The National Security Implications of Immigration Law

Author Arthur Rizer is a trial attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice, and adjunct professor of law at Georgetown University Law Center. Rizer developed a casebook for his Georgetown class on the intersection of immigration law and national security issues, and expanded the casebook into this new handbook from the American Bar Association.

Immigration law is unique in its national security applications because, while it may be used as a mechanism for keeping the enemy out, it is also the apparatus for entry into the United States. Viewing "national security" in its broadest meaning, there is a clear security interest in maintaining the integrity of the borders while simultaneously preserving our role as a nation that offers refuge.

The National Security Implications of Immigration Law examines this topic first by conducting a historical overview of using immigration law for national security purposes, and then exploring the laws and cases themselves:

National Security Tools Imbedded in Immigration Law: the exclusion and deportation grounds under the Immigration and Nationality Act for national security threats including espionage and terrorist activity; the summary removal provision as a governmental tool against aliens who are perceived as threatening national security; The Alien Terrorist Removal Court; and the International Convention Against Torture and how it affects national security policy in the United States by its immigration implications.
Material Support Statute and Denaturalization: the immigration consequences of providing material support to a terrorist organization; waivers to the material support bar in the Immigration and Nationality Act; and denaturalization of U.S. citizens.
Protecting Classified Information with Immigration Law: the provisions and techniques that allow the government to aggressively protect the national security interests of the United States with little exposure of classified information.
The Front Line of Immigration: Detention: the government's ability to detain terrorist suspects for deportation purposes, particularly the case of Zadvydas v. Davis.
Using Criminal Immigration as a National Security Tool: how the 8 U.S.C. §§ 1324, 1325, and 1326 prosecutions are utilized both as a means to protect our physical borders from illegal immigration and to combat national security threats.
Liberty Concerns with Using Immigration Law as a Security Tool: the rule of law and its role in immigration and national security policy.