Historically and today, immigration and citizenship laws serve as two sides of the same coin in shaping the United States’ demographic and cultural landscape. On one hand, these laws create pathways for inclusion, allowing non-citizens to enter and become permanent members of the country. On the other hand, they also establish mechanisms of exclusion, setting barriers that prevent certain non-citizens from entering the United States and removing those considered ineligible or undeserving of membership.
The arrival of a new President in 2025 presents an opportune moment to examine and reconsider the dual roles of immigration and citizenship laws and reimagine a different framework for immigration law. Regardless of the outcome of the 2024 Presidential election, immigration and citizenship law will remain a significant topic of interest to community members, lawyers, policymakers, and advocates. This symposium will be an opportunity to critically engage with these topics and explore innovative legal frameworks for the future of immigration and citizenship laws.
In collaboration with the Rutgers Center for Immigrant Justice, the Rutgers Law Review is pleased to announce a call for papers for our upcoming spring symposium titled “The Dual Role of Immigration and Citizenship Laws: Exploring Inclusion, Exclusion, and Reform for 2025 and Beyond.” The symposium is scheduled to begin on Thursday evening, April 3, 2025, and continue through Friday, April 4, 2025.
The symposium will also honor the contributions of Professors Linda Bosniak (Rutgers Law – Camden) and Alan Hyde (Rutgers Law – Newark), both distinguished scholars in the fields of immigration, citizenship, and labor, who recently retired from teaching at Rutgers Law School. The keynote speaker for the symposium will be Dean Kevin Johnson, former dean of the University of California Davis School of Law and a leading and impactful scholar in immigration law.
We invite papers that analyze, propose, and critically examine innovative immigration and citizenship policies, and that offer frameworks for envisioning the future of these laws. The symposium aims to create space for legal scholars, policymakers, lawyers, and advocates to discuss key questions, including: What should immigration and citizenship laws look like in 2025 and beyond? What values, interests, and needs should be prioritized? Should these laws continue to serve as mechanisms of both inclusion and exclusion? What might an inclusive immigration and citizenship framework look like? We encourage contributions from lawyers, legal scholars, policymakers, and advocates across the political spectrum.
We are particularly interested in the following topics (although we will also consider proposed papers and presentations that relate to the general topic):
- Use of Artificial Intelligence in Immigration Regulation: Exploring the advantages and drawbacks of the growing use of technology in immigration law, including in asylum applications, integration of immigrants, and immigration enforcement.
- Pathways to Citizenship: Examining the legal frameworks that offer or limit pathways to citizenship for legal permanent residents and undocumented individuals.
- Immigrant Workers: Addressing how to maintain the availability of immigrant laborers necessary for economic advancement, the provision of fair working conditions, and the protection of U.S. citizen workers.
- Immigration Sanctuary: Deciding whether and to what extent state and local governments, faith-based organizations, and private actors should have a role in regulating immigration law without conflicting with the federal government’s primary control over immigration regulation.