Immigration Law Commons^™

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.

Refugee Credibility Assessment And The “Religious Imposter” Problem, Michael Kagan

Scholarly Works

Credibility assessment in refugee status determination (RSD) poses unique challenges when the outcome of asylum applications turns on the question of whether an asylum seeker is actually a member of a persecuted religious minority. These cases require secular adjudicators to delve into matters of religious identity and faith that are, by their nature, subjective and beyond the realm of objective analysis. This Article explores practical means of addressing this challenge through a case study of the RSD interviews of Eritrean asylum seekers in Egypt who based their refugee claims on Pentecostal religious associations. Analysis of the interview methods used in …

Pulling The Trigger: Separation Violence As A Basis For Refugee Protection For Battered Women, Marisa Cianciarulo, Claudia David

American University Law Review

For over a decade, women seeking asylum from persecution inflicted by their abusive husbands and partners have found little protection in the United States. During that time, domestic violence-based asylum cases have languished in limbo, been denied, or occasionally been granted in unpublished opinions that have not provided a much-needed adjudicative standard. The main case setting forth the pre-Obama approach to domestic violence-based asylum is rife with misunderstanding of the nature of domestic violence and minimization of the role that society plays in the proliferation of domestic violence. Fortunately, however, a recent Obama-administration legal brief indicates that women fleeing countries …

Religious Justification For The Practice Of Ecclesiastical Sanctuary, David H. Michels, David Blaikie

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Stories about Canadian Christian churches engaging in civil disobedience by offering sanctuary to refugee claimants have been much in the news the past several years. Typical is the case of Ms. Sanja Pecelji who fled to St. Mark’s Anglican Church in Halifax to avoid a deportation order back to Serbia-Montenegro. The church minister, Rev. Susan Moxley, stated that Ms. Pecelji and her supporters in the church community were determined that she would reside in the church until the government reviewed her application for refugee status. “The tradition of providing sanctuary to those in need is a long-standing one for the …

Rights And Obligations Of Americans In Mexico Under Immigration Law And Other Areas Of Mexican Law, Jorge A. Vargas

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Refugee Roulette: Disparities In Asylum Adjudication, Andrew I. Schoenholtz, Jaya Ramji-Nogales, Philip G. Schrag

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

This study analyzes databases of merits decisions from all four levels of the asylum adjudication process: 133,000 decisions by 884 asylum officers over a seven year period; 140,000 decisions of 225 immigration judges over a four-and-a-half year period; 126,000 decisions of the Board of Immigration Appeals over six years; and 4215 decisions of the U.S. Courts of Appeal during 2004 and 2005. The analysis reveals significant disparities in grant rates, even when different adjudicators in the same office each considered large numbers of applications from nationals of the same country. In many cases, the most important moment in an asylum …

The Land Of The Free: Human Rights Violations At Immigration Detention Facilities In America, Caitlin J. Mitchel

LLM Theses and Essays

In America today, aliens who commit even minor visa violations can be detained in one of many immigration detention facilities throughout the U.S. These detainees may be transferred to a facility far away from their homes, families, and attorneys. While imprisoned in these detention facilities, some detainees are treated as and housed with criminals. Their substantive and procedural rights are limited and their human rights are violated. The U.S. laws that should protect them are the very laws that strip them of their rights to court proceedings, challenges of decisions regarding detention, and judicial review. By issuing substantial reservations, declarations, …

Videoconferencing In Immigration Proceedings, Aaron Haas

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

[Excerpt] “When there is mention of a legal trial, a certain picture naturally comes to mind. One sees a judge in his black robe sitting on a raised bench. Lawyers are stationed at tables on either side of the courtroom, prepared to present their arguments to the court. A jury box may sit off to the side, holding a cross-section of citizens culled from the population to perform their ancient duty. The courtroom is made of fine wood and polished marble, and it is adorned with the accouterments of justice—American flags, seals, paintings of honored jurists—which let an observer know …

American Refugees And Asylum Seekers In Canada, Todd W. Zabel

ExpressO

American Soldier, Jeremy Hinzman, deserted his Iraq bound unit in 2003 and fled to Canada where he now seeks asylum with his wife and young son. The legal implications of his case are explored against the background of the American and Canadian political landscapes. The Canadian Court’s ultimate denial of his application evidences sweeping changes in Canada’s approach to International Law.

