Constitutional Civil Rights and Immigration Seminar

Credits: 2.00
Faculty: Mark Noferi

Prerequisite: Immigration Law is recommended but not required.

This seminar class will examine the main civil rights issues involving immigrants today, which are increasingly prominent in the courts, media, and academic literature. Immigration has been described as the civil rights issue of our time, especially as the U.S. Supreme Court considers the constitutionality of Arizonas SB 1070 anti-immigrant legislation. Immigration civil rights issues are extremely legally complex, given the historical relationship between immigration laws, civil rights law, and the Constitution, with its attendant (yet changing) presumptions that Congress can make rules for immigrants it could never make for citizens.

This course will thus address issues such as the recent criminalization of deportation law, and resulting Constitutional arguments for protections such as due process and right-to-counsel; the explosion of immigration detention as a policy and Constitutional matter; federalism concerns, including federal-state enforcement initiatives and federal preemption of Arizona-style laws; immigrant labor exploitation; the interplay between immigration and national security law; the interplay between immigrants' rights and international human rights; and the future of the immigrants' civil rights movement, as increasingly restrictive anti-immigration laws attack the implied social contract for immigrants while America debates comprehensive immigration reform. The course will address all these issues through readings from law review articles, prominent judicial opinions, and media and advocacy reports, with weekly discussion.

Grading and Method of Evaluation

Letter grade with pass/fail option. A paper is required which may be used to satisfy the Upperclass Writing Requirement.