bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Facing Immigration Fears: A Constructive Local Approach to Day Labor, Community, and Integration
Authors: de la Vega Sandra Lazo , Steigenga Timothy
Published: August 2018

As one of the most visible and vulnerable manifestations of the presence of Latino immigrants in “new destination” communities across the United States, day laborers have become a locus of conflict over the past fifteen years for local policy makers, advocacy organizations, and neighborhood residents. Communities have dealt with day labor in drastically different ways. Some have passed harsh anti-immigrant ordinances, hoping that a hostile environment will encourage immigrants to leave. Restrictionist state and local legislation, however, has proven costly to enforce, has been challenged in court, and has hindered immigrant integration. Other communities have gone against the restrictionist tide. This paper argues that organized day labor centers, such as the El Sol Resource Center in Jupiter, Florida, address many of the fundamental fears that polarize local policymaking and the national immigration reform debate. In Jupiter, El Sol has not only eliminated a controversial open-air labor market by bringing the process into a formal and organized structure, it has also provided access to English and civics classes, preventive health screenings and legal services in cases of wage theft. Furthermore, through El Sol the Town of Jupiter has opened a two-way process of immigrant integration. Jupiter's day laborers are no longer “hiding in the shadows,” but rather are engaging in active citizenship and working with native-born community volunteers to run the center.
Human Insecurity: Understanding International Migration from a Human Security Perspective
Authors: Vietti Francesca , Scribner Todd
Published: August 2018

This article examines contemporary, mass migration from the perspective of human security. It tracks the development of the human security model of international relations, and compares it to the well-established state security model that has served as the dominant paradigm for international relations since the seventeenth century. The article argues that human security offers a more effective approach to many of the underlying problems and threats associated with mass migration, than does the traditional state-security model. It challenges national and international authorities to address threats to human security, in order to minimize forced migration and to create the conditions for migration by choice, not necessity.
A Voice of the US Southwestern Border: The 2012 “We the Border: Envisioning a Narrative for Our Future” Conference
Authors: Heyman Josiah McC
Published: August 2018

In July 2012, a diverse group of US residents living near the US-Mexico border met in El Paso, Texas for a conference entitled, We the Border: Envisioning a Narrative for Our Future. This paper describes their vision for the US-Mexico border that is at odds with the widespread view of the border as a threat to the United States. These border residents viewed their region as a set of human communities with rights, capacities, and valuable insights and knowledge. They embraced an alternative vision of border enforcement that would focus on “quality” (dangerous entrants and contraband) over “quantity” (mass migration enforcement). They called for investments in the functionality and security of ports of entry, rather than in between ports of entry. They noted the low crime rate in US border cities, and examined how policies of not mixing local law enforcement with federal immigration enforcement contributed to this achievement. They saw the border region as the key transportation and brokerage zone of the emerging, integrated North American economy. In their view, the bilingual, bicultural, and binational skills that characterize border residents form part of a wider border culture that embraces diversity and engenders creativity. Under this vision the border region is not an empty enforcement zone, but is part of the national community and its residents should enjoy the same constitutional and human rights as other US residents. The conference participants emphasized the necessity and value of accountability and oversight of central government enforcement operations, and the need for border communities to participate in federal decision-making that affects their lives.
Citizen or Subordinate: Permutations of Belonging in the United States and the Dominican Republic
Authors: Aber Shaina , Small Mary
Published: August 2018

The Dominican Republic and the United States have both experienced tensions arising from migratory flows from poorer, less stable neighbors. Until recently, both countries had constitutions which conferred citizenship by birth with very limited exceptions. Despite these similarities, their respective discourses around jus soli citizenship, particularly for the children of unauthorized migrants from the poorer neighboring countries, have manifested in different ways. The identity of the United States as a nation of immigrants has limited the success of campaigns to revoke jus soli citizenship for the children of unauthorized immigrants, but the persistent articulation of this idea as a response to illegal migration has shifted the parameters of the immigration debate. In the Dominican Republic, the historical construction of national identity and anti-Haitian discourse has led to an evolution in Dominican law which codifies already established practices that deny citizenship to children of Haitian migrants. In both cases, movements that support more inclusive understandings of societal belonging, like the DREAMers in the United States and youth movements in the Dominican Republic, may offer the most effective way of protecting universal jus soli citizenship regimes.
Global Trends in Immigration Detention and Alternatives to Detention: Practical, Political and Symbolic Rationales
Authors: Sampson Robyn , Mitchell Grant
Published: August 2018

