Borders, Punishment, and Control

Immigration and criminal law have become increasingly intertwined in recent decades, forming a system of punishment and control often referred to as “crimmigration law,” “crim-imm,” “border criminology,” or “carceral borders.” As immigration arrests, detentions, prosecutions, and deportations have increased at staggering rates, this convergence that criminalizes immigrants and mobility has emerged as one of the most significant developments in modern law and policy.This seminar studies the history and rise of crimmigration, and its many manifestations, including prosecution of crimes of mobility, immigration consequences of criminal convictions, loss of citizenship, the rise of immigration prisons, and the policing of immigration status. Students will also consider the racial, social, and policy implications of the rise of carceral borders, explore how attorneys practice in the crim-imm field, and evaluate possibilities for resistance and policy reformulation. This seminar will give priority to exploring scholarship in the emerging field of border criminology and support students to develop their own original writing on the subject.