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.

When Do Human Rights Treaties Help Asylum Seekers? A Study Of Theory And Practice In Canadian Jurisprudence Since 1990, Stephen Meili

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

This article supports a new theoretical approach to the utilization of human rights treaties in refugee status adjudications in domestic courts. The existing literature on treaty effectiveness is divided between several optimistic and pessimistic perspectives, none of which adequately predict the circumstances under which domestic courts in Canada reference treaties in ways that help refugees obtain relief. This new theoretical approach adds to the literature on treaty effectiveness in the litigation context by suggesting that the extent to which Canadian domestic courts reference treaties in ways that help refugees depends on several factors, including the manner in which those treaties …

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

Public Interest Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

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.

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 …

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 …

Access To Counsel In Removal Proceedings: A Case Study For Exploring The Legal And Societal Imperative To Expand The Civil Right To Counsel, Carla L. Reyes

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

Although empirical evidence shows that a foreign national's chances of receiving a favorable ruling doubles when an attorney represents him or her in removal proceedings, a unique confluence of history, legal tradition and policy climate have restricted immigrants' access to counsel to a ten-day window in which the immigrant may seek representation of his or her own choosing at no expense to the government. Although removal proceedings are, by definition, civil proceedings, they nevertheless involve physical detention and the possibility of permanent removal from the United States. These circumstances make the immigration system a unique case study for exploration of …

An 'I Do' I Choose: How The Fight For Marriage Access Supports A Per Se Finding Of Persecution For Asylum Cases Based On Forced Marriage, Natalie Nanasi

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

There is something special about marriage. The U.S. Supreme Court, in striking down anti-miscegenation laws, restrictions on the right to marry for disadvantaged groups, and most recently, the Defense of Marriage Act, has long recognized the marital union to be "sacred" and "fundamental to…existence." Yet this analysis is dramatically different when courts consider asylum law, where a woman who is seeking refuge in the United States to protect her from a forced marriage abroad will likely be denied protection because the harm she fears is not considered to be a "persecutory" act. She may therefore be forced to spend a …

Keynote: Five Omar Mualimmak, Five Omar Mualimmak

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Gendered Border Crossings, Efrat Arbel

All Faculty Publications

Nine years after the implementation of the Canada-US Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA), this chapter examines the STCA while asking the question: what about gender? How have initial concerns about the STCA’s adverse gender impact mapped onto the current, much-altered landscape of Canadian refugee law? The chapter revisits findings made in Bordering on Failure, a recent report I co-authored about the STCA, in an effort to read gender into its absence. I begin by charting an overview of the STCA’s operation and effect to provide context for discussion. I then revisit the central findings made in Bordering on Failure, paying …

The Ideology Of Temporary Labour Migration In The Post-Global Era, Catherine Dauvergne, Sarah Marsden

All Faculty Publications

In this chapter, we seek to explore the potential of new temporary labour migration programs to yield different outcomes than earlier guestworker programs in the 1980s and 1990s. By looking at key elements of temporary labour migration we assess the potential for an alternative trajectory for understanding and reframing the discussion in terms which are capable of responding in a more emancipatory way to the lived experiences of migrant workers. We have identified three concepts central to most analyses of temporary migration policies and programs: temporariness, the labour market, and rights. Our central contention is that these concepts function ideologically, …

Introduction: Gender In Refugee Law: From The Margins To The Centre, Efrat Arbel, Catherine Dauvergne, Jenni Millbank

All Faculty Publications

Questions of gender have strongly influenced the development of international refugee law over the last few decades. This volume assesses the progress towards appropriate recognition of gender-related persecution in refugee law. It documents the advances made following intense advocacy around the world in the 1990s, and evaluates the extent to which gender has been successfully integrated into refugee law. Evaluating the research and advocacy agendas for gender in refugee law ten years beyond the 2002 UNHCR Gender Guidelines, the book investigates the current status of gender in refugee law. It examines gender-related persecution claims of both women and men, including …

The Rise Of Speed Deportation And The Role Of Discretion, Shoba S. Wadhia

Faculty Scholarship

In 2013, the majority of people deported never saw a courtroom or immigration judge. Instead, they were quickly removed by the Department of Homeland Security via one of several procedures collectively referred to as “speed deportation.” The policy goals of speed deportation are economic; these processes save government resources from being spent on procedural safeguards such as a trial attorney, immigration judge, and a fundamentally fair hearing. Higher deportation numbers may also benefit the image the government seeks to portray to policymakers who support amplified immigration enforcement. However, the human consequences of speed deportation are significant and can result in …

Problems Faced By Mexican Asylum Seekers In The United States, Anna Cabot

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

Violence in Mexico rose sharply in response to President Felipe Calder6n's military campaign against drug cartels which began in late 2006. As a consequence, the number of Mexicans who have sought asylum in the United States has grown significantly. In 2013, Mexicans made up the second largest group of defensive asylum seekers (those in removal proceedings) in the United States, behind only China (EOIR 2014b). Yet between 2008 and 2013, the grant rate for Mexican asylum seekers in immigration court fell from 23 percent to nine percent (EOIR 2013, 2014b). This paper examines-from the perspective of an attorney who represented …