Presidential Action to "Fix" Immigration System

On Nov. 20, President Obama announced that he would take executive action to deal with problems in the immigration system.

Ten days earlier, the Congressional Research Service issued a 27-page report on Executive Discretion as to Immigration: Legal Overview.

The report addresses:

• express delegation of discretionary authority
• discretion in enforcement
• discretion in interpreting and applying statutes.

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) provides nonpartison research for committees and members of Congress. Unlike publications from Congress itself, CRS reports are not generally released to the public. However, many organizations and commercial vendors obtain copies and make them available. The Law Library website features a guide to Congressional Research Service Reports that identifies many of these sources.

Cultural Competence: Immigrant and Refugee Communities

What do you know about the Somali, Vietnamese, or Karen immigrants who might be your clients in a couple of years?

For help, let's go to the doctor—or rather, go to a website produced by Harborview Medical Center and the UW's Health Sciences Library. EthnoWeb has "medical and cultural information about immigrant and refugee groups. Information is specific to groups in the Seattle area, but much of the cultural and health information is of interest and applicable in other geographic areas."

Lawyers won't need all the material aimed at health care providers, but many of the materials are useful for anyone. For instance, Phrases of Courtesy in Nine Languages: A Tool for Medical Providers, has video clips of native speakers to teach some useful phrases. A lawyer probably won't need to say "You are in ___ Hospital," but being able to say "Hello" or "We are here to help you" would be just as helpful in legal services as in health services.

Phrases of Courtesy menu for Vietnamese

Screen snip of video for "See you next time" in Vietnamese.

Go to the Cultures page for links to information about different cultures, including Cambodian, Chin, Chinese, Eritrean, Hmong, and Somali.

EthnoWeb Cultures page

Law Stories for Diversity Week

You may have read chapters of a book in the Law Stories series for one of your classes. Each book has chapters by different authors (mostly law professors) looking at the back stories and impact of famous cases. There are Law Stories collections for Torts, Contracts, Civil Procedure, Tax, and many other subjects. For UW Law's Diversity Week (or at any other time!), you might want to explore one or more of these Law Stories books: Indian Law Stories, Immigration Law Stories, Race Law Stories, Women and the Law Stories.

• Indian Law Stories (Carole E. Goldberg et al. eds., 2011), Reference Area(KF8205.A2 I535 2011). Includes a chapter by Prof. Robert Anderson on British Columbia First Nations land claims. For more, see this post. The chapters are:
• The Judicial Conquest of Native America: The Story of Johnson v. M'Intosh, by Lindsay G. Robertson
  
• The Tribal Struggle for Indian Sovereignty: The Story of the Cherokee Cases, by Rennard Strickland
• Water, Legal Rights, and Actual Consequences: The story of Winters v. United States, by Judith V. Royster
• Who Is an Indian?: The Story of United States v. Sandoval, by Gerald Torres
• The Distorted History That Gave Rise to the "So Called" Plenary Power Doctrine : The Story of United States v. Kagama, by Sidney L. Harring
• The Apex of Congress' Plenary Power over Indian Affairs: The story of Lone Wolf v. Hitchcock, by Angela R. Riley
• Erasing Indian country: The Story of Tee-Hit-Ton Indians v. United States, by Joseph William Singer
• Mark the Plumber v. Tribal Empire, or Non-Indian Anxiety v. Tribal Sovereignty?: The Story of Oliphant v. Suquamish Indian Tribe, by Sarah Krakoff
• A Step Backward in the Government's Representation of Tribes: The story of Nevada v. United States, by Ann Carey Juliano
• Property, Power, and American "Justice": The Story of United States v. Dann, by Rebecca Tsosie
• Sheep, Sovereignty, and the Supreme Court: The Story of Williams v. Lee, by Bethany R. Berger
• What's Race Got to Do with It?: The Story of Morton v. Mancari, by Carole Goldberg
• How a $147 County Tax Notice Helped Bring Tribes More Than $200 Billion in Indian Gaming Revenue: The story of Bryan v. Itasca County, by Kevin K. Washburn
• Three Stories in One: The Story of Santa Clara Pueblo v. Martinez, by Gloria Valencia-Weber
• Challenging the Narrative of Conquest: The Story of Lyng v. Northwest Indian Cemetery Protective Association, by Amy Bowers and Kristen A. Carpenter
• Beating a Path of Retreat from Treaty Rights and Tribal Sovereignty: The Story of Montana v. United States, by John P. LaVelle
• Aboriginal Title in the Canadian Legal System: The Story of Delgamuukw v. British Columbia, by Robert T. Anderson
  
