Immigration Law Commons^™

Buying The American Dream: Using Immigration Law To Bolster The Housing Market, Kit Johnson

Faculty Articles

Escaping notice in debate about immigration reform is a proposal that would give residency visas to foreign nationals on the condition that they buy an expensive home. Proponents see visas as a simple way to shore up the U.S. housing market. Yet complications abound. This Article scrutinizes the history, logic, economics, and morals of the proposed homebuyer visa, as well as its intersection with state laws that restrict foreign ownership of land.

Immigrant Children And Broadening The Constitutional Right To A Lawyer, Victoria Dempsey

Public Interest Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

Justice On The Fly: The Danger Of Errant Deportations, Fatma Marouf, Michael Kagan, Rebecca Gill

Scholarly Works

The government may deport an immigrant appealing a deportation order in federal court even before the court rules on the case, unless the court issues a stay of removal. In its 2009 decision in Nken v. Holder, the Supreme Court clarified that the legal standard for stays of removal is the same test courts use for preliminary injunctions. Yet Justice Kennedy expressed frustration that the Court had little data to inform its decision. The Court will likely need to revisit this issue, as doubts cloud the meaning of Nken’s main holdings, in part because the government misled the …

Is My Case Mandamusable: A Guide To The Current State Of Texas Mandamus Law., Marialyn Barnard, Lorien Whyte, Emmanuel Garcia

St. Mary's Law Journal

It is important for all Texas lawyers to be knowledgeable about mandamus relief. Unfortunately, there is no bright line rule in terms of mandamus relief. The general rule for when mandamus relief may be granted is when the trial court clearly abused its discretion, and there is not an adequate remedy available from a court of appeals. A clear of abuse of discretion is determined if no other trial court would have come to the same conclusion. In deciding if mandamus relief is proper, appellate courts apply a balancing test. The appellate court considers several factors including: preserving relator’s substantive …

The Computer Fraud And Abuse Act: An Attractive But Risky Alternative To Texas Trade Secret Law., Paul Hanna, Matthew Leal

St. Mary's Law Journal

Abstract Forthcoming.

Mandamus Review Of The Granting Of The Motion For New Trial: Lost In The Thicket., Richard E. Flint

St. Mary's Law Journal

A trial court’s broad discretion in granting a new trial has been one of the mainstays of Texas jurisprudence since early statehood. Historically, this discretion was not subject to review through the ordinary appellate processes. This principle remains inviolate today, as the granting of a new trial is an interlocutory order from which the appellate courts of Texas do not have jurisdiction. Furthermore, the use of an original mandamus proceeding to compel a trial court to set aside the granting of a new trial has had only limited application. However, in response to the case of In re Columbia Medical …

A Guide To Properly Using And Responding To Requests For Admission Under The Texas Discovery Rules., Robert K. Wise, Katherine Hendler

St. Mary's Law Journal

This article’s purpose is to provide a guide for properly using and responding to requests for admission under the Texas discovery rules. Requests for admission are an extremely effective discovery tool when used and responded to properly. Their use can save litigants considerable time and expense by eliminating and narrowing the issues involved in the cause of action. Often misunderstood, requests for admission are perhaps the least used of the major discovery devices available to litigants. Even though requests for admission have the potential to eliminate unnecessary proof at trial, streamline discovery and motion practice, and reduce pretrial and trial …

A Statute Overtaken By Time: The Need To Reinterpret Federal Rule Of Evidence 803(8)(A)(Iii) Governing The Admissibility Of Expert Opinions In Government Investigative Reports., Edward J. Imwinkelried

St. Mary's Law Journal

Abstract Forthcoming.

The Accommodation Doctrine Revisited: Implications In Law And In Policy., Courtney R. Potter

St. Mary's Law Journal

Abstract Forthcoming.

Immigration And Cooperative Federalism: Toward A Doctrinal Framework, Ming H. Chen

Publications

What can the new federalism teach us about what is happening in immigration law? The changing relationship of federal-state government in the regulation of immigrants has led to the creation of “immigration federalism” as a field of scholarship. Most of this scholarly attention has been directed at resisting restrictionist legislation that encourages vigorous law enforcement against undocumented immigrants. The scholarly tilt is especially pronounced since the Supreme Court recently struck down several provisions of S.B. 1070, Arizona’s restrictive law enforcement legislation. However, law enforcement is only one type of regulation, and the overwhelming focus on it skews the broader debate …

Governing By Guidance: Civil Rights Agencies And The Emergence Of Language Rights, Ming Hsu Chen

Publications

On the fiftieth anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, this Article asks how federal civil rights laws evolved to incorporate the needs of non-English speakers following landmark immigration reform (the 1965 Hart-Cellar Act) that led to unprecedented migration from Asia and Latin America. Based on a comparative study of the emergence of language rights in schools and workplaces from 1965 to 1980, the Article demonstrates that regulatory agencies used nonbinding guidances to interpret the undefined statutory term "national origin discrimination" during their implementation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Their efforts facilitated the creation of language rights, …

