Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2019

Abstract

Immigration law has always been interesting and controversial. Yet in 2018, it became disproportionately so. Law and policymakers identified issues such as unlawful migration, the border between the United States and Mexico, Muslim immigration, and even high-skilled worker visas as critical election issues in anticipation of the 2018 midterm election. Additionally, the current U.S. Executive Branch has taken a hardline approach to immigration, pursuing opportunities to limit, rather than expand, access by non-citizens to U.S. opportunities. As a prime policy example, the fact that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), that is responsible for processing immigration and naturalization applications and establishing policies regarding immigration services, changed its mission statement from "America's promise as a nation of immigrants" to "protecting Americans, securing the homeland, and honoring our values" gives us a perspective of the scope of the transformation. From the Trump-era immigration policy changes that include family separations, to indefinite detention with no right to bond hearings, to the horrors of denying asylum to victims of domestic violence, to forcefully "outing" same sex partners of diplomats, we will review some of the new American immigration reality.

Publication Citation

53 ABA/SIL YIR 315 (2019).

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