About Immigration Law Symposium

Our labor markets rely heavily on unauthorized workers, yet the law affords these workers only modest workplace protections. Restrictionists condemn sanctuary cities while praising Arizona's S.B. 1070. Immigrants' rights advocates argue that localities should be allowed to opt out of Secure Communities while battling local anti-immigrant ordinances on preemption grounds. Immigration enforcement efforts are promoted as necessary to restore the rule of law, yet ongoing enforcement efforts sometimes unfold with apparent disregard for due process rights guaranteed by the Constitution. What are the sources of these impossible choices and contradictory impulses? Can the law be used to alleviate these tensions, or must we look beyond laws boundaries? Is political compromise the only answer, or will one agenda emerge to the exclusion of others? Is change destined to be incremental or are there opportunities for sweeping overhaul? These are just some of the questions this symposium hoped to answer.