ADVANCED CIVIL RIGHTS: THE RIGHTS OF NONCITIZENS
Washington College of Law, American University
Spring 2013 / LAW-795IC-001
Tuesdays 4:00-5:50PM; Room TBD (2 credits)
Prof. Anita Sinha
347A / 247.4455
asinha@wcl.american.edu
Office hours: TBD
COURSE DESCRIPTION
It has always been easier, it always
will be easier, to think of someone as
a noncitizen than to
decide that [s/]he is a nonperson.
- Alexander Bickel, “Citizenship in the American Constitution”
This advanced seminar examines the extent to which the reach of U.S. civil rights laws and
remedies are impacted by citizenship status. The course will start with framework classes
introducing the historic, current, and legislative context of noncitizen rights. It will then turn to
explore case law and policies related to noncitizens in the context of: workers’ rights; access to
housing, public benefits, and education; voting rights; sexual orientation; racial profiling, state
and local immigration laws; and the criminal justice system. The seminar will conclude with case
studies immigrants’ rights organizing campaigns, and student presentations on the research papers
students have developed throughout the course.
CLASS ATTENDANCE & FORMAT
Class attendance and participation are required, and all students are expected to be prepared for
each class. This course will work best if our examination of the materials we will study includes a
considerable amount of lively and thoughtful class discussion, in which a broad cross-section of
the class takes part. From time to time, and if need be, I will call on people to answer questions
about the assigned materials. As long as you are present and prepared, you will receive full points
for class participation. It is the quality, not the quantity, of your contributions to class that I value.
I also value variety in the way the material is presented and discussed, and so part of your
participation in class will be presentations based on the assigned materials.
Op-Eds & Short Writing Assignments
Each student will draft a 600-word piece, written in the style of an op-ed, focusing on the subject
matter of the class for which s/he is a “lead” (or “co-lead”) commentator. You are expected to
share your op-ed on Monday by noon the day before your assigned class, and will present in
the beginning of class to lead off and frame the class.
Periodically, for all students I will assign short writing assignments that will relate to pertinent
current events and will call upon various writing forms (blog, essay, etc.). Some of these
assignments appear below; others may be added during the course of the semester.
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Research Paper
Original research papers 15-20 pages in length will be due by the end of reading period. Papers
are expected to be analytical in nature.
 Topic selection is due in writing Week 5 (Feb. 12). Each student will select his or her
topic in consultation with the professor.
 Substantive outline of paper is due Week 9 (Mar. 19).
 Well-advanced draft of paper is due Apr. 12.
Final paper is due to me or to the Registrar’s Office on the last day of reading period: Apr. 29.
You will be evaluated as follows:
Class Participation
Written Assignments
Class Presentation
Final Paper
30%
10%
10%
50%
SYLLABUS
Note that assignments may be adjusted over the course of the semester, especially assignments
related to current events concerning immigration reform proposals and other developments
related to the rights of noncitizens.
PART I: FRAMEWORK
Week 1:
Jan. 15 - Immigration, U.S. Civil Rights, & Constitutional Laws

Hiroshi Motomura, AMERICANS IN WAITING: THE LOST STORY OF
IMMIGRATION AND CITIZENSHIP IN THE UNITED STATES (2007),
Introduction pp. 3-14.

Gerald Neuman, Wong Wing v. United States: The Bill of Rights Protects Illegal
Aliens, from David Martin & Peter Schuck, IMMIGRATION STORIES (2005),
Chapter 2.

Burt Neuborne, Harisiades v. Shaughnessy: A Case Study in the Vulnerability of
Resident Aliens, from David Martin & Peter Schuck, IMMIGRATION STORIES
(2005), Chapter 4.

Jennifer Chacon, Civil Rights, Immigrant Rights, Human Rights: Lessons From the
Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., 32 N.Y.U. Rev. Law & Social Change 465-469;
480-484 (2008).
Week 2:

Jan. 22 - Legislative Fixes: Immigration Reform
Hiroshi Motomura, What Is “Comprehensive Immigration Reform?” Taking the
Long View, 63 Ark. L. Rev. 225, 225-232 (2010).
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
Ayelet Shachar, Earned Citizenship: Property Lessons for Immigration Reform, 23
Yale J.L. & Human. 110, 110-116; 132-157 (2011).

Daniel Correa, Reciprocity Interest in Political Affiliation: Reciprocity Redefining the
Political Community to Attain Just Principles in Immigration Reform, 14 Harv.
Latino L. Rev. 67 (2011).

Additional readings TBD
PART II: ISSUES
Jan. 29 - Workers’ Rights I: Labor and Employment Laws
Week 3:

David Bacon, It’s the Only Job I Know How to Do, New America Media (Dec. 31,
2012).

Hoffman Plastic Compounds, Inc. v. NLRB, 535 U.S. 137 (2002) (majority & dissent
opinions).

Catherine L. Fisk & Michael J. Wishnie, Hoffman Plastic Compounds, Inc. v.
NLRB: The Rules of the Workplace for Undocumented Workers, from David Martin
& Peter Schuck, IMMIGRATION STORIES (2005), Chapter 12 (pp. 312-318).

Galdames v. N & D Inv. Corp., 432 Fed. Appx. 801, 801-804 (11th Cir. 2011).