  
  
• Immigration Stories (David A. Martin & Peter H. Schuck eds., 2005), Reference Area (KF4819.A2 I4268 2005). Chapters are:
• Chae Chan Ping and Fong Yue Ting: The Origins of Plenary Power, by Gabriel J. Chin
• Wong Wing v. United States: The Bill of Rights Protects Illegal Aliens, by Gerald L. Neuman
• Wong Kim Ark: The Contest Over Birthright Citizenship, by Lucy E. Salyer
• Harisiades v. Shaughnessy: A Case Study in the Vulnerability of Resident Aliens
• The Long, Complex, and Futile Deportation Saga of Carlos Marcello, by Daniel Kanstroom
• Afroyim: Vaunting Citizenship, Presaging Transnationality, by Peter J. Spiro
• Kleindienst v. Mandel: Plenary Power v. the Professor, by Peter H. Schuck
• Plyler v. Doe, the Education of Undocumented Children, and the Polity, by Michael A. Olivas
• Maria and Joseph Plasencia's Lost Weekend: The Case of Landon v. Plasencia, by Kevin R. Johnson
• Adelaide Abankwah, Fauziya Kasinga, and the Dilemmas of Political Asylum, by David A. Martin
• INS v. St. Cyr: The Campaign to Preserve Court Review and Stop Retroactive Deportation Laws, by Nancy Morawetz
•  Hoffman Plastic Compounds, Inc. v. NLRB: The Rules of the Workplace for Undocumented Immigrants, by Catherine L. Fisk and Michael J. Wishnie
• Demore v. Kim: Judicial Deference to Congressional Folly, by Margaret H. Taylor
  
• Race Law Stories (Rachel F. Moran & Devon Carbado eds., 2008), Reference Area (KF4755 .R33 2008). Chapters are:
• The Tribal Struggle for Indian Sovereignty: The Story of the Cherokee Cases, by Rennard Strickland
• Classical Racialism, Justice Story, and Margaret Morgan's Journey from Freedom to Clavery: The Story of Prigg v. Pennsylvania, by Ronald S. Sullivan Jr.
• Birthright Citizenship, Immigration, and the U.S. Constitution: The Story of United States v. Wong Kim Ark, by Erika Lee
• "The Constitution Follows the Flag . . . but Doesn't Quite Catch up with It": The Story of Downes v. Bidwell, by Pedro A. Malavet 
• Multiracialism and the Social Construction of Race: The Story of Hudgins v. Wrights, by Angela Onwuachi-Willig
• Yellow by Law: The Story of Ozawa v. United States, by Devon W. Carbado
• What's Race Got to Do with It?: The Story of Morton v. Mancari, by Carole Goldberg
• Jim Crow, Mexican Americans, and the Anti-Subordination Constitution: The Story of Hernandez v. Texas, by Ian Haney López & Michael A. Olivas
• Dodging Responsibility: The Story of Hirabayashi v. United States, by Jerry Kang
• Forgotten Lessons on Race, Law, and Marriage: The Story of Perez v. Sharp, by R.A. Lenhardt
• Judicial Opinions as Racial Narratives: The Story of Richmond v. Croson, by Reginald Oh & Thomas Ross
• The Song Remains the Same: The Story of Whren v. United States, by Kevin R. Johnson
• The Heirs of Brown: The Story of Grutter v. Bollinger, by Rachel F. Moran
• Representation and Raceblindness: The Story of Shaw v. Reno, by Daniel P. Tokaji
• Disfiguring Civil Rights to Deny Indigenous Hawaiian Self-Determination: The Story of Rice v. Cayetano, by Eric K. Yamamoto & Catherine Corpus Betts
• Intersectional Bias and the Courts: The Story of Rogers v. American Airlines, by Paulette M. Caldwell
  
