LAW-656 : Immigration Law

This course surveys the legal, historical, and political considerations that shape U.S. immigration law. The course will review the constitutional basis for regulating immigration into the United States, and, to some extent, the constitutional rights of noncitizens in the country; the history of U.S. immigration law and policy, including present-day debates; the contours of the immigration bureaucracy, including the roles played by various federal agencies in immigration decisions; the admission of nonimmigrants (i.e., temporary visitors) and immigrants into the United States; the deportation and exclusion of nonimmigrants and immigrants; the intersection of immigration and criminal law; and citizenship and naturalization. Much of the course focuses on the comprehensive immigration law, the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) of 1952, as amended by numerous laws and the implementing regulations. Although comparisons to immigration law and policy of other countries, as well as various sources of international law, are drawn upon from time to time, the primary focus of his class is immigration law in the United States.