Immigration detention is a growing threat to the well-being of migrants worldwide. While the use of this tool continues to increase, there is a growing consensus by governments on the need to pursue alternative programs. This paper examines the nature of these apparently contradictory developments and the reasons for tension in this area of migration policy. Drawing from research conducted by the International Detention Coalition and La Trobe University, this paper describes the Community Assessment and Placement (CAP) model, which seeks to prevent unnecessary detention, while allowing governments to meet the rationale offered for detention. It argues that the global trends of growth in detention and an increased emphasis on alternatives reflect competing political, policy and operational objectives. For example, governments wish to ensure compliance with deportation orders; alleviate political pressures regarding the harms associated with detention; and demonstrate control of territorial borders. Understanding the multiple rationales that shape this area of migration policy can help make sense of contradictory policy developments and identify the most effective ways to safeguard those who might be subject to detention.
Housing and Quality of Life for Migrant Communities in Western Europe: A Capabilities Approach
Authors: Coates Dermot , Anand Paul , Norris Michelle
Published: August 2018

Housing is an important determinant of quality of life and migrants are more likely to encounter poor quality housing than natives. This paper draws on the capabilities approach to welfare economics to examine how issues of housing and neighborhood conditions influence quality of life and opportunities for migrants in Western Europe. The analysis utilizes data from the second European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS) to explore variation in life and housing satisfaction between migrants and non-migrants (natives) in Western Europe and whether being a migrant and living in an ethnically diverse neighborhood contribute to lower satisfaction. The results show that migrants are more likely to experience lower levels of life and housing satisfaction and that living in a diverse neighborhood is negatively associated with life and housing satisfaction. While diverse, inner-city neighborhoods can increase opportunities for labor market access, social services and integration, the tendency towards clustered settlement by migrants can also compound housing inequality. Conversely, migrant homeowners are on average substantially more satisfied with the quality of public services and of their neighborhood and have lower material deprivation than both migrant and non-migrant renters. The findings draw attention to the need to address housing and neighborhood conditions in order to improve opportunities for integration and well-being.
Legalization Programs and the Integration of Unauthorized Immigrants: A Comparison of S. 744 and IRCA
Authors: Enchautegui María E.
Published: August 2018

Experiences under the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA) may prove to be a poor guide for understanding how smoothly today's unauthorized immigrants will integrate into the economy under reform proposals such as the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act (S. 744). While IRCA provided a relatively quick path to legal permanent resident status, S. 744 proposes a decade-long process with much attendant uncertainty. This and other provisions in S. 744 may adversely affect immigrants' integration and economic mobility.
Temporary Protected Status after 25 Years: Addressing the Challenge of Long-Term “Temporary” Residents and Strengthening a Centerpiece of US Humanitarian Protection
Authors: Bergeron Claire
Published: August 2018

Since 1990, the United States has offered hundreds of thousands of noncitizens who are unable to return to their countries of origin because of war or a natural disaster a vital form of humanitarian protection: temporary protected status (TPS). While a grant of TPS does not place a noncitizen on a path to permanent residence, TPS recipients receive protection against deportation and temporary permission to live and work in the United States. Nearly 25 years after the statutory creation of TPS, however, the use of the program has been the subject of some debate, largely because of concerns over whether TPS grants are truly “temporary.”

This paper examines the legal parameters of TPS and traces the program's legislative history, exploring congressional intent behind its creation. While acknowledging that extended designations of TPS are often the result of long-running international crises, the paper argues that extended TPS designations are problematic for two reasons. First, they run contrary to congressional intent, which was to create a temporary safe haven for individuals unable to return home due to emergency situations. Second, continued grants of TPS status effectively lock TPS beneficiaries into a “legal limbo,” rendering them unable to fully integrate into life in the United States.

This paper considers several administrative and legislative “fixes” to align the TPS program with the goal of providing temporary protection to certain individuals that do not meet the refugee definition, while also ensuring that long-term immigrants in the United States are fully able to integrate into the fabric of the country. It considers:

• Amending the US definition of a “refugee” to enable more would-be TPS beneficiaries to qualify for asylum;

• Creating a new form of subsidiary protection for individuals who cannot return home but do not meet the refugee definition;

• Permitting TPS holders who have resided in the United States for a certain number of years to adjust to lawful permanent resident (LPR) status;

• Easing the ability of TPS holders to take advantage of existing pathways to permanent residence; and

• Implementing repatriation programs to assist former TPS holders in returning to their countries of origin.

