Immigration Law – Page 9 – Marquette University Law School Faculty Blog

Prosecutorial Discretion from the Department of Homeland Security?

Post author:Peter O'Meara
Post published:December 1, 2011
Post category:Immigration Law Public

Prosecutorial Discretion from the Department of Homeland Security? I’ll believe it when I see it.

I spend a good amount of time reading through articles on the latest immigration buzz. Since this summer, a lot of it has been centered on prosecutorial discretion in civil immigration enforcement.

On June 17 of this year, Director John Morton of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued a memo meant to set guidelines on exercising prosecutorial discretion. The June 17 memo, often referred to as “the Morton Memo”, builds on an earlier memo setting enforcement priorities. The Morton Memo acknowledges that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has limited enforcement capacity, and that it should focus its resources on aliens that represent the largest threat toU.S. interests.

Tackling the Unauthorized Practice of Law in Wisconsin Today

Post author:Peter O'Meara
Post published:November 17, 2011
Post category:Immigration Law Legal Ethics Legal Practice Pro Bono Public Wisconsin Law & Legal System

Professor Michael McChrystal once pointed out that in the State of Wisconsin, the penalty for working as a beautician without a license is not much different from the penalty for practicing law without a license.

Quill Winners Explore Visa Adjudications and Limits of Public Trust Doctrine

Post author:Michael M. O'Hear
Post published:May 10, 2011
Post category:Environmental Law Immigration Law Wisconsin Law & Legal System

Congratulations to 3Ls Cain Oulahan and Gabe Johnson-Karp, the winners of this year’s Gold and Silver Quill Awards, respectively. The Quill Awards recognize the top two student comments published in the Marquette Law Review.

Cain’s comment is “The American Dream Deferred: Family Separation and Immigrant Visa Adjudications at U.S. Consulates Abroad.” He explores the tension between the general preference in American law in favor of keeping families together and some specific requirements of immigration law that can break families apart for many years while a parent or spouse seeks to obtain a visa from an American consulate abroad. As Cain puts its,

This problem arose with the creation by Congress in 1996 of what are known as the unlawful presence bars to admission. After more than ten years since the passage of the unlawful presence bars, it is now appropriate to look closely at their impact and examine whether they constitute sound public policy. This Comment argues that they do not. This Comment explains how the system puts families through unnecessary and unjustifiable hardship by imposing a punishment that is disproportionate to the seriousness of the immigration violation. This Comment points to the lack of evidence that the unlawful presence bars significantly deter illegal immigration, and the fact that they tear families apart or force them to move abroad. For these reasons, this Comment recommends that Congress make sensible changes that will promote family unity while imposing penalties that are more proportionate to the seriousness of the immigration violation.