In this Book

  • Beyond Deportation: The Role of Prosecutorial Discretion in Immigration Cases
  • Book
  • Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia
  • 2015
  • Published by: NYU Press
summary

The first book to comprehensively
describe the history, theory, and application of prosecutorial discretion in
immigration law

When Beatles star John Lennon faced deportation from the U.S. in the 1970s, his lawyer Leon Wildes made a groundbreaking argument. He argued that Lennon should be granted “nonpriority” status pursuant to INS’s (now DHS’s) policy of prosecutorial discretion. In U.S. immigration law, the agency exercises prosecutorial discretion favorably when it refrains from enforcing the full scope of immigration law. A prosecutorial discretion grant is important to an agency seeking to focus its priorities on the “truly dangerous” in order to conserve resources and to bring compassion into immigration enforcement. The Lennon case marked the first moment that the immigration agency’s prosecutorial discretion policy became public knowledge. Today, the concept of prosecutorial discretion is more widely known in light of the Obama Administration’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals or DACA program, a record number of deportations and a stalemate in Congress to move immigration reform.

Beyond Deportation is the first book to comprehensively describe the history, theory, and application of prosecutorial discretion in immigration law. It provides a rich history of the role of prosecutorial discretion in the immigration system and unveils the powerful role it plays in protecting individuals from deportation and saving the government resources. Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia draws on her years of experience as an immigration attorney, policy leader, and law professor to advocate for a bolder standard on prosecutorial discretion, greater mechanisms for accountability when such standards are ignored, improved transparency about the cases involving prosecutorial discretion, and recognition of “deferred action” in the law as a formal benefit.

Table of Contents

restricted access Download Full Book
  1. Cover
  2. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Title page, Copyright, Dedication
  2. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Contents
  2. p. vii
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Foreword
  2. pp. ix-xii
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Acknowledgments
  2. pp. xiii-xv
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Introduction
  2. pp. 1-6
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. 1. Primer: Understanding How Prosecutorial Discretion Functions in the Immigration System
  2. pp. 7-13
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. 2. The Early Years: The Deportation Case of John Lennon and Evolution of Immigration Prosecutorial Discretion
  2. pp. 14-32
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. 3. Lessons from Criminal Law: How Immigration Prosecutorial Discretion Compares to the Criminal System
  2. pp. 33-53
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. 4. Deferred Action: Examining the Jewel (or a Precious Form) of Prosecutorial Discretion
  2. pp. 54-87
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. 5. Presidential Portrait: Prosecutorial Discretion during the Obama Administration
  2. pp. 88-108
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. 6. Going to Court: The Role of the Judiciary in Prosecutorial Discretion Decisions
  2. pp. 109-133
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. 7. Open Government: Transparency in Prosecutorial Discretion and Why It Matters
  2. pp. 134-145
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. 8. Reform: Improving Prosecutorial Discretion in the Immigration System
  2. pp. 146-156
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Abbreviations
  2. pp. 157-160
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Authorities
  2. pp. 161-168
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Notes
  2. pp. 169-222
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Index
  2. pp. 223-232
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. About the Author
  2. p. 233
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
Back To Top

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. Without cookies your experience may not be seamless.