Courses | Columbia Law School

This course surveys immigration and citizenship law in the United States. We will examine the entry, presence, expulsion, and naturalization of noncitizens, and the content and significance of U.S. citizenship and nationality, from a variety of perspectives: historical and contemporary; procedural and substantive; constitutional, statutory, and regulatory. Specific topics will include Congress' plenary power over immigration; the interaction between immigration and federalism; the constitutional rights of noncitizens; the criteria for the admission of noncitizens on a temporary or permanent basis; the grounds for exclusion and deportation; the rules governing adjustment of status; and the law governing refugees and asylum. The core issues at stake in this course -- the boundaries of political membership and the systems for managing migrant populations -- play a significant role in many areas of the law and present fundamental challenges to the United States in the twenty-first century.