asylum Protection, Andrew Christoffel

Cardozo Public Law, Policy & Ethics Journal

No abstract provided.

Human Rights At The Border: European-Union—Moroccan Relations In The Wake Of The 2013 Migratory Policy, Anashua Dutta

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Morocco’s border with the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla has brought the country into direct relations with the European Union (EU) on the issues of border control and migration. In response to the growing human rights violations towards migrants and refugees enumerated in the Conseil Nationale des Droits de l’Homme’s (CNDH) 2013 report, King Muhammad VI passed a migratory policy that emphasized preservation of human rights within Morocco’s borders. This study examines the effects of Morocco’s relationship with the EU on the implementation of the human-rights aspects of Morocco’s 2013 migratory policy. Using the semi-structured interview approach, I will …

Deferred Action: Considering What Is Lost, Elizabeth Keyes

All Faculty Scholarship

This response to Professor Motomura considers what is lost through the elaboration of formally defined boundaries around prosecutorial discretion. Professor Motomura and others in this Issue rightly extol the many benefits of the President's November 2014 executive actions. While I share the view that those benefits are considerable, I believe a full accounting requires us to consider what gets lost in this process, including identification of the immigrants in the limbo space between the actions' prospective beneficiaries at the one end and those who are priorities for removal on the other. This Essay focuses on the cost that comes from …

Trending @ Rwulaw: Deborah Gonzalez's Post: Reaching The American Dream -- With An Rwu Law Team!, Deborah Gonzalez

Law School Blogs

No abstract provided.

Books Received, Georgia Journal Of International And Comparative Law

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Trending @ Rwulaw: Veronica Paricio's Post: What We Did Last Summer..., Veronica Paricio

Law School Blogs

No abstract provided.