Document Type

Article

Publication Date

7-2004

Journal Title

Immigration and Nationality Law Review

ISSN

0149-9807

Abstract

After 9/11, Attorney General John Ashcroft announced that state and local authorities have "inherent authority" as sovereigns to enforce federal immigration laws. This announcement, a reversal from previous legal positions taken by DOJ, sent shockwaves through the immigrant and law enforcement communities. Previously, immigration law had been treated, both by law and in practice, as the exclusive province of the federal government.

This article considers the constitutional barriers to local enforcement. Although the fascinating interplay among immigration law, national security and anti-terrorism, and federalism has been highlighted in some of the debate up to now, the federalism-related issues go beyond mere preemption and require a fundamental examination of the proper scope of the federal immigration power. Specifically, this article argues that there is a constitutional mandate for uniform immigration laws, and DOJ's position will lead to uneven enforcement of immigration laws in violation of that mandate. As proposed by DOJ, local authorities decide for themselves whether to enforce immigration laws, and then, if they agree, they will be bound by different state laws affecting their arrest powers. This proposal will result in an unconstitutional "thousand borders," as the same immigration violation will be enforced in one jurisdiction but not in another, perhaps neighboring, jurisdiction.

First Page

45

Last Page

83

Volume Number

25

Publisher

William S. Hein & Co., Inc.

Included in

Law Commons

Share

COinS
 
 

To view the content in your browser, please download Adobe Reader or, alternately,
you may Download the file to your hard drive.

NOTE: The latest versions of Adobe Reader do not support viewing PDF files within Firefox on Mac OS and if you are using a modern (Intel) Mac, there is no official plugin for viewing PDF files within the browser window.