PUBPOL 5041

U.S. Immigration Law and Policy

Course Description

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2024-2025.

This course addresses the major themes and controversies in United States immigration law and policy, including: Constitutional limits on legislative and executive power; the role of administrative agencies and the federal courts; the role of state versus federal decision-makers; the admission and removal (deportation) of noncitizens; protections of asylum-seekers and refugees; illegal immigration; strategies of immigration law enforcement; immigration detention; due process rights in removal proceedings; and civil rights of noncitizens.  This course will also briefly address some key issues in alienage law and policy, including the rights of noncitizens (including noncitizens without immigration status) to education, work and public benefits.

When Offered Fall.

Prerequisites/Corequisites Recommended prerequisite: courses regarding the structure of the U.S. government and policy design courses are helpful but not required.

Distribution Category (D-HE)

• Develop a strong understanding of the legal framework (Constitutional, statutory, regulatory, or relating to federal court and administrative agency case law) governing immigration policy in the U.S.
• Develop the legal reasoning tools necessary to analyze legal sources and make legal arguments – both orally and in writing – on behalf of (fictional) clients, including noncitizens and the Department of Homeland Security.
• Develop a strong understanding of how immigration law works in practice, with an emphasis on legal and empirical evaluation of the extent to which current practices comply (or fail to comply) with basic norms of due process.
• Develop a strong understanding of how immigration and alienage policy are created, given complex political and institutional factors driving statutory and administrative action at both the federal and state and local levels.
• Research, understand and analyze the most pressing and fundamental policy dilemmas and trade-offs in the field of immigration policy; learn to analyze empirical evaluations of immigration policies and use them to construct specific policy recommendations.

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