Immigration Law Commons^™

Helping Haiti In The Wake Of Disaster: Law Students As First Responders, Melissa Gibson Swain, Jonel Newman

Articles

No abstract provided.

Tale Of Two Policies: A Defense Of China's Population Policy And An Examination Of U.S. Asylum Policy, Mona Ma

Cleveland State Law Review

The U.S. asylum law presents a distorted view of China's policy to the world and unfairly taints China's image in the international arena. It also undermines the effectiveness of the policy by encouraging Chinese citizens to break the law. This article advocates the repeal of IIRAIRA § 601 by demonstrating that China's population policy is a necessary and responsible social policy. Part II gives a brief history of the U.S. asylum law relating to China's population policy, including the pre-1996 court split on whether to grant Chinese nationals asylum based on violations of China's population policy. In re Chang, a …

The Dream Act And The Right To Equal Educational Opportunity: An Analysis Of U.S. And International Human Rights Frameworks As They Relate To Education Rights, Ashley Feasley

St. Thomas Law Review

This article argues that by denying undocumented children access to higher education, the U.S. government is violating their obligations under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights ("UDHR") and Universal Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ("UCCPR"), as they relate to discrimination of social groups on the basis of national origin. Furthermore, by denying undocumented students access to higher education which is afforded to their American contemporaries, and is provided by the DREAM Act, these undocumented students are being discriminated against participating and contributing in American society and civic life and are being denied the equality of educational opportunity. The right …

The Categorical Approach For Crimes Involving Moral Turpitude After Silva-Trevino, Pooja R. Dadhania

Faculty Scholarship

A conviction for a crime involving moral turpitude (CIMT) can result in harsh immigration penalties such as removal from the United States for noncitizens. The designation of a crime as a CIMT depends on whether moral turpitude inheres in its elements. Administrative adjudicators and federal courts have thus been using a categorical approach that focuses on the elements of a crime to determine whether it is a CIMT. Although variations in the categorical approach have developed among the circuits, the categorical approach has customarily employed two steps, both focusing on the elements of the conviction rather than the actions of …

A Review Of Beyond Citizenship: American Identity After Globalization, By Peter J. Spiro, Andy Williams

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

No abstract provided.

Immigrant Education And The Promise Of Integrative Egalitarianism, Victor C. Romero

Faculty Scholarship

Although not an equal protection case, Martinez v. Regents of the University of California challenges us to grapple with the Supreme Court’s post-Brown commitment to equal opportunity within the context of immigrant higher education. Sadly, Brown’s progeny from Bakke to Parents Involved reveals the cost of embracing a color-blind constitutionalism unmoored from a fundamental commitment to vigilantly combat subordination and dismantle unearned privilege. More optimistically, the Supreme Court’s gay rights jurisprudence developed in Romer v. Evans and Lawrence v. Texas provides insights into how a conservative court can accurately distinguish irrational discrimination from democratic deliberation, a lesson that might help …

E.U. Accountability To International Law: The Case Of Asylum, James C. Hathaway

Articles

In one of his later published works, Eric Stein wrote that "[a]s modern administrative state, transparency in the Union is essential not only to inform member state parliaments and electorates, but also to help form an all-European debate and public opinion that are required to sustain advanced integration."' In his usual prescient way, Professor Stein captured the dilemma of the European Union as it has shifted from an amalgam of states seeking consensus in a largely behind-closed-doors way to what many would see as an emerging federal state. With its undoubted ability to project power, will the European Union effectively …

Examining The Reality Of Foreign National Child Victims Of Human Trafficking In The United States, Bridgette A. Carr

Articles

Human traffickers prey on the vulnerabilities of other people. Poverty, lack of education, and language barriers are keys that human traffickers use to successfully exploit others. For foreign national children who have been trafficked in the United States, these same vulnerabilities are often ignored by the immigration system. From its inception, the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) has been touted as a tool to combat grave human rights violations that affect children. In fact, the TVPA's legislative history is rife with stories, statistics, and anecdotes involving children-often young girls. The TVPA has always recognized the failure of a one-size-fits-all approach …

