This program explores administrative adjudication in the context of immigration law. In recent years, immigration cases have represented over 85% of the federal cases seeking judicial review of agency adjudication. The speakers will discuss a variety of forms of immigration adjudication: Professor Family will examine the increasing number of agency adjudications that Congress has authorized to take place outside of the immigration courts, e.g., expedited removal and administrative removal. Many of these adjudications are also largely immune from judicial review. Building on her empirical investigations, Professor Ramji-Nogales will discuss arbitrariness in administrative adjudication in the U.S. asylum system, examining asylum determinations by the Department of Homeland Security's asylum offices and the Department of Justice's immigration courts. She will examine possible factors that influence asylum adjudication and will provide suggestions for increasing transparency and professionalism in these administrative decision-making bodies. Mathilde Cohen will discuss the role of “giving reasons” in adjudication and its relation to democratic society. Articulating the basis of decisions is critical in many areas of administrative law but is particularly important in immigration decisions because it is a class of people, usually inadequately represented and because the immigration issues are increasingly at the center of debates on the limits of social democracy. She will build upon her empirical assessment of reason giving in French deportation cases and her dissertation on the theoretical underpinnings of reason giving in adjudication. Finally, Judge McGoings will address the realities of managing immigration adjudication for the Executive Office for Immigration Review which currently handles more than 300,000 removal hearings annually. Professor Benson will moderate the discussion that follows the formal presentations.
Business Meeting at Program Conclusion.