This paper argues for the adoption of two of the above proposals. It asserts that the best way to realign the TPS statutory regime with congressional intent and the United States' tradition of promoting full integration of long-term immigrants is to allow persons who have held TPS status for more than ten years to adjust to LPR status, while implementing a repatriation program for those with shorter-term grants of TPS that have ended.
Unfulfilled Promises, Future Possibilities: The Refugee Resettlement System in the United States
Authors: Brown Anastasia , Scribner Todd
Published: August 2018

World War II caused the displacement of millions of people throughout Europe. In response, the United States initiated a public-private partnership that assisted in the resettlement of hundreds of thousands of the region's displaced persons. For nearly 40 years after the War, the US commitment to refugee resettlement played out in an ad hoc fashion as it responded to emerging crises in different ways. During this period the government's involvement with resettlement became gradually intertwined with that of nongovernmental resettlement agencies, which came to play an increasingly vital role in the resettlement process. The budding relationship that began in the middle decades of the twentieth century set the foundation for an expansive and dynamic public-private partnership that continues to this day. The Refugee Act of 1980 solidified the relationship between resettlement agencies and the federal government, established political asylum in US law, and created the refugee resettlement program and a series of assistance programs to help refugees transition to life in the United States. This legislation marked a decisive turning point in the field of refugee resettlement.

Since passage of the Act, the United States has resettled more than two million refugees, providing them with the opportunity to start a new life. Nevertheless, almost as soon as it was established, federal backing for the domestic resettlement program began to erode, placing the program under increasing stress. Financial and programmatic support was quickly reduced because of budgetary pressures and a changing political climate in Washington, DC. Administrative control of the program was assigned to federal agencies that are responsible for different facets of the process. However, coordination and information sharing between these agencies and with resettlement agencies has been less than optimal. The lack of adequate support for the resettlement program has placed substantial strain on refugee receiving communities and on resettlement agencies. Receiving communities have experienced particular strain as a result of secondary migration and a lack of resources to assist in refugee integration. In light of these issues, this paper highlights specific improvements that could be made to the domestic resettlement program that would ensure that the United States will remain in a strong position to welcome refugees for years to come.
An Overview of Pending Asylum and Refugee Legislation in the US Congress
Authors: Nezer Melanie
Published: August 2018

There has been no significant legislation related to the asylum process enacted in Congress in nearly a decade. In 1996, the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigration Responsibility Act (IIRIRA) became law, rolling back protections for asylum seekers by including a one-year deadline for filing asylum applications, subjecting asylum seekers to “expedited removal” procedures, and expanding the detention of asylum seekers. In 2005, Congress enacted the REAL ID Act, which created additional legal barriers to asylum, including new requirements for proving an asylum claim.

During the past several sessions of Congress, bills have been introduced that would make significant changes to the country's asylum laws and refugee admissions program. This paper provides an overview of the pending legislation and the changes proposed. This overview is instructive in understanding (1) which members of Congress have demonstrated interest and leadership in refugee and asylum issues; (2) which refugee and asylum reform issues have been of most interest to members of Congress in recent years; (3) the different approaches to refugee and asylum issues by members of Congress who have shown leadership on these issues; and (4) which provisions have been enacted, which have gained traction, and which remain pending without significant movement through the legislative process.

While it is difficult to imagine in the current partisan climate how any asylum or refugee legislation could be enacted into law, some legislative provisions have been reintroduced over a number of sessions of Congress and some have a history of bipartisan support. Legislation focused on a group of particular interest or concern to members of Congress could gain traction. A more comprehensive legislative approach framed by the need generally to improve the system could be less effective, particularly in the context of the years-long stalemate on comprehensive immigration reform.

While legislation is unlikely to pass in the near future, it remains important for members of Congress who believe in the importance a fair, effective, and humane asylum system and refugee resettlement program, to introduce and build support for asylum and refugee legislation. Provisions in bills that have already been introduced, like those in S. 744, are more likely to be included in legislation that is moving through Congress. In addition, these bills demonstrate the continued interest of members of Congress in asylum and refugee issues and the need for reform. They also provide an important tool for advocates for education and outreach to Congress and the public.
The Intersection of Statelessness and Refugee Protection in US Asylum Policy
Authors: Fullerton Maryellen
Published: August 2018

More than ten million people are stateless today. In a world of nation states, they live on the margins without membership in any state, and, as a consequence, have few enforceable legal rights. Stateless individuals face gaps in protection and in many cases experience persecution that falls within the refugee paradigm. However, US asylum policy does not adequately address the myriad legal problems that confront the stateless, who have been largely invisible in the jurisprudence and academic literature.

