The Procedural Fortress of US Immigration Law

3 Birkbeck Law Review Volume 177, 2015

Widener Law Commonwealth Research Paper No. 15-30

24 Pages Posted: 18 Feb 2016

See all articles by Jill E. Family

Jill E. Family

Widener University - Commonwealth Law School

Date Written: December 2015

Abstract

Immigrants face many obstacles. This paper reveals a less obvious one: the procedural system designed to adjudicate immigration removal cases. In the United States, the procedural system itself has become a barrier for immigrants. A structure intended to provide procedural safeguards for immigrants has instead become an obstruction. Instead of facilitating fair and efficient process, the system is dysfunctional. It is collapsing under its own weight and is unable to adjudicate consistently in a fair and competent manner. This failed procedural system is a barrier to immigration that needs to be fixed. The failure to fix it, despite longstanding and well-known shortcomings, reveals that procedural fairness is not a policy priority in the United States.

Keywords: Immigration Law, Administrative Law, Comparative Law, Adjudication, Due Process, Courts

JEL Classification: K00, K19, K39, K49

Suggested Citation

Family, Jill E., The Procedural Fortress of US Immigration Law (December 2015). 3 Birkbeck Law Review Volume 177, 2015, Widener Law Commonwealth Research Paper No. 15-30, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2733244

Jill E. Family (Contact Author)

Widener University - Commonwealth Law School ( email )

3800 Vartan Way
Harrisburg, PA 17110-9380
United States
717-541-3911 (Phone)

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
86
Abstract Views
977
Rank
527,705
PlumX Metrics