The Moral Underpinnings of Immigration Law

On October 25, 2019, the Gray Center hosted “The Administration of Immigration.” For this conference, the Gray Center invited scholars to write papers exploring ways to improve our nation’s immigration system, and discuss them alongside other experts in panel sessions addressing such topics as whether immigration law is special, the costs and benefits of immigration, judicial review of the immigration system, and the moral underpinnings of immigration law. The event also featured keynote remarks from James McHenry, Director of the Executive Office of Immigration Review at the United States Department of Justice.

The first panel looked at moral underpinnings of immigration law. It featured a discussion about three new working papers, one by Craig S. Lerner on “Crimes Involving Moral Turpitude”: The Puzzling and Persistent (and Constitutional) Immigration Law Doctrine,” one by William W. Chip on “E-Verify: Mining Government Databases to Deter Employment of Unauthorized Aliens,” and a paper by Cassandra Burke Robertson on “Litigating Citizenship” (co-authored by Irina Manta). The panel was moderated by the Gray Center’s then-Deputy Director, Andrew Kloster. The papers and video are available at https://administrativestate.gmu.edu/events/the-administration-of-immigration/.

Featuring William W. Chip, Andrew Kloster, Craig S. Lerner, and Cassandra Burke Robertson.