Publication Date

2015

Document Type

Paper

Keywords

Immigration law, Government, Criminal statutes, Colorado’s human smuggling statute

Abstract

Despite the federal government’s well known expansive reach in creating and enforcing immigration law, the states retain substantial authority to play an important role in migrants’ lives. Through their traditional powers to adopt criminal statutes and police their communities, states can indirectly — but intentionally — inject themselves into the incidents of ordinary life as a migrant. Colorado’s human smuggling statute, currently being challenged before the state supreme court, illustrates this type of state regulation of migration. This essay addresses the statute’s reach, its shaky constitutional footing, and places it in a broader context in which states criminalize immigration-related activity.

Publication Statement

Copyright held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.

Rights Holder

César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández

Provenance

Received from author

File Format

application/pdf

Language

English (eng)

Extent

8

File Size

113 KB

First Page

41

Last Page

48

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