Sanctuary From De Facto Deportation: The New Sanctuary Movement And De Facto Deportation Claims For Children Challenging Illegal Immigrant Parents' Removal Orders, Kristin Maun

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

This comment will give an overview of past and present sanctuary movements, the legal strategies they have formulated to defend those whom they shelter, and their impact on immigration law and policy. Then it will examine the particular strategy of de facto deportation-the NSM's legal strategy of choice-to understand what is necessary to establish the claim, and whether it could nullify an alien parent's removal order. Next, it will analyze two legal principles underlying de facto deportation claims: the right of a child to be raised by his parents and the right of a citizen child to reside in the …

Where Do We Go From Padilla V. Kentucky? Thoughts On Implementation And Future Directions, Maureen A. Sweeney

Faculty Scholarship

On March 31, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court held in the landmark case of Padilla v. Kentucky that the Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel in criminal cases includes the right for non-U.S. citizens to be correctly and specifically advised about the likely immigration consequences of a plea agreement. The decision represents an important shift in the way courts have addressed such claims by noncitizen defendants. The Court’s decision recognizes a constitutional requirement that defense counsel provide advice in an area of law in which few defense counsel are knowledgeable, and therefore raises important and difficult questions about …

Penalty And Proportionality In Deportation For Crimes, Maureen A. Sweeney, Hillary Scholten

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Constitutionality Of Collateral Post-Conviction Claims Of Actual Innocence Comment., Craig M. Jacobs

St. Mary's Law Journal

The notion that the state can punish innocent people disrupts public confidence in the usefulness of the criminal justice system. If, by legislative design, the criminal justice system is not concerned with or is accepting of situations where innocent people are punished by the state, should courts take immediate action? Once criminal defendants exhaust the appellate process, Supreme Court Justices have stated, federal courts should not hear claims of actual innocence. Such statements are supported by the federal habeas corpus statute as amended by the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA). AEDPA requires federal habeas courts to …

Respecting The Concept And Limited Liability Of A Series Llc In Texas Comment., Bernie R. Kray

St. Mary's Law Journal

The primary advantage of a limited liability company (LLC) is to shield owners from personal liability for the contract and tort obligations of their business entities. To further protect business assets, practitioners often advised clients to form multiple LLCs, each containing single assets. Yet, business owners managing multiple assets and LLCs often found this approach ineffective and cost-prohibitive. Allowing for a single “master” LLC to compartmentalize different series of properties without the need for a distinct holding company, the “series” LLC was the next step. The series LLC permits companies to partition assets and liabilities among various cells or “series,” …

Convergences And Divergences In International Legal Norms On Migrant Labor, Chantal Thomas

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

This essay will argue that even where disparate treaties converge doctrinally, they may diverge normatively and that normative divergence may be significant in its own right. Section I of this essay seeks to chart out an initial such analysis, conducting a concise comparison of particular rules affecting migrant workers from different realms of international law. Section I concludes with both a graphic representation of doctrinal convergences and divergences, and a further discussion the doctrinal relationships among treaties as elucidated through consideration of hypothetical legal disputes.

Section II considers the normative implications of divergent rule systems. In particular, Section II raises …

Specialty Bars As A Site Of Professionalism: The Immigration Bar Example, Leslie Levin

Faculty Articles and Papers

As the practice of law has become increasingly specialized, specialty bar associations have become more important to the work lives of many lawyers and their understanding of professional norms. This article looks at the role of a single specialty bar association - the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) - in the construction of its members’ norms and values. The article draws on semi-structured interviews with 71 immigration lawyers in the New York City metropolitan area to identify the ways in which specialty bars foster lawyers’ understanding of professional norms - both formally and informally - through education, information sharing, mentoring, …