• Women and the Law Stories (Elizabeth M. Schneider & Stephanie M. Wildman eds., 2011), Reference Area (KF478.5.A5 W645 2011). Chapters are:
• Hidden Histories, Racialized Gender, and the Legacy of Reconstruction: The Story of United States v. Cruikshank, by Rebecca Hall and Angela P. Harris
• "When the Trouble Started": The Story of Frontiero v. Richardson, by Serena Mayeri
• Single-Sex Public Schools: The Story of Vorchheimer v. School District of Philadelphia, by Martha Minow
• Unconstitutionally Male?: The Story of United States v. Virginia, by Katharine T. Bartlett
• Infertile by Force and Federal Complicity: The Story of Relf v. Weinberger, by Lisa C. Ikemoto
• "Nearly Allied to Her Right to Be"—Medicaid Funding for Abortion: The Story of Harris v. McRae, by Rhonda Copelon and Sylvia A. Law
• Pregnant and Working: The Story of California Federal Savings & Loan Ass'n v. Guerra, by Stephanie M. Wildman
• "What Not to Wear"—The Story of Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson, by Tanya Katerí Hernández
•  Of Glass Ceilings, Sex Stereotypes, and Mixed Motives: The Story of Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins, by Martha Chamallas
• Six Cases in Search of a Decision: The Story of In re Marriage Cases, by Patricia A. Cain and Jean C. Love
• State—Enabled Violence: The Story of Town of Castle Rock v. Gonzales, by Zanita E. Fenton
• The Entry of Women into Wall Street Law Firms: The Story of Blank v. Sullivan & Cromwell, by Cynthia Grant Bowman
• A Tribal Court Domestic Violence Case: The Story of an Unknown Victim, an Unreported Decision, and an All Too Common Injustice, by Stacy L. Leeds

Northwest Detention Center

What happens when immigrants are held pending deportation proceedings? See Center of Detention, a major series in the News Tribune about the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma.

The series focuses on one man, Oscar Campos Estrada, and his family. "As a Mexican, a male and a minor offender, he represents the typical detainee who passes through the facility's reinforced doors." The website includes copies of legal documents and video interview with Estrada.  (By the way, Estrada's attorney, Amy Kratz, is a UW Law graduate.)

The series also has coverage of big-picture issues about the siting and management of the facility.  And a sidebar on the series page links to stories about five other immigrants.

Film and Discussion: Civil Rights in 1961 and 2011

Organizers of the National Immigrant Integration Conference, taking place Oct. 24-26, invite the public to an evening event on Tues., Oct. 25: Connecting Across Movements and Generations 50 Years Later

Acclaimed film maker and Emmy-winning MacArthur "genius" fellow Stanley Nelson will share clips from his documentary "Freedom Riders," an inspiring documentary of the more than 400 black and white Americans risked their lives to end legal segregation in the Deep South.
The Freedom Riders endured savage beatings and imprisonment to assert their humanity and to challenge the federal government to intervene on the side of justice. Today, our country desperately needs fresh energy from diverse people working together to enlarge social and economic justice. DREAM activists - undocumented young people who have been "coming out" by the hundreds - have been called the Freedom Riders of our day. Together with people of all ages and backgrounds, they are taking profound risks in standing up for immigrants and refugees as integral members of American society. 
Join us a rare and inspiring dialogue between civil rights activists and participants in the immigrant rights' movement as they exchange stories and lessons.

This event is free and open to the public. Tuesday, Oct. 25, 6:30-8 pm, Westin Hotel Grand Ballroom.

You can watch "Freedom Riders" here:

Watch Freedom Riders on PBS. See more from American Experience.

(Other) Government Reports in the News*

Immigration Policy in the United States: An Update. Congressional Budget Office, December 2010.

This document updates the Congressional Budget Office's February 2006 paper Immigration Policy in the United States. It presents data through 2009 on permanent and temporary admissions of foreign nationals to the United States,the number and types of visas issued, the naturalization of residents, and enforcement of immigration laws—and makes comparisons with 2004, which was the most recent year for which most data were reported in the earlier paper.

Protecting Consumer Privacy in an Era of Rapid Change: A Proposed Framework for Businesses and Policymakers. Federal Trade Commission preliminary staff report, December 1, 2010.

. . . proposes a framework to balance the privacy interests of consumers with innovation that relies on consumer information to develop beneficial new products and services. The proposed report also suggests implementation of a “Do Not Track” mechanism – likely a persistent setting on consumers’ browsers – so consumers can choose whether to allow the collection of data regarding their online searching and browsing activities....