Two federal appellate court opinions shed new light on the intersection of statelessness and refugee law in the United States. In 2010, Haile v. Holder examined the asylum claim of a young man rendered stateless when the Ethiopian government issued a decree denationalizing ethnic Eritreans. In a 2011 case, Stserba v. Holder, the court reviewed an asylum claim by a woman who became stateless when the Soviet Union collapsed, and the successor state of Estonia enacted citizenship legislation that included a language requirement. This article analyzes the opinions which suggest that state action depriving residents of citizenship on ethnic and other protected grounds warrants a presumption of persecution. This article also identifies additional circumstances in which stateless individuals may have a well-founded fear of persecution that qualifies them for asylum in the United States.

In addition, this article notes that although far too many stateless individuals face persecution, not all of them do. Stateless persons who do not fear persecution, however, are also vulnerable. The absence of state protection condemns them to a precarious existence and their inability to obtain passports or other travel documents often prevents their return to states where they formerly resided. The refusal of most states to admit noncitizens frequently keeps stateless persons in limbo. Stateless individuals stranded in the United States live under a supervisory patchwork that serves neither their interests nor those of the United States. Rather than relying on incremental case law developments and inapposite regulatory schemes, the US State Department and the Department of Homeland Security should convene a task force to report on the size and composition of the stateless population in the United States and the need to develop legislative, regulatory, and other policy guidance concerning statelessness claims.
Children's Migration to the United States from Mexico and Central America: Evidence from the Mexican and Latin American Migration Projects
Authors: Donato Katharine M. , Sisk Blake
Published: August 2018

In light of rising numbers of unaccompanied minors at the Mexico-US border in 2014, this article examines child migration from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua. Using data from the Mexican and Latin American Migration Projects that permit us to go beyond simple descriptive analysis about children apprehended at the border, we investigate the extent to which children from these countries: (1) enter without legal authorization to do so; (2) are more likely to cross the border now than in the past; and (3) are tied to their parents' migration. In theory, if immigration and refugee protections worked well for children and offered them legal pathways to reunify with their families, then we would expect low levels of unauthorized entry and no dramatic shifts over time. However, our examination of child migration shows that it is strongly linked to unauthorized entry, period of entry, and parents' US experience.

The findings show that the migration of children is closely linked to their parents' migration history. Although the overall likelihood of a Mexican child making a first US trip is quite low, it is practically non-existent for children whose parents have no US experience. Thus, the increase in child migration from Central America, and the continued high levels of child migration from Mexico result from widespread migration networks and the United States' long-standing reliance on the children's parents as immigrant workers. The findings suggest that these children need protection in the form of family reunification and permanent legal status.
Promoting the Recognition and Protection of the Rights of All Migrants Using a Soft-Law International Migrants Bill of Rights
Authors: Kysel Ian M.
Published: August 2018

The rights and movement of people crossing international borders remain inadequately governed and incompletely protected by a fragmented patchwork of institutions and norms. In recent years, debates regarding migration law and practice globally have been focused on subcategories of migrants, such as refugees, or on particular migration contexts, such as migration as a result of crisis or climate change. In response, a transnational initiative housed at the Georgetown University Law Center has drafted a soft-law bill of rights — the International Migrants Bill of Rights (IMBR) — that seeks to elaborate the law protecting all migrants, regardless of the cause of their movement across an international border. The bill draws its content from human rights, refugee, and labor law, among other areas, and is drafted to be a comprehensive and declarative tool that articulates a core set of rights to protect migrants and to apply in the migration context.

