The percentage of blacks marrying whites has risen by 3 times since 1980. Asians are just as likely to marry whites as they were in 1980 (40%), even though there is a much larger Asian population to choose from, and Hispanics are significantly more likely to marry whites than in 1980 (38% compared to 30%), […]
Archive | Immigration
The Bybee Immigration Memo
Yesterday’s Washington Post reported that the Obama Administration’s potential legal challenge to Arizona’s new immigration law is complicated by a 2002 Justice Department memo that suggests states have the authority to enforce federal immigration law. The document, written in 2002 by the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, concluded that state police officers have “inherent […]
Bloggers disagree on politics of offshore drilling, and immigration
The latest National Journal poll of political bloggers asked: “With the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, does it make political sense for President Obama to stick to his plans to allow increased oil and gas development along the coasts?” Only 6% of the Left, but 75% of the Right thought that it did still make […]
Why the Arizona Law is Much Worse than the Federal Law It is Supposedly Based On
Rich Lowry, Jonah Goldberg, and other defenders of the recent Arizona immigration law often justify it by arguing that it does nothing more than use state law enforcement agencies to enforce a federal law. As Goldberg puts it, “[l]egal immigrants have been required under federal law to carry their papers for generations.” Unfortunately, the state […]
Affirmative Action and Racial Profiling Revisited
By Ilya Somin on May 8, 2010 12:39 am in Affirmative Action, Conservatism, Immigration, Racial Profiling
Back in 2006, I pointed out that most liberals and conservatives take internally contradictory stances on affirmative action and racial profiling: I have long been fascinated by the fact that most conservatives support racial and ethnic profiling for national security and law enforcement purposes, yet are categorically opposed to the use of racial or ethnic […]
Peter Spiro on Lieberman’s Citizenship-Stripping Legislation
I am not an expert on the law of citizenship in the United States, but my Opinio Juris co-blogger Peter Spiro is. Over at OJ he has a short doctrinal analysis of the case law that would likely be relevant to Joe Lieberman’s citizenship-stripping proposal. It seems to me analytically sound, although I do not […]
Immigration: Costs and Benefits, in Liberty and Otherwise
This is an obvious point, but I think it’s worth mentioning. Immigration has many possible benefits (economic, social, national security, domestic security, and liberty benefits) and many possible costs (economic, social, national security, domestic security, liberty, and congestion costs). These benefits and costs vary by type of immigrant — well-educated vs. uneducated, rich vs. poor, […]
What Will Kagan Say about AZ Immigration Law
While controversy rages over Arizona’s recently passed illegal immigration law, the Supreme Court is considering whether to hear a legal challenge to an earlier Arizona immigration measure signed into law by then-Governor Janet Napolitano, and wants to hear the Solicitor General’s views. As the LA Times reports: In November, the justices asked Kagan to file […]
Matt Welch on the Immigration Law
Matt Welch at Reason writes: I have sympathy for people who are freaked out by desperate immigrants and ruthless smugglers trampling over their property in southern Arizona, and as I’ve said elsewhere, us pro-immigrant types too easily skate over rule-of-law objections. Federal immigration policy is a failure, and poses real public policy challenges that no […]
Arizona Revises Immigration Law
Well that was quick. In response to criticism, Arizona has made a few changes to its controversial illegal immigration law. The LA Times reports: The initial law, signed by Gov. Jan Brewer last week, required police to determine a person’s immigration status if officers formed a reasonable suspicion about their legality during any “lawful contact.” […]
Libertarian Critiques of AZ Immigration Law
Here are a few libertarian critiques of the Arizona immigration law. Shikha Dalmia argues that Europe’s stringent immigration laws are no model for the U.S. these countries are doing a far more effective job of controlling their citizens than their borders–exactly what will happen in the United States if the Arizona law is replicated or […]
Feds May Sue Arizona Over Immigration
Today’s Washington Post reports that the Justice Department is considering whether to challenge Arizona’s new immigration law. A key legal ground being considered, officials said, is the doctrine of “preemption” — arguing that the state’s law illegally intrudes on immigration enforcement, which is a federal responsibility. The White House probably will make the final call, […]
Kobach on Arizona’s Immigration Law
UMKC law professor Kris Kobach, who helped author Arizona’s controversial immigration law, defends the law in today’s NYT. According to Professor Kobach, the law “prohibits the harboring of illegal aliens and makes it a state crime for an alien to commit certain federal immigration crimes. It also requires police officers who, in the course of […]
Is the Arizona Immigration Law Preempted?
There’s no shortage of opinions on the legality of Arizona’s strict new immigration law. Over on the NYT‘s “Room for Debate” blog, Steven Camarota of the Center for Immigration Studies argues the law “is designed to mirror federal immigration law” and thereby avoids any preemption problem. The ACLU’s Vivek Malhotra, on the other hand, argues […]