Opening Borders: African Americans And Latinos Through The Lens Of Immigration, Maritza I. Reyes

Journal Publications

African-American and Latino voter turnout during the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections hit record numbers. Polls show that the immigration debate influenced Latino voter turnout and preference. Presidential candidate Barack Obama's voiced support of comprehensive immigration reform strengthened his lead among Latino voters in 2008 and, once in office, his executive policy of granting temporary protection to DREAMers solidified his lead among Latino voters in 2012. Both elections showed the power that minority groups can exert when they vote in support of the candidate. If the demographic changes continue as currently estimated, African Americans and Latinos will contribute in large …

Post-Racial Proxy Battles Over Immigration, Mary D. Fan

Chapters in Books

Amid economic and political turmoil, anti-immigrant legislation has flared again among a handful of fiercely determined states. To justify the intrusion into national immigration enforcement, the dissident states invoke imagery of invading hordes of “illegals”—though the unauthorized population actually fell by nearly two-thirds, decreasing by about a million people, between 2007 and 2009 as the recession reduced the lure of jobs.

Arizona’s Senate Bill 1070—recently invalidated in part by the U.S. Supreme Court in Arizona v. United States—led the charge. By preelection-year summer 2011, several states enacted laws patterned after Arizona’s controversial Senate Bill 1070, including Alabama’s even more aggressive …

Legal Status And The Criminal Activity Of Immigrants, Giovanni Mastrobuoni, Paolo Pinotti

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

We exploit exogenous variation in legal status following the January 2007 European Union enlargement to estimate its effect on immigrant crime. We difference out unobserved time-varying factors by 1) comparing recidivism rates of immigrants from the “new” and “candidate” member countries and 2) using arrest data on foreign detainees released upon a mass clemency that occurred in Italy in August 2006. The timing of the two events allows us to set up a difference-in-differences strategy. Legal status leads to a 50 percent reduction in recidivism and explains one-half to two-thirds of the observed differences in crime rates between legal and …

Fear And Failing In Family Court: Special Immigrant Juvenile Status And The State Court Problem, Jessica R. Pulitzer

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

The note examines the challenges faced by immigrant children seeking Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS), highlighting how state family courts' inconsistent application of the law undermines the federal statute's intent to protect vulnerable children. It argues that while SIJS was designed to provide relief to children who have suffered abuse, abandonment, or neglect, procedural and substantive inconsistencies in family court adjudications, particularly in interpreting the "best interests of the child" principle, create barriers for eligible youth. The note advocates for reforms to ensure consistent and fair access to SIJS, emphasizing the need for standardized best interest principles and greater awareness …

Language Rights As A Legacy Of The Civil Rights Act Of 1964, Ming Hsu Chen

Publications

The fiftieth anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 offers an important opportunity to reflect on an earlier moment when civil rights evolved to accommodate new waves of immigration. This essay seeks to explain how civil rights laws evolved to include rights for immigrants and non-English speakers. More specifically, it seeks to explain how policy entrepreneurs in agencies read an affirmative right to language access.

Deep In The Heart Of Texas: How Carbon Sequestration Will Affect Valuation Of The Subsurface., Sarah Anne Lishman

St. Mary's Law Journal

Abstract Forthcoming.

The Decline Of Civil Jury Trials: A Positive Development, Myth, Or The End Of Justice As We Now Know It?, Xavier Rodriguez

St. Mary's Law Journal

Jury participation is helpful in many respects. It fosters an understanding of the third branch of government and the workings of the judicial system. It offers the opportunity for individuals to serve in a unique role: neutral factfinder. Moreover, in an age of declining voter participation, jury service provides individuals with the opportunity to directly participate in our governmental structure. Despite these positive attributes, jury trials as we knew them are on the decline. That may or may not be problematic, depending on what types of cases are being impacted. Where parties have reached a voluntary and informed settlement on …

Hands Off Our Fingerprints: State, Local, Andindividual Defiance Of Federal Immigrationenforcement, Christine N. Cimini

Articles

Secure Communities, though little-known outside law-enforcement circles, is one of the most powerful of the federal government’s immigration enforcement programs. Under Secure Communities, fingerprints collected by state and local law enforcement and provided to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for criminal background checks are automatically shared with the Department of Homeland Security, which checks the fingerprints against its immigration database. In the event of a match, an immigration detainer can be issued and an individual held after they would otherwise be entitled to release. Originally designed as a voluntary program in which local governments could choose to participate, the Department …

Keynote: Five Omar Mualimmak, Five Omar Mualimmak

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

No abstract provided.