This article articulates how such a tool could be used to promote the recognition and protection of the rights of all migrants, in law and in practice. It argues that a soft-law bill of rights could be leveraged to fill significant gaps and promote an improved normative and institutional infrastructure that better protects all migrants worldwide. Section I provides a brief overview of the gap that a soft-law bill of rights can address. Section II provides a brief overview of the history and content of the bill of rights and IMBR Initiative. Section III describes, specifically, how making use of a soft-law bill of rights stands to improve the recognition and protection of fundamental rights that protect all migrants — and how soft law can help fill specific protection gaps.
Prospects for Responsibility Sharing in the Refugee Context
Authors: Türk Volker
Published: August 2018

The current state of forced displacement today, with record numbers and rising levels of need, poses challenges of a scope and complexity that we have not had to face since the Second World War. Yet, if we make every effort to place refugee protection at the heart of our response, these challenges are not insurmountable. The international refugee regime provides us with tried and tested tools to address them. What is needed now is to put our collective resources and capacities to their most effective use. We are already seeing this in the recent move towards creating a proposed Global Compact on Responsibility Sharing for Refugees, as set out in the UN secretary-general's report, In Safety and Dignity: Addressing Large Movements of Refugees and Migrants. We are also seeing this with innovative directions in protection, assistance, and solutions for refugees that are helping us to operationalize long-standing principles of protection, transforming them into tangible results for refugees. New forms of group determination, combined with community-based protection and other measures, can help to ensure an appropriate legal status while at the same time identifying specific protection needs. Protection strategies can inform frameworks for governing migration and meeting the needs of the most vulnerable migrants. The integration of services to refugees within national systems and the expansion of cash-based programming can meet essential needs for assistance more effectively. Finally, the humanitarian-development nexus, the progressive realization of rights — including the right to work, and the creation of complementary pathways for admission — can provide the building blocks for achieving longer-term solutions, which remain, as ever, the ultimate aspiration of the international refugee protection regime.
Rethinking the Assumptions of Refugee Policy: Beyond Individualism to the Challenge of Inclusive Communities
Authors: Rupp George
Published: August 2018

The values of individualism developed in the post-Enlightenment West are at the core of the contemporary refugee protection system. While enormously powerful, this tradition assigns priority to the individual as distinguished from the community. Based on patterns established in centuries of religious thought and practice as well as on the insights of key thinkers in the tradition of Western individualism, this paper argues that consideration of communities should receive greater emphasis. In terms of the refugee protection system, this shift requires examining how best to address the needs of communities that are uprooted, as well as the needs of communities into which displaced persons are received, rather than only focusing on individuals who cross a border and seek refugee status.
Safe and Voluntary Refugee Repatriation: From Principle to Practice
Authors: Crisp Jeff , Long Katy
Published: August 2018

The article discusses the principles of voluntariness, safety, and dignity in the context of refugee repatriation. It begins by setting out the applicable legal framework, and discusses how that framework has been elaborated upon and refined since 1951. The article then discusses how the principles of voluntariness, safety, and dignity have, in practice, been applied (or, in a few unfortunate cases, ignored). After noting that we are now living in an era of protracted refugee emergencies, the article concludes with a number of recommendations regarding alternatives to repatriation and the conditions under which repatriation can take place without offense to the principles of voluntariness, safety, and dignity.
“They Need to Give Us a Voice”: Lessons from Listening to Unaccompanied Central American and Mexican Children on Helping Children Like Themselves
Authors: Schmidt Susan
Published: August 2018

Children make up half of the world's refugees, yet limited research documents the views of youth about migratory causes and recommendations. While there is wide recognition of migrant children's right to free expression, few opportunities exist to productively exercise that right and provide input about their views. This article analyzes the responses of Central American and Mexican migrant children to one interview question regarding how to help youth like themselves, and identifies several implied “no-win” situations as potential reasons for the migration decisions of unaccompanied children. Furthermore, the children's responses highlight the interconnected nature of economics, security, and education as migratory factors. Examination of children's political speech revealed primarily negative references regarding their home country's government, the president, and the police. The police were singled out more than any other public figures, with particular emphasis on police corruption and ineffectiveness. Additional analysis focused on children's comments regarding migration needs and family.

Recommendations for future action include:

• recognizing entwined motivations and no-win situations that may lead children to leave their countries of origin;

• promoting integrated approaches to home country economic, security, and education concerns for Central American and Mexican youth;

• acknowledging migrant children's political interests and concerns;

• providing youth with meaningful opportunities to contribute their views and suggestions.