Searching For Equality: Equal Protection Clause Challenges To Bans On The Admission Of Undocumented Immigrant Studies To Public Universities, Danielle R. Holley-Walker

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

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

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

A Lesser-Known Immigration Crisis: Federal Immigration Law In The Commonwealth Of The Northern Mariana Islands, Robert J. Misulich

Washington International Law Journal

After voluntarily entering into a political union with the United States, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (“CNMI”) administered its own immigration system and allowed thousands of guest workers to enter and remain indefinitely. Guest workers contributed to the exponential growth of the CNMI economy during the 1980s and 1990s. However, labor and human rights abuses under this system led to public outrage in the mainland United States, prompting numerous attempts to bring the CNMI within the jurisdiction of federal immigration law. Federalization occurred after Congress passed the Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008 (“CNRA”). Although well intentioned, the …

A New Normative Approach For The Grant Of Asylum In Cases Of Non-State Actor Persecution, Mikhail Izrailev

Cardozo Journal of International and Comparative Law

The note critiques the inconsistent application of the "unable or unwilling" standard in asylum cases, particularly regarding nonstate actor persecution, and advocates for adopting the New Zealand Refugee Status Appeals Authority's standard. This standard focuses on the existence of a real risk of persecution, irrespective of governmental efforts, to align with the Refugee Convention's nonrefoulement principle and better safeguard asylum seekers' rights.

U.S. Immigration Law: A Barrier To Effective Cultural Diplomacy, Alexa K. Fang

Cardozo Journal of International and Comparative Law

The note argues that U.S. visa policies for artists and cultural workers have become overly restrictive, particularly after the 1990 Immigration Act and post-9/11 security measures, creating significant barriers to cross-cultural exchange. These restrictions, such as the stringent requirements for O-1 visas and premium processing delays, disproportionately affect less established artists and those from certain countries, undermining U.S. cultural diplomacy goals. The note advocates for visa reform, drawing on comparative examples from countries like Austria, Canada, and EU member states, which prioritize artistic freedom and mobility while balancing security concerns.

Denying Formalism's Apologists: Reforming Immigration Law's Cimt Analysis, Jeremiah J. Farrelly

University of Colorado Law Review

Congress has long favored the "crime involving moral turpitude" as a statutory device to remove "undesirable" aliens from the United States. Unfortunately, Congress never bothered to define this important phrase. The judicial standard developed to address this shortfall has long been seen as unnecessarily formalistic, arbitrary, and both over- and under-inclusive. Until recently, however, these issues were ignored. In 2008, the Board of Immigration Appealsrightly deferred to by the Seventh Circuit-and the Attorney General finally addressed these issues, making significant revisions to the traditional standard. The Third Circuit, rather than following the Seventh Circuit in allowing the reform of an …

The "Illegal" Tax, Francine J. Lipman

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

A Primer On Batson, Including Discussion Of Johnson V. California, Miller-El V. Dretke, Rice V. Collins, & Synder V. Louisiana., Mikal C. Watts, Emily C. Jeffcott

St. Mary's Law Journal

Fundamental to the existence of the rights guaranteed to every citizen is the assurance that the right to equal protection under the law will be defended at all costs. Key to the United States’ system of adjudication is the right to a trial by jury, which is embodied in the Sixth and Seventh Amendments to the Constitution. These rights are also incorporated into all state constitutions through the Fourteenth Amendment. During jury selection, the judicial system permits the elimination of a certain number of jurors without cause. This form of elimination is known as a peremptory challenge. Over time, however, …

Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code Sec. 41.0105: A Time For Clarification Comment., April Y. Quinones

St. Mary's Law Journal

The language of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 41.0105 is by no means clear. Most Texas practitioners refer to it as the “paid-or-incurred statute.” This is due to the statue stating that recovery of medical or health care expenses are limited to the amount actually paid or incurred by or on behalf of the claimant. Yet, Texas trial lawyers and judges are perplexed by what the statute truly means. Causing further concern, most Texas practitioners do not appear to understand how the statute should be applied. At the center of the debate lies the collateral-source rule and …

