Compounded Disadvantage: Race, Criminal Record, and Access to Justice in Immigration Courts

对于移民来说，即使是与执法部门的轻微和相对常规的互动，如交通堵塞，也会大大增加拘留和驱逐出境的机会。 即使是合法的永久居民和与美国有深厚社会关系的人也是如此。 拘留和驱逐被广泛认为是毁灭性的生活事件，不仅对个人，而且对其家庭和周围社区都有持久的负面影响。 然而，由于在驱逐程序中没有政府为移民指定律师的权利，大多数移民缺乏法律的代表。 因此，处于遣返程序中的移民是我们司法系统中最脆弱、但最不受法律保护的群体之一。 该项目调查这些移民如何在我们的移民法院系统票价一旦他们进入移民裁决过程。 这样的调查对于制定政策，促进更公正和公平的司法制度，确保美国所有人都能诉诸司法至关重要。 第一，在有犯罪史的移民的遣返程序中，案件结果是否存在种族/民族差异？ 第二，司法偏见在这些案件结果中产生种族和民族差异方面的作用是什么？ 第三，有色人种移民在这些诉讼中是否不太可能有法律的代表，即使他们有代表，法律的代表对他们来说的好处是否更小？ 为了解决这些问题，该项目将收集和分析美国移民法院案件和移民法官的几个主要数据集。 这个独特的数据集将广泛扩展跨多个学科的移民裁决研究，包括法律，公共政策，社会学，政治学，犯罪学和其他相关领域。 此外，这项研究的结果将产生新的见解，即多个法律的机构之间的种族差异如何产生相互强化的影响，从而为边缘化社区带来复杂的不利影响。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来支持。

For immigrants, even minor and relatively routine interactions with law enforcement—such as a traffic stop—can dramatically increase the chances of detention and deportation. This is true even for lawful permanent residents and those with deep social ties to the United States. Detention and deportation are widely recognized as devastating life events with enduring negative consequences not only for the individuals, but also for their families and surrounding communities. Yet because there is no right to government-appointed counsel for immigrants in removal proceedings, most immigrants lack legal representation. As a result, immigrants in removal proceedings are one of the most vulnerable, yet least legally protected groups in our justice system. This project investigates how these immigrants fare in our immigration court system once they enter the immigration adjudication process. Such an investigation is critical to developing policies that promote a more fair and equitable justice system that ensures access to justice for all individuals in the United States.This project will address three key questions. First, are there racial/ethnic disparities in case outcomes in removal proceedings for immigrants with criminal history? Second, what is the role of judicial bias in generating racial and ethnic disparities in these case outcomes? Third, are immigrants of color less likely to have legal representation in these proceedings, and are the benefits of legal representation smaller for them even when they are represented? To address these questions, this project will collect and analyze several major datasets on immigration court cases and immigration judges in the United States. This unique dataset will widely expand the study of immigration adjudication across multiple disciplines including law, public policy, sociology, political science, criminology, and other related fields. In addition, findings from this research will generate new insights about how racial disparities across multiple legal institutions can have mutually reinforcing effects that generate compounded disadvantage for marginalized communities.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.