• incorporating migrant children's input and concerns into spending plans for US aid appropriated for Central America; and

• emphasizing youth leadership development in efforts to address child migration.
Responding to a Refugee Influx: Lessons from Lebanon
Authors: Kelley Ninette
Published: August 2018

Between 2011 and 2015, Lebanon received over one million Syrian refugees. There is no country in the world that has taken in as many refugees in proportion to its size: by 2015, one in four of its residents was a refugee from Syria. Already beset, prior to the Syrian crisis, by political divisions, insecure borders, severely strained infrastructure, and over-stretched public services, the mass influx of refugees further taxed the country. That Lebanon withstood what is often characterized as an existential threat is primarily due to the remarkable resilience of the Lebanese people. It is also due to the unprecedented levels of humanitarian funding that the international community provided to support refugees and the communities that hosted them. UN, international, and national partners scaled up more than a hundred-fold to meet ever-burgeoning needs and creatively endeavored to meet challenges on the ground. And while the refugee response was not perfect, and funding fell well below needs, thousands of lives were saved, protection was extended, essential services were provided, and efforts were made to improve through education the future prospects of the close to half-a-million refugee children residing in Lebanon. This paper examines what worked well and where the refugee response stumbled, focusing on areas where improved efforts in planning, delivery, coordination, innovation, funding, and partnerships can enhance future emergency responses.
The Human Cost of IIRIRA —Stories from Individuals Impacted by the Immigration Detention System
Authors: Ahmed Saba , Appelbaum Adina , Jordan Rachel
Published: August 2018

The 1996 passage of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA) has had a devastating impact on immigrants who are detained, indigent, and forced to face deportation proceedings without representation (pro se). In the past 20 years, immigration detention has grown exponentially and a criminal–immigration detention–deportation pipeline has developed as a central function of the immigration system. Despite the growing specter of the “criminal alien” in the American psyche, there is little public knowledge or scrutiny of the vast immigration detention and deportation machine. Enforcement of IIRIRA has effectively erased human stories and narrowed immigration debates to numbers and statistics.

The five vignettes below tell the stories of individuals who have personally experienced the impact of IIRIRA. Part 1 describes the on-the-ground reality of a state public defender's obligations and struggles to defend immigrants from harsh consequences of criminal convictions. Part 2 provides the perspective of an indigent immigrant fighting his deportation pro se. Part 3 describes a nonprofit immigration attorney's challenges in providing legal services to detained immigrants. Part 4 is a glimpse into the brisk pace of an immigration judge's detained docket. Part 5 tells the story of a detained immigrant's family member and the many hoops she must jump through to ensure he has a fighting chance in immigration court. Collectively, these vignettes provide a realistic picture of the immigration detention experience, revealing the human cost of IIRIRA.
Immigration Policy and Agriculture: Possible Directions for the Future
Authors: Martin Philip
Published: August 2018

Presidential candidate Trump in 2016 promised to prevent unauthorized migration and deport unauthorized foreigners in the United States, and President Trump issued executive orders after taking office in January 2017 that could lead to a 2,000-mile wall on the Mexico-US border and the removal of many of the 11 million unauthorized foreigners, including one million who work in US agriculture. This paper emphasizes that, especially agriculture in the western United States, has long relied on newcomers to fill seasonal farm jobs. The slowdown in Mexico-US migration since 2008–09 means that there are fewer flexible newcomers to supplement the current workforce, which is aging and settled. Farm employers are responding by offering bonuses to satisfy current workers, stretching them with productivity-increasing tools, substituting machines for workers, and supplementing current workforces with legal H-2A guest workers.

Immigration policy will influence the choice between mechanization, guest workers, and imports. Several factors suggest that the United States may be poised to embark on another large-scale guest worker program for agriculture. If it does, farmers should begin to pay Social Security and Unemployment Insurance (UI) taxes on the wages of H-2A workers to foster mechanization and development in the workers' communities of origin by dividing these payroll taxes equally between workers as they depart and commodity-specific boards. Worker departure bonuses could be matched by governments in migrant-sending areas to promote development, and commodity-specific boards could spend monies to reduce dependence on hand labor over time. The economic incentives provided by payroll taxes could help to usher in a new and better era of farm labor.
Immigration Adjudication: The Missing “Rule of Law”
Authors: Benson Lenni B.
Published: August 2018

The United States spends more than $19 billion each year on border and immigration enforcement.1 The Obama administration removed more people in eight years than the last four administrations combined.2 Yet, to the Trump administration, enforcement is not yet robust enough. Among other measures, the administration favors more expedited and summary removals. More than 80 percent3 of all removal orders are already issued outside the court process: When the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) uses summary removal processes, both access to counsel and an immigration judge can be nearly impossible. Advocates and policy analysts are equally concerned that a backlog of over 545,000 immigration court cases creates delay that harm people seeking asylum and other humanitarian protection. Recent use of priority or “rocket” dockets in immigration court and lack of appointed counsel also interfere with the fair adjudication of claims. Thus the administrative removal system is criticized both for being inefficient and moving too slowly, on the one hand, and for moving too quickly without adequate procedural safeguards, on the other. Both critiques have merit. The challenge is to design, implement, and most critically, maintain an appropriately balanced adjudication system.

