Immigration Article of the Day: Immigration Controls and ‘Modern-Day Slavery’ by Chantal Thomas
Immigration Controls and ‘Modern-Day Slavery‘ by Chantal Thomas Cornell Law School July 16, 2013 Cornell Legal Studies Research Paper No. 13-86
Abstract: Are immigration controls the single biggest legal factor contributing to modern‐day slavery?In a national and international political moment in which immigration law and policy are being hotly debated, participants in the debate should recognize the impact of strict migration controls – one of the clearest results of the current U.S. immigration law reform effort – is to exacerbate conditions of immiseration that are frequently associated by anti‐trafficking advocates and reformers with “modern‐day slavery.” Conversely, those who are fighting to end modern‐day slavery might be best advised to focus on immigration reform that relaxes border control and increases the rights and remedies of undocumented migrants, as the measures that could most provide immediate redress.
UPDATE (Feb. 5, 2014): Professor Jaya Ramji-Nogales reviews Professor Thomas’s paper here.
KJ