Mini Immprof Reunion at CSLSA

This year’s CSLSA conference took place over Friday and Saturday in Baton Rouge. Our immprof panel was a definite highlight.

Left to right: Noferi, Elias, Johnson

Stella Elias from Iowa led with a discussion of her current project: exploring the experiences of immigrants through the framework of Professor Kenji Yoshino’s article Covering. 

I spoke about my current research into the economics of the criminal prosecution of immigration laws.

And Mark Noferi of the Immigration Policy Center spoke about his work: considering empirical evidence to support a “human rights model” for the detention of U.S. asylum applicants – as well as their merits hearings. (Mark also spoke at our plenary panel on “Academics as Instrumentalists,” providing much-needed insight into D.C. think-tanks and how academics can connect with them.)

We were supposed to be joined by Elizabeth Young of Arkansas, but her travel got waylaid by Mother Nature. Nonetheless, we heard the wonderful news that her faculty unanimously approved her application for tenure. Kudos!

The University of Toledo will host next year’s CSLSA conference. I hope some of you will think about October in Ohio.

-KitJ