While it is clear that US removal procedures need reform, process alone will not be able to address some of the systematic flaws within the system. Ultimately, the DHS will need to refine and prioritize the cases that are placed into the system and the government needs new tools, widely used in other adjudication systems, that can reduce backlogs, incentivize cooperation, and facilitate resolution. Congress should similarly reexamine the barriers to status and avenues for regularization or preservation of status. The paucity of equitable forms or relief and the lack of statutes of limitation place stress on the immigration court system. The lack of appointed counsel has a dramatic impact on case outcomes. Without counsel, the rule of law is barely a constraint on government authority. Conversely, a system of appointed counsel could lead to efficiencies and to a culture of negotiation and settlement within the immigration court system.

DHS has increasingly used every tool in its arsenal to expeditiously remove people from the United States and most of these tools bypass judicial hearings. In these “ministerial” or expedited forms of removal, there is no courtroom, there is no administrative judge, and there are rarely any opportunities for legal counsel to participate. Moreover, there is rarely an opportunity for federal judicial review. In these settings, the rule of law is entirely within the hands of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers who serve as both prosecutor and judge. There is little record keeping and almost no avenue for administrative or judicial review. This paper will argue that the rule of law is missing in the US removal adjudication system, and will propose ways in which it can be restored.
Separated Families: Barriers to Family Reunification after Deportation
Authors: Boehm Deborah A.
Published: August 2018

This paper outlines the complexities — and unlikelihood — of keeping families together when facing, or in the aftermath of deportation. After discussing the context that limits or prevents reunification among immigrant families more generally, I outline several of the particular ways that families are divided when a member is deported. Drawing on case studies from longitudinal ethnographic research in Mexico and the United States, I describe: 1) the difficulties in successfully canceling deportation orders, 2) the particular limitations to family reunification for US citizen children when a parent is deported, and 3) the legal barriers to authorized return to the United States after deportation. I argue that without comprehensive immigration reform and concrete possibilities for relief, mixed-status and transnational families will continue to be divided. Existing laws do not adequately address family life and the diverse needs of individuals as members of families, creating a humanitarian crisis both within and beyond the borders of the United States. The paper concludes with recommendations for immigration policy reform and suggestions for restructuring administrative processes that directly impact those who have been deported and their family members.
Segmentation and the Role of Labor Standards Enforcement in Immigration Reform
Authors: Fine Janice , Lyon Gregory
Published: August 2018

Despite the fact that many low-wage, violation-ridden industries are disproportionately occupied by immigrants, labor standards and immigration reform have largely been treated as separate pieces of an otherwise interrelated puzzle. Not only is this view misguided, but this paper argues that strengthening labor standards enforcement would ensure that standards are upheld for all workers, immigrant and others. In addition, labor standards enforcement is instrumental to the erosion of sub-standard conditions in certain sectors, often referred to as the “secondary” labor market, that are associated with advanced market economies. Ensuring labor standards are upheld diminishes the incentive for employers to undercut wages by exploiting vulnerable workers, many of whom are immigrants. As this paper argues, strengthening enforcement must include not only “vertical” mechanisms, including strategic enforcement and penalizing and criminalizing egregious and repeated labor violators, but also “lateral” mechanisms, such as co-enforcement by workers and through worker and community organizations. The article illustrates the role of co-enforcement in labor standards through two case studies.
Zero Undocumented Population Growth is Here to Stay and Immigration Reform Would Preserve and Extend These Gains
Authors: Warren Robert
Published: August 2018

This report demonstrates that a broad and sustained reduction in undocumented immigration to the United States occurred in the 2008 to 2015 period. First, the report shows that, contrary to conventional wisdom, the Great Recession had little, if any, role in the transformation to zero population growth. The population stopped growing because of increased scrutiny of air travel after 9/11, a decade and a half of accelerating efforts to reduce illegal entries across the southern border, long-term increases in the numbers leaving the population each year, and improved economic and demographic conditions in Mexico. These conditions are likely to continue for the foreseeable future. It is time to recognize that the era of large-scale undocumented population growth has ended, and that there is a need to reform the US legal immigration system to preserve and extend these gains (Kerwin and Warren 2017, 319–21). Major findings of the report include:

• The recession did not reduce arrivals or accelerate departures from the undocumented population; it essentially had very little impact on population change.1

• Population growth was lower in 2008 to 2015 than in 2000 to 2008 for all major sending areas and for 13 of the top 15 countries of origin.2

• Population growth was lower in 2008 to 2015 than in 2000 to 2008 in all of the top 15 states. In 10 of the 15 top states, growth changed to decline.