Congress's Consistent Intent To Utilize Military Commissions In The War Against Al-Qaeda And Its Adoption Of Commission Rules That Fully Comply With Due Process., Michael T. Mccaul, Ronald J. Sievert

St. Mary's Law Journal

Congress responded to the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001 by passing the Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF). In the following years Congress augmented that authority with the Military Commissions Act of 2006 (MCA of 2006) and the Military Commissions Act of 2009 (MCA of 2009). In passing these acts, Congress responded to the Supreme Court’s decision in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, which found that President Bush’s attempt to establish military commissions required Congressional authorization. When drafting both MCAs, Congress recognized numerous evidentiary and trial procedures from federal civilian court were inappropriate for trying unlawful combatants. By these …

Honest Services Fraud After Skilling., Pamela Mathy

St. Mary's Law Journal

The United States Supreme Court ruling in Skilling v. United States limits honest services fraud prosecutions of both public officials and private individuals to schemes involving bribes or kickbacks. Over the past two decades, federal prosecutors have used the federal mail and wire fraud statutes to reach schemes which deprive citizens of their money or property and of the intangible right to honest services. The Court’s ruling in Skilling removes a category of deceptive, fraudulent, and corrupt conduct from the scope of the honest services law. By limiting honest services fraud under the statute to bribes and kickbacks, the Court …

Admitting Light Detection And Ranging (Lidar) Evidence In Texas: A Call For Statewide Judicial Notice., Ryan V. Cox, Carl Fors

St. Mary's Law Journal

The reliability of LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) is generally questioned for one of two reasons. First, when the speeding charge is of such great importance to the defendant that he must challenge the technology. Second, when the defendant is charged with a different and more serious crime because of the traffic stop. In this instance the reliability of the equipment provides the opportunity to question the stops’ underlying probable cause. Assuming the particular jurisdiction has not settled the issue of reliability of LIDAR evidence, the court must require the prosecutor to present expert testimony to show reliability. In the …

Implementation Analysis Of Two Legal Means To Grant Undocumented Immigrant Crime Victims U.S. Residency Status, Shelley Sellwood-Davis

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

In order to complete an implementation analysis of the T Human Trafficking Status and the U Victims of Crime Status, legislation, articles, annual reports produced by the government and its agencies, and written documents were assessed and compiled to create a framework for highlighting the significant elements of each status, a process that has not been done prior to this effort. This framework was then examined from an intervention theorist’s perspective to assess whether the statuses have been implemented in a manner that meets the goals of the authorizing legislation.

The T Human Trafficking Status and U Victims of Crime …

Police Discretion And Local Immigration Policymaking, Rick Su

Journal Articles

Immigration responsibilities in the United States are formally charged to a broad range of federal agencies, from the overseas screening of the State Department to the border patrols of the Department of Homeland Security. Yet in recent years, no department seems to have received more attention than that of the local police. For some, local police departments are frustrating our nation’s immigration laws by failing to fully participate in federal enforcement efforts. For others, it is precisely their participation that is a cause for concern. In response to these competing interests, a proliferation of competing state and federal laws have …

Closing The Gap: Towards A Rights-Based Approach To Refugee Law, Marissa Jackson Sow

Law Faculty Publications

This Article attempts to bridge the gap between refugee law and human rights by advocating for a human rights-based amendment of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. The Convention links the definition of persecution primarily to violations of civil and political rights, and as such, persons who suffer socioeconomic persecution are largely excluded from refugee status. Conversely, contemporary human rights norms give socioeconomic rights equal status with civil and political rights, reflecting that in reality, the world's masses experience severe violations of their socioeconomic rights on a daily basis. The paper contends that the existing gap between …