Rueben Garcia, Ten Years After Hoffman Plastic Compounds, Inc. v. NLRB: The
Power of A Labor Law Symbol, 21 Cornell J. of Law & Pub. Pol’y 659, 659-665
(2012).
Feb. 5 - Workers’ Rights II: Anti-Discrimination Laws
Week 4:

Rivera v. NIBCO, Inc., 364 F.3d 1057 (9th Cir. 2004).

Espinoza v. Farah Mfg. Co., 414 U.S. 86 (1973).

Cortezano v. Salin Bank & Trust Co., 680 F.2d 936, 939-942 (7th Cir. 2012).

Fragante v. City & County of Honolulu, 888 F.2d 591 (9th Cir. 1989).

Reyes-Gaona v. North Carolina Growers' Ass’n, et al., 250 F.3d 861 (4th Cir. 2001).
Assignment:
Watch the President’s State of the Union Address and write a 1-2 page opinion
essay (think: Huffington Post) on the President’s statements regarding
immigrants and immigration reform. Feel free to reference articles commenting
on the President’s statements, and/or any proposals discussed and/or introduced
subsequent to the Address. Due Monday, Feb. 4 by noon.
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Week 5:
Feb. 12 - Immigrants’ Access to Education

Plyler v. Doe, 457 U.S. 202 (1982).

U.S. v. Alabama, 2011 WL *54-58 (N.D. Ala. Sept. 28, 2011).

Udi Offer, Protecting Plyler: New Challenges to the Right of Immigrant Children to
Access a Public School Education, 1 Colum. J. Race & L. 187, 195-226 (2012).

The Nat’l School Boards Ass’n. & The Nat’l Educ. Ass’n., Legal Issues For School
Districts Related to the Education of Undocumented Children (2009).
Week 6:
Feb. 19 - Immigrants’ Access to Housing & Public Benefits

Villas at Parkside Partners v. City of Farmers Branch, Texas, 675 F.3d 802 (5th Cir.
2012).

Rigel C. Oliveri, Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Landlords, Latinos, Anti-Illegal
Immigrant Ordinances, and Housing Discrimination, 62 Vand. L. Rev. 1 (2008).

Mathews v. Diaz, 426 U.S. 67 (1976).

Additional readings TBD
Week 7:
Feb. 26 - Enforcement & the 4th Amendment: Racial Profiling

Ortega Melendres v. Arpaio, 598 F. Supp. 2d 1025 (D. Ariz. 2009).

Trevor Gardner II & Aarti Kohli, The C.A.P. Effect: Racial Profiling in the ICE
Criminal Alien Program.

Kevin R. Johnson, The Case Against Race Profiling in Immigration Enforcement, 78
Wash. U. L.Q. 675, 688-707 (2000).
Week 8:
Mar. 5 - Immigrants & Voting Rights

Jamin B. Raskin, Legal Aliens, Local Citizens: The Historical, Constitutional &
Theoretical Meaning of Alien Suffrage, 141 U. P. L. Rev. 1391 (1993).

Enbar Toledano, Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act & its Place in “Post-Racial”
America, 61 Emory L.J. 389 (2011-2012).

Terry M. Ao, When the Voting Rights Act Became Un-American: The Misguided
Vilification of Section 203, 58 Ala. L. Rev. 377 (2006).
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Assignment: Comment on the Supreme Court arguments in Shelby County v. Holder (Section 5 of
the NVRA) in a 1-2 page blog. Due Monday, Mar. 4 by noon.
************* Mar. 12: SPRING BREAK **************
Week 9:

Mar. 19 - Noncitizens & the Criminal Justice System
In-class film: abUSed: The Postville Raid
Assignment: Outline of your research paper due in class.
Week 10:
Mar. 26 - Civil Rights Issues at the State & Local Level

Arizona et al. v. U.S., 567 U.S. ___ (2012).

Gabriel J. Chin & Marc L. Miller, The Unconstitutionality of State Regulation of
Immigration Through Criminal Law, 61 Duke L.J. 251 (2011).

Susanne Jona and Suzie Dod Thomas, IMMIGRATION: A CIVIL RIGHTS ISSUE
FOR THE AMERICAS (1999).

Kris W. Kobach, The Quintessential Force Multiplier: The Inherent Authority of
Local Police to Make Immigration Arrests, 69 Alb. L. Rev. 179 (2005).
Week 11:
Apr. 2 - Immigrants & Sexual Orientation Rights

Jordana Lynne Mosten, Imagining Immigration Without DOMA, 21 Stan. L. & Pol’y
Rev. 383 (2010).

Additional readings TBD
Assignment: Comment on the Supreme Court arguments in the DOMA cases (Hollingsworth v.
Perry and Windsor v. U.S.) in a 1-2 page blog. Due Monday, Apr. 1 (no joke!) by noon.
Week 12:
Apr. 9 - Organizing for Immigrants’ Rights

David Bacon, Guest Workers and a Union for Tobacco Workers, TruthOut Report,
(Oct. 29, 2012).

Detention Watch Network, Expose & Close (Executive Summary).

Rinku Sen, Immigrants are Losing the Policy Fight. But That’s Besides the Point,
Colorlines (Sept. 2012).

Additional readings TBD
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PART III: STUDENT PRESENTATIONS
Week 13:
Apr. 16 - Student Presentations
Assignment: Draft of research paper due April 12.
Week 14:
Apr. 23 - Student Presentations
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