President Obama’s recent executive actions establishing a process for certain immigrant populations to apply for deferred action, and the legal challenges to those actions, has renewed interest in the intersection of immigration law and administrative law. This panel seeks both to situate immigration law within the larger administrative law landscape and, at the same time, to determine the extent to which meaningful immigration law reform might exist without legislation. To the first purpose, we ask whether immigration law has an exceptional position within administrative law. With its continued reliance on guidance documents and its unique structure for administrative adjudications, does immigration law operate differently from other fields? What, if anything, does immigration law teach us about administrative law? With its regulation of human admissions and deportations, should immigration law be different? To the second purpose, we assess the possibilities for meaningful immigration law reform without Congress. Will future immigration reform be limited to executive actions (or the revocation of those actions)? If so, how will this affect the public’s understanding of immigration law’s legitimacy and the role that courts will play?
Business meeting at program conclusion.