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In Defense of the Alien, Volume XIX, Proceedings of the 1995 Annual National Legal Conference on Immigration and Refugee Policy

Author: Tomasi, Lydio F., ed.
Date Published: 1997


The Center for Migration Studies organizes an annual national legal conference on immigration and refugee policy, the proceedings of which are published in a volume series entitled IN DEFENSE OF THE ALIEN. This text is the 19th in that series. The first part of the Conference proceedings focuses on major legislative initiatives on immigration that were then pending in both Houses of Congress, including bills sponsored by Representative Lamar Smith (H.R. 2162) and Senator Alan Simpson (s. 1394). They provide an insider's view of content, likely scenarios on reconciling differences, and timing of action on the legislation. The second part of the proceedings reviews major proposals to change the scope, participation, and costs of social programs. In many of the proposals regarding welfare reform, medical care, government grants for education and research and legal services, the thrust is to limit participation by legal residents, including those with immigrant status, migrant farmworkers, and undocumented immigrants. There has been tremendous interest on the part of states concerning immigration, particularly concerning state-federal relations and the question of unfunded mandates and decisions, at the federal level, with local impacts. Part III inventories the major shifts that have taken place and that are being proposed for state/local government initiative and decision, as well as the implications for immigrants and for local populations generally. The first section of Part IV focuses on the issue of refugee settlement in the United States in the post-cold war era. Legislative proposals would reduce the authorized resettlement numbers. Part IV also includes an assessment of the effect of reduced resettlement on U.S. support for international refugee activities, including burden sharing and maintaining first asylum practices. The second section of Part IV reviews these changes and proposed changes noting similarities with analogous initiatives in industrial countries generally and taking stock of important issues like due process and the maintenance of asylum as an integral aspect of global stability.

Price: loan
Number of Pages: 216