• Nearly twice as many left3 the undocumented population from Mexico than arrived in the 2008 to 2015 period — 1.7 million left the population and 900,000 arrived.

• Almost twice as many overstays as persons who entered without inspection (EWIs) “arrived” (joined the undocumented population) from 2008 to 2015 — 2.0 million overstays compared to 1.1 million EWIs.

• Overstays leave the undocumented population at higher rates than EWIs: about 1.9 million, or 40 percent, of overstays that lived in the United States in 2008 had left the undocumented population by 2015, compared to 1.6 million, or 24 percent, of EWIs.

• The rate of overstays (65% of the newly undocumented), compared to EWIs, is more dramatic than the numbers indicate since estimates of the undocumented count Central American asylum seekers that cross the US southern border as EWIs.
A Statistical and Demographic Profile of the US Temporary Protected Status Populations from El Salvador, Honduras, and Haiti
Authors: Warren Robert , Kerwin Donald
Published: August 2018

Executive Summary1

This report presents detailed statistical information on the US Temporary Protected Status (TPS) populations from El Salvador, Honduras, and Haiti. TPS can be granted to noncitizens from designated nations who are unable to return to their countries because of armed conflict, environmental disaster, or other extraordinary and temporary conditions. In January 2017, an estimated 325,000 migrants from 13 TPS-designated countries resided in the United States. This statistical portrait of TPS beneficiaries from El Salvador, Honduras, and Haiti reveals hardworking populations with strong family and other ties to the United States. In addition, high percentages have lived in the United States for 20 years or more, arrived as children, and have US citizen children. The paper finds that:

• The labor force participation rate of the TPS population from the three nations ranges from 81 to 88 percent, which is well above the rate for the total US population (63 percent) and the foreign-born population (66 percent).

• The five leading industries in which TPS beneficiaries from these countries work are: construction (51,700), restaurants and other food services (32,400), landscaping services (15,800), child day care services (10,000), and grocery stores (9,200).

• TPS recipients from these countries live in 206,000 households: 61,000 of these households (about 30 percent) have mortgages.

• About 68,000, or 22 percent, of the TPS population from these nations arrived as children under the age of 16.
Kidnapped, Trafficked, Detained? The Implications of Non-state Actor Involvement in Immigration Detention
Authors: Flynn Michael
Published: August 2018

Global migration challenges are reinforcing long-standing trends that involve shifting immigration control measures beyond national borders and incorporating new actors into detention systems. Proposals to shape migration management policies — including discussions on developing a Global Compact for Migration — recognize the need to involve a range of actors to implement humane and effective strategies. However, when observed through the lens of immigration detention, some policy trends raise challenging questions, particularly those that lead to increasing roles for non-state actors in migration control. This article critically assesses a range of new actors who have become involved in the deprivation of liberty of migrants and asylum seekers, describes the various forces that appear to be driving their engagement, and makes a series of recommendations concerning the role of non-state actors and detention in global efforts to manage international migration. These recommendations include:

• ending the use the detention in international migration management schemes;

• limiting the involvement of private companies in immigration control measures;

• insisting that the International Organization for Migration (IOM) actively endorse the centrality of human rights in the Global Compact for Migration and amend its constitution so that it makes a clear commitment to international human rights standards; and

• encouraging nongovernmental organizations to carefully assess the services they provide when operating in detention situations to ensure that their work contributes to harm reduction.
Matching Systems for Refugees
Authors: Jones Will , Teytelboym Alexander
Published: August 2018

Executive Summary1

Design of matching systems between refugees and states or local areas is emerging as one of the most promising solutions to problems in refugee resettlement. We describe the basics of two-sided matching theory used in a number of allocation problems, such as school choice, where both sides need to agree to the match. We then explain how these insights can be applied to international refugee matching in the context of the European Union and examine how refugee matching might work within the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States.