Skip to content
LPBN-Icon-v1
ImmigrationProf Blog
A Member of the Law Professor Blogs Network

Voices on Immigration Reform

By immigrationprof

Thanks to Matt Muller for the following documentes:

1. Immigration Law Professors and Scholars Voice Opposition to Judicial Review Provisions of Specter’s Mark

 

A group of immigration professors and scholars delivered a letter to the Judiciary Committee and Congressional leaders Tuesday urging that certain judicial review provisions of the Chairman’s Mark be withdrawn. The signatories included 68 professors and scholars at 47 public, private, and religious institutions in 24 states.

 

Download Final_Letter_to_Judiciary_Committee.pdf

 

2. U.S. Judicial Conference Joins Scholars, Advocates in Opposition to Judicial Review Provisions of Specter’s Mark

 

In a March 23, 2006 letter to Senator Specter, the Judicial Conference stated its opposition to Section 701 of the Chairman’s Mark, which would consolidate all immigration appeals in the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. According to the letter, “[n]o sufficient justification to support changing the status quo and shifting these cases from the regional courts to the Federal Circuit has been provided.” The Judicial Conference also expressed concern that the proposed jurisdiction shift would overwhelm the Federal Circuit’s docket. It noted that the regional circuits have experience deciding immigration appeals and “have worked diligently to establish court management procedures…enabling the courts to process significantly larger numbers of cases than in prior years.” The letter also stated that recent problems with immigration appeals stem not from the circuits’ varying interpretations of immigration law, but from the agency’s failure to fully develop the issues for appellate review.

The Judicial Conference also addressed Section 707’s “certificate of reviewability” requirement, writing that “such a significant change calls for careful analysis to ensure that it would not interfere with the ability of the courts of appeals to manage their caseload and provide meaningful review of such cases, and would not impose an unwarranted burden on the judiciary or litigants.”

Download Judicial_Conference_Letter.pdf

3. As expected, Senator Coburn will seek a vote Monday on a controversial amendment to Specter’s mark that would deny U.S. citizenship to children of certain noncitizens. The proposal specifies that a person born in the U.S. is only “subject to the jurisdiction of the United States” if the person is born in wedlock to a parent who is a citizen or LPR, or born out of wedlock to a mother who is a citizen or LPR.

Download Coburn_Citizenship_Amendment.pdf

KJ