Mara Salvatrucha (Ms-13) And Ley Anti Mara: El Salvador's Struggle To Reclaim Social Order, Juan J. Fogelbach

San Diego International Law Journal

MS-13 poses a threat to both Salvadorians and Americans. It is a gang that must be cooperatively contained; it will not be controlled by a simplistic burden-shifting policy that leaves El Salvador, a developing country, to unilaterally deal with the problem. This paper will argue that: (1) the deportation of gang members, which results in the arbitrary deaths of thousands of innocent Salvadorians who have no legal recourse amounts to a grave violation of human rights; (2) deportation of gang members to a society where they are likely to be killed by vigilante death squads, or in prison fires and …

An Offer Of Firm Resettlement, Robert D. Sloane

Faculty Scholarship

The Attorney General lacks discretion to grant asylum to any refugee "if, prior to arrival in the United States, he or she entered into another nation with, or while in that nation received, an offer of permanent resident status, citizenship, or some other type of permanent resettlement." This rule, the doctrine of firm resettlement, is unique among the mandatory bars to asylum in the United States. It does not reflect a societal judgment about the moral fitness of an asylum applicant's character-as, for example, does the bar that prohibits granting asylum to persons with a history of violent criminal behavior. …

Trends. Immigration And Naturalization Service V. Aguirre, No. 97-1754: Can Crime Be Nonpolitical?, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This articles discusses a recent Supreme Court case revolving around whether foreigners who have committed serious nonpolitical crimes outside the US are ineligible for refugee status regardless of the severity of persecution that would await them at their countries of origin.

In Re Oluloro: Risk Of Female Genital Mutilation As Extreme Hardship In Immigration Proceedings Symposium - Human Rights In The Americas - Recent Development., Patricia Dysart Rudloff

St. Mary's Law Journal

On March 23, 1994, in In re Oluloro, Immigration Judge Kendall Warren’s decision indicated the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) should consider human rights abuses directed at women. The overriding concern was the possibility that two young U.S. girls would suffer female genital mutilation (FGM) if the INS deported their mother to Nigeria. In reaching the decision to suspend the mother’s deportation, Judge Warren condemned FGM as “cruel and serv[ing] no known medical purpose.” Judge Warren ruled the practice presented an extreme hardship for the girls. Unfortunately, the court’s ruling has no precedential value because the INS did …

A Proposal To Improve The Treatment Of Women In Asylum Law: Adding A "Gender" Category To The International Definition Of "Refugee", Todd Stewart Schenk

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

No abstract provided.

Aiding And Abetting Persecutors: The Seizure And Return Of Haitian Refugees In Violation Of The U.N. Refugee Convention And Protocol, Andrew I. Schoenholtz

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Pursuant to Executive Order 12,807 of May 23, 1992, the “Kennebunkport Order,” United States Coast Guard cutters have been intercepting boatloads of Haitian citizens in international waters off the coast of Haiti and turning them over to the Haitian authorities in Port-au-Prince. No questions are being asked to determine if any of these citizens are bona fide refugees fleeing persecution. All are simply returned.

Does the Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees (Protocol), to which the United States is a party, permit the U.S. government to do this? That question is now before the United States Supreme Court. Regarding …

Resistance To Military Conscription Or Forced Recruitment By Insurgents As A Basis For Refugee Protection: A Comparative Perspective, Arthur C. Helton

San Diego Law Review

This Article discusses certain instances in which claims for refugee protection could be recognized, even though they are asserted in the context of armed conflict and based on objection to participation in the conflict. While other nations rely on international principles to interpret treaty-derived terms in statutes governing refugee matters, the United States Supreme Court has ignored this convention in taking a restrictive approach to refugee protection. By narrowly construing the term "political opinion" and unduly focusing on the persecutor's state of mind, the Court has limited the scope of protection for thousands of legitimate asylum seekers. The decisions of …

Safe Haven For Salvadorans In The Context Of Contemporary International Law--A Case Study In Equivocation, Todd Howland, Amy Beer, Tim Everett, Evangeline Nichols Ordaz

San Diego Law Review

This Article analyzes the basis for safe-haven programs for refugees fleeing war and civil strife under contemporary principles of international law. The authors trace the development of safe-haven programs in the United States and offer an analysis and critique of the Temporary Protected Status program created by the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1990. Focusing on the struggle to gain safe haven for refugees from El Salvador, the authors review the United States government's historical use of safe haven programs as a political tool. Finally, the Article looks at how other countries have responded to refugee crises and suggests a …

When Is There Going To Be A United States Law Governing The Admission Of Refugees And Asylum Seekers, Linda T. Cox

Penn State International Law Review (1982 - 2011)

This comment will trace the development of United States refugees and asylum laws. In addition, the policies underlying past, current and proposed immigration laws will be analyzed.