The Politics of a New Legal Regime

Governing International Crime through Domestic Immigration Law

Bibliographic Data

ID6090355
AuthorsJamie Rowen (University of Massachusetts Amherst), Rebecca Hamlin (0000-0002-7241-5024, Grinnell College)
Year2018
Volume40
Issue3
Pages243-266
Publication date2018-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueLaw & Policy (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0265-8240 • E-ISSN: 1467-9930
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/lapo.12104
OpenAlexW2884201282
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited22

Through an analysis of a unique and understudied unit within the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Unit (HRVWCU, or “the Unit”), this article addresses the following theoretical and policy question: once someone has been admitted to the United States and granted permanent residency, or even citizenship, how does the law facilitate the reversal of that decision based on acts committed long ago and far away? We argue that the HRVWCU has created a significant new way to govern immigration through crime—specifically international crime—while simultaneously trying to ensure justice for mass atrocities through immigration law. In offering an overview of the Unit's origins and approach in blending international criminal law, domestic criminal law, and immigration law, we show how this Unit reflects an expansion of crimmigration in the United States and abroad. In order to illustrate the dilemma of internationalized crimmigration, the article focuses on the Unit's cases related to war crimes in Liberia and Bosnia, which have two very different (at least from the perspective of international criminal law) types of alleged perpetrators: those who allegedly gave orders and those who allegedly followed orders

Citizenship · Criminal justice · Criminal law · Criminology · Immigration · Immigration law · International law · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Global Peace and Security Dynamics · International Law and Human Rights · Law · Torture, Ethics, and Law

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