By Allison Crennen-Dunlap “The Age of Nations has passed. Now, unless we wish to perish we must shake off our old prejudices and build the earth.” Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Human Energy 37 (1969). Writing in 1969, dissident Jesuit priest and paleontologist Pierre Teilhard de Chardin envisioned a radical future toward which humanity was building—a future beyond nations and divisions in which all human beings could share as equals in their common dignity. Sadly, humanity has not lived up to Teilhard’s vision, beautiful as it was. In Race, Criminal Justice, and Migration Control (2017), [...]
The Age of Trump
We are one week into the age of Trump. Two months remain before he takes office. A man who campaigned on a platform of rhetorical violence will soon occupy the highest political office in the United States. Already the effect has been unmistakable. Incidents of hateful attacks have risen sharply. Among the millions of people who fit a description that Trump ridiculed or demonized, fear has become palpable. I have seen the tears and heard the despair. I have felt the threat seep into my daily experience. The day after the election, I awoke feeling a sense of despair. Not because my favored [...]
Training crimmigration lawyers
The holidays are behind us, grades have been submitted, and another semester began yesterday. This time around I’m teaching Crimmigration Law at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law. Built around the developing convergence of criminal law and immigration law that crimmigration.com readers know so well, this experiential seminar exposes students to the impact of criminal activity on a migrant’s ability to remain in the United States, how the criminal justice system takes into account immigration status, and how law enforcement tactics make it increasingly difficult to discern criminal [...]
Teaching crImmigration law
The new semester started last week and I’m thrilled that my crImmigration seminar is off and running. I’ve been looking forward to teaching a class devoted entirely to the convergence of criminal law and immigration law for years and the fourteen students who are currently enrolled (there’s a 15-person maximum) are letting me do it this semester for the first time. The course is divided into three units: “criminals” in the immigration system; “immigrants” in the criminal justice system; and enforcing crImmigration. Each unit will run several weeks. The syllabus provides more detail about [...]