New Immigration Publications

January 27, 2009

We ran across some immigration scholarship that readers might find of interest. Here is an interesting new book:

SOCIAL WORK WITH IMMIGRANTS AND REFUGEES: LEGAL ISSUES, CLINICAL SKILLS, AND ADVOCACY, Springer Publications. Authors: FERNANDO CHANG-MUY (University of Pennsylvania Law School) and Elaine CONGRESS (Fordham). Abstract: Given the changing demographics and the growing number of diverse individuals in the US, the text serves as a useful reference and “how-to” manual for providers who work with immigrants. Key features include: * Legal classifications (how to get a green card, applying for asylum, reasons for deportation, becoming a citizen), * What you should know and how to help immigrants in areas of Physical Health, Mental Health, Crime, Employment, Access to Public benefits * Special section on working with immigrant families particularly: refugees, women & victims of trafficking, children and public education, unaccompanied minors, LBGT, and elderly immigrants * History of immigration and cultural diversity as a lens in providing social services * The latest aspects of the immigration debate and how social workers are affected by and can advocate for macro changes in laws and regulations with advocacy tools for the social service community, tools of empowerment for case managers acting as individuals or as volunteers, and relevant advocacy rules and opportunities for applying this knowledge in an academic, community or professional setting.

And here are some new articles from the Social Science Research Network (www.ssrn.com):

“‘Good Reason to Believe’: Widespread Constitutional Violations in the Course of Immigration Enforcement and the Case for Revisiting Lopez-Mendoza” Wisconsin Law Review, Vol. 2008, No. 6, 2008 STELLA JANE BURCH (Yale Law School). In 1984 the Supreme Court held in INS v. Lopez-Mendoza that the exclusionary rule did not ordinarily apply to respondents in immigration proceedings. However, the Court suggested that its opinion about the applicability of the exclusionary rule might change if constitutional violations by immigration officers became a widespread problem. First, this paper proposes that constitutional violations by immigration officers have become both geographically and institutionally widespread in the years since Lopez-Mendoza. Second, this paper argues that immigration law and the practice of immigration enforcement have changed fundamentally in the twenty-four years since Lopez-Mendoza was decided, undermining the assumptions on which the majority in 1984 based its arguments against the use of the exclusionary rule. The paper therefore concludes that, in the modern context, remaining faithful to Lopez-Mendoza requires the reintroduction of the exclusionary rule in immigration proceedings.

“‘The Ring of Truth’: A Case Study of Credibility Assessment in Particular Social Group Refugee Determinations” International Journal of Refugee Law, Vol. 21, No. 1, 2009 JENNI MILLBANK (University of Technology, Sydney – Faculty of Law). Credibility assessment has always been a major issue in refugee determinations and its importance increases in the context of widespread introduction of ‘fast-track’ processes and the manifest trans-national trend to truncate (or indeed remove) avenues for review. This article explores the practice of credibility assessment in lower level tribunals using a case study of over 1000 particular social group ground (PSG) decisions made on the basis of sexual orientation over the past 15 years. Credibility played an increasingly major role in claim refusals, and negative credibility assessments were not always based on well-reasoned or defensible grounds. The article uses this specific case study in order to ground recommendations for structural and institutional change aimed at improving the credibility assessment process in refugee determinations more broadly.

Below are some other recent immigration articles that may be of interest:

Antos-Fallon, Marisa. Note. The Fourth Amendment and immigration enforcement in the home: can ICE target the utmost sphere of privacy? 35 Fordham Urb. L.J. 999-1032 (2008).

Garcia Hernandez, Cesar Cuauhtemoc. Of inferior stock: the two-pronged repression of radical immigrant birth control advocates at the turn-of-the- twentieth century. 20 St. Thomas L. Rev. 513-537 (2008).

Kadidal, Shayana. “Federalizing” immigration law: international law as a limitation on Congress’s power to legislate in the field of immigration. 77 Fordham L. Rev. 501-527 (2008).

Koulish, Robert. Blackwater and the privatization of immigration control. 20 St. Thomas L. Rev. 462-489 (2008).