Immigration and Global Migration: Politics, Policy, and Human Rights Immigration Reform and the Politics of Immigration

A special issue of Laws (ISSN 2075-471X).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 October 2013) | Viewed by 15696

Special Issue Editor

School of Law, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA
Interests: immigration law and policy; refugee law; complex litigation; civil procedure (including civil litigation and complex litigation); civil rights; critical race theory; critical latina/o theory

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

For close to a decade, there has been discussion of “comprehensive immigration reform” in the United States, as well as developing nations around the world. Reform proposals in many different countries generally address enforcement, labor migration (with a focus on increasing migration of skilled labor), national security, and controlling the flow of refugees. In the United States, immigration reform in general terms would include a path to legalization (or amnesty) for the 11-12 million undocumented immigrants living in the country, changes to the rules for legal immigration, and increased border enforcement. In addition, a potent political movement of college students emerged calling for congressional enactment of the “DREAM Act,” which, among other things, would regularize the immigration status of undocumented college students. At the same time, with congressional action, a number of states, including Arizona, passed their own immigration enforcement laws, which required local police to participate in immigration enforcement and provoking cries of racism from Latina/os (U.S. citizens as well as immigrants. While U.S. immigration reform may influence changes to other nations’ immigration laws, local politics, conditions, and migration patterns will influence the reform in any particular nation.

Scholars can offer important insights on what immigration reform should look like in its particulars, which unquestionably will continue to be a subject of significant debate in many nations.

Prof. Dr. Kevin R. Johnson
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • amnesty
  • border enforcement
  • civil rights
  • global migration
  • human rights
  • immigration
  • immigration reform
  • labor migration
  • migration
  • national security
  • national sovereignty

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

110 KiB  
Article
The Political Potential of the Return Directive
by Andrew Crosby
Laws 2014, 3(1), 117-140; https://doi.org/10.3390/laws3010117 - 27 Jan 2014
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 5084
Abstract
This paper demonstrates how the legitimate interests of immigrants are gradually being recognized through judicial application of EU immigration law. A philosophical and theoretical introduction demonstrates how this recognition constitutes a political momentum. After a brief review of the impact of the ECtHR, [...] Read more.
This paper demonstrates how the legitimate interests of immigrants are gradually being recognized through judicial application of EU immigration law. A philosophical and theoretical introduction demonstrates how this recognition constitutes a political momentum. After a brief review of the impact of the ECtHR, we discuss the case law of the ECJEU on the Return Directive to show how, through the principles of proportionality and sincere cooperation, this legitimate interest is indirectly being calculated by the Luxembourg court. This means that national courts will have to follow suite, as is demonstrated in the last section of this paper. Hence the title of the article: the political potential is due to this indirect recognition. In the conclusion, a suggestion is made to further develop this potential. Full article
269 KiB  
Article
Sub-Federal Enforcement of Immigration Law: An Introduction to the Problem of Pretextual Enforcement and Inadequate Remedies
by Carrie Rosenbaum
Laws 2014, 3(1), 61-84; https://doi.org/10.3390/laws3010061 - 22 Jan 2014
Viewed by 5315
Abstract
Sub-federal enforcement of immigration law has expanded significantly in the last decade raising questions concerning policing, rights violations, and remedies. While the Fourth Amendment has historically provided an avenue for potentially suppressing evidence obtained in violation of a criminal defendant’s civil rights, its [...] Read more.
Sub-federal enforcement of immigration law has expanded significantly in the last decade raising questions concerning policing, rights violations, and remedies. While the Fourth Amendment has historically provided an avenue for potentially suppressing evidence obtained in violation of a criminal defendant’s civil rights, its applicability in the immigration removal context has been circumscribed. Thus, the avenues to protect the rights of unauthorized noncitizens in immigration removal proceedings are less clear where sub-federal agents act outside of their authorization, particularly in the context of Secure Communities, and enforce immigration law. In the context of immigration exceptionalism, racial profiling has historically played a unique role in immigration law. The lack of adequate measures to deter rights violations where sub-federal agents enforce immigration law raises questions concerning the relationship between criminal and immigration law, and the importance of deterring civil rights violations such as racial profiling, in immigration enforcement. This article will examine the problem of sub-federal law enforcement agents’ use of criminal law violations as a pretext to enforce immigration law and the lack of adequate deterrence of civil rights violations. Full article
187 KiB  
Article
Understanding Proposed Changes to the H-1B Visa: Protecting American Government Interests, Improving the Opportunities for American Companies, or Potentially Hurting Hopeful Immigrants?
by Rebecca Stonawski
Laws 2013, 2(3), 233-243; https://doi.org/10.3390/laws2030233 - 21 Aug 2013
Viewed by 4842
Abstract
This paper will examine the US government’s proposed changes to the H-1B visa, a dual-intent visa meant to bring highly-skilled individuals to the US labor market. It will first explain what the H-1B visa is and is not and what might happen to [...] Read more.
This paper will examine the US government’s proposed changes to the H-1B visa, a dual-intent visa meant to bring highly-skilled individuals to the US labor market. It will first explain what the H-1B visa is and is not and what might happen to the H-1B visa in the future. The focus of the paper, however, will be on how the H-1B visa program is failing. The thesis of this article is that reform to the H-1B visa may be very good for the US employer and the US economy. However, the proposed legislation keeps a number of disadvantageous features for H-1B holders intact, rather than addressing them. Full article
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