*see also DOD’s report on Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, and new working papers from the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill.

Upcoming CLE: Advocating for Immigrant Survivors of Domestic Violence

The Immigrant Families Advocacy Project (IFAP), the Northwest Immigrants Rights Project (NWIRP), and the University of Washington School of Law are presenting a Continuing Legal Education program on Friday, November 5, 2010, in downtown Seattle.

Find more information about the program, "Immigration Options for Immigrant Survivors of Domestic Violence: U-Visa under the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Prevention Act," including registration information, here.

New Faculty Publication: Scott Schumacher on Criminal Tax & Immigration

Scott A. Schumacher, Criminal Tax and Immigration: A Search for Clarity, 129 TAX NOTES 234-39 (2010).

The Oct. 11, 2010 issue of Tax Notes contains Scott's article.

This article discusses the recent case law developments concerning the impact of a criminal conviction on immigration status, focusing on the circuit split regarding whether a conviction for filing a false tax return is an aggravated felony under the immigration laws.

Prof. Schumacher has published several articles in Tax Notes, including:

• Tomko and Sentencing Guidelines in Tax Cases after Booker, 125 Tax Notes 149-53 (2009), available at http://ssrn.com/abstract=1483338.


• The Ninth Circuit Says Aloha to Boulware -- Again, 122 Tax Notes 1631-34 (2009), available at http://ssrn.com/abstract=1479741.


• Unnecessary Harm: IRS Levies on Social Security Benefits, 113 Tax Notes 265-67 (2006).

Arizona SB 1070 - Immigration Law - LawGuides at Santa Clara University School of Law

Our colleagues at Santa Clara University have put together a guide on Arizona SB 1070 - Immigration Law (LawGuides at Santa Clara University School of Law).

Immigration Law Primer from the Federal Judicial Center

Immigration Law: A Primer (177 pages) is newly published by the Federal Judicial Center. It focuses on issues that arise in litigation, including:

• grounds for inadmissibility and deportation
• asylum and refugee law
• the intersection of criminal law and immigration law
• state-assisted enforcement of immigration law in the workplace

A glossary of terms and a table of cases is also included.

The Federal Judicial Center is the research and education agency of the federal judicial system.

Immigration Courts Backlog Increased

A new study of immigration court statistics show the backlog has increased by 19 percent, and the wait time has increased by 23 percent, due to a shortage of judges. The report was issued June 17, by TRAC, the Transaction Records Access Clearinghouse, a research center at Syracuse University. For further reporting, see the New York Times story.

DVD on the Border Wall

The Border Wall, JV6483 .B67 2008 at Classified Stacks, is a new DVD of interest to people interested in immigration policy or environmental law (or both!).

The Border Wall is a new documentary from filmmaker Wayne Ewing about the attempt by the Department of Homeland Security under Secretary Michael Chertoff to erect 670 miles of walls along the 2000 mile southern border of the United States in the waning days of the Bush administration.

The Border Wall examines the effect of the Wall where it began as a double fence in San Diego in the 1990’s. Local activists argue that militarization of the border and the walls have simply driven undocumented aliens to cross through more dangerous terrain, causing the deaths of over 5000 people. However, Rep. Duncan Hunter (R., CA) – the author of the Secure Fence Act of 2006, claims that there was a 50% drop in crime in San Diego County after the walls went up along the border, and that the wall saves lives.

In Arizona, The Border Wall looks at the seven miles of wall recently built near Sasabe, and discovers a horde of illegal immigrants simply going around the end of the wall into mountainous terrain where the filmmakers find two Mexican ladies lost and terrified. Undocumented immigrants dying of thirst in the desert often find help from No More Deaths, an organization of volunteers dedicated to saving lives in the desert of Southern Arizona, and the film follows them patrolling the desert, and cleaning up the immense amounts of trash left behind by migrants.

Also in Arizona, The Border Wall examines a legal challenge by the Defenders of Wildlife to wall construction in the fragile San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area which was at first successful in the fall of 2006 in persuading a federal judge to halt all construction. But Secretary Chertoff invoked the extraordinary power given him by Congress with the Real ID Act of 2005 to waive any law that he determines stands in his way of building the wall. Chertoff waived 19 laws.

You can see a preview here.