LAW-6425 REFUGEE & ASYLUM LAW- FORCED MIGRATION
Refugee law focuses on some of the most vulnerable members of society, those forced to flee persecution across international borders. The use of "refugee" here in its broadest sense, covers all forms of fear based relief in the United States: refugee, asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture. We will begin with the historical context and development of refugee law internationally and in the United States, including the United Nations 1951 Refugee Convention, the 1967 Protocol, and the U.S. Refugee Act of 1980. We will then explore in detail the definition of a refugee, as interpreted in U.S. law, and the law and process for obtaining asylum and other forms of fear-based relief in the United States. You should expect to become familiar with key actors in the asylum and refugee law arena, including the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), the U.S. Congress, the Departments of Homeland Security (DHS) and Justice (DOJ), and the federal courts. Finally, a substantial portion of the course will focus on current challenges for asylum law and asylum seekers in the United States as they develop in real time. You should expect to grapple in this course with practically, morally and politically complicated issues to which the United States and the world have yet to find perfect solutions.