The Emerging Importance of Social Visibility in Defining a Particular Social Group and Its Potential Impact on Asylum Claims Related to Sexual Orientation and Gender

An emerging issue in U.S. asylum claims based on membership in a particular social group is the relevance of social visibility in determining whether such a group exists. Of the five protected grounds for asylum, membership in a particular social group has always generated the most debate. In 2002, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) issued guidelines that present the protected characteristic and social perception approaches as alternative ways of establishing a particular social group, instructing States Parties to the 1951 Refugee Convention (the Convention ) to determine first if there is a protected characteristic and, only if no such characteristic exists, to determine whether the group is recognized by society. The author argues that adjudicators should reject the social visibility approach because it destroys Acosta\u27s principled framework, represents an abdication of U.S. obligations under the 1967 Protocol, cannot be applied in a consistent way, and ignores the complex relationship between visibility and power

Reverse logistic location problem for electrical and electronics equipment waste treatment facility

Reverse logistics plays a significant role in reducing electrical and electronics equipment waste (e-waste) problem by returning some valuable or hazardous parts back to the distributor or producers. This paper implemented reverse logistics facility’s location problem to find the optimum location of e-waste treatment facilities. E-waste treatment facility location was determined in two phase. First, facility location model is developed to find the optimum location for e-waste treatment facility from the e-waste collecting points using K-means clustering and centre of gravity algorithm. Once the treatment facility location is decided, e-waste collection vehicle routing model is developed using saving matrix algorithm to minimize collecting distance. This paper was developed in three scenarios, based on e-waste collection problem in Jakarta. It is found that multi e-waste treatment facilities, gave the shortest collection distance compared to single and restricted area facility scenarios

Extraterritorial Rights in Border Enforcement

Recent shifts in border enforcement policies raise pressing new questions about the extraterritorial reach of constitutional rights. Policies that keep asylum seekers in Mexico, expand the use of expedited removal, and encourage the cross-border use of force require courts to determine whether noncitizens who are physically outside the United States, or who are treated for legal purposes as being outside even if they have entered the country, can claim constitutional protections. This Article examines a small, but growing body of cases addressing these extraterritoriality issues in the border enforcement context, focusing on disparities in judicial analyses that have resulted in at least two circuit splits. Specifically, the Article explores differences in courts’ selection and application of the Supreme Court’s main extraterritoriality tests; various ways of conceptualizing the interaction between the Court’s extraterritoriality jurisprudence and the plenary power doctrine, which one appellate court described as “competing” constitutional fields; and contrasting approaches to the role of separation of powers as a limiting structural principle, given the ambiguity of the Constitution’s text regarding its geographic scope. The separation of powers analysis reflects particular concern about the Executive Branch’s manipulation of the border as a legal construct, as well as its manipulation of national security as an illusory threat, in order to evade accountability. The Article concludes that extending constitutional protections, preserving judicial review, and critically examining demands for deference are crucial in this context in order to avoid creating a law-free zone just beyond our southern border

A Particularly Serious Exception to the Categorical Approach

A noncitizen who has been convicted of a “particularly serious crime” can be deported to a country where there is a greater than fifty percent chance of persecution or death. Yet, the Board of Immigration Appeals has not provided a clear test for determining what is a “particularly serious crime.” The current test, which combines an examination of the elements with a fact-specific inquiry, has led to arbitrary and unpredictable decisions about what types of offenses are “particularly serious.” This Article argues that the categorical approach for analyzing convictions should be applied to the particularly serious crime determination to promote greater uniformity and provide the predictability necessary to make informed pleas. Recent Supreme Court decisions, as well as a 2015 opinion by the Attorney General, support this argument by stressing that the use of the word “convicted” in the Immigration and Nationality Act triggers a categorical analysis. Although the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has interpreted the particularly serious crime bar as requiring an individualized analysis, this Article argues that the categorical approach better protects the High Commissioner’s underlying concerns of consistency and fairness

Alternatives to Immigration Detention

The United States places over 440,000 people each year in immigration detention, far more than any other country in the world. This Article argues that there are compelling humanitarian and financial reasons to utilize more alternatives to detention. It examines the strengths and limitations of existing alternatives, including the need to develop more community-based case management programs and to rely less on electronic monitoring. The Article then sets forth several legal arguments under the Constitution, Rehabilitation Act, and international human rights law for requiring greater consideration of alternatives to detention

Book Note: Reviewing Tortured Confessions

Review Extract: Tortured Confessions presents an innovative perspective on the relationship between torture and propaganda. While much has been written about the way propaganda spurs and sanctifies torture by demonizing the enemy, few have explored the way torture itself is used to create propaganda. Abrahamian\u27s work explores how the primary purpose of torture in Iran has been to extract ideological recantations from prisoners

Alienage Classifications and the Denial of Health Care to DREAMers

In the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”), passed in 2010, Congress provided that only “lawfully present” individuals could obtain insurance through the Marketplaces established under the Act. Congress left it to the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) to define who is “lawfully present.” Initially, HHS included all individuals with deferred action status, which is an authorized period of stay but not a legal status. After President Obama announced a new policy of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (“DACA”) in June 2012, however, HHS amended its regulation specifically to exclude DACA recipients from the definition of “lawfully present.” The revised regulation denied DREAMers—undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children—access to affordable health care, while providing it to similarly situated individuals who had been granted deferred action through other means. This Article examines whether the exclusion of DREAMers from the ACA violates equal protection principles, highlighting critical inconsistencies and gaps in the case law on standards of review for alienage classifications. A circuit split exists about whether non-legal permanent residents are ever entitled to strict scrutiny, and the extent of the Executive’s power over immigration remains unclear, as does the allocation of power within the executive branch. In addition, courts are divided about the standard of review that applies when states discriminate against non-citizens pursuant to a federal statute. All of these issues complicate the analysis and underscore the need to reevaluate an unraveling tiered approach to judicial review

Holding The World Bank Accountable for the Leakage of Funds From Africa’s Health Sector

This article explores the accountability of international financial institutions (IFIs), such as the World Bank, for human rights violations related to the massive leakage of funds from sub-Saharan Africa’s health sector. The article begins by summarizing the quantitative results of Public Expenditure Tracking Surveys performed in six African countries, all showing disturbingly high levels of leakage in the health sector. It then addresses the inadequacy of good governance and anticorruption programs in remedying this problem. After explaining how the World Bank’s Inspection Panel may serve as an accountability mechanism for addressing the leakage of funds, discussing violations of specific Bank policies and procedures that would support a claim related to leakage and examining the relevance of human rights concerns to such as claim, the article explores some of the Panel’s limitations and the positive steps taken to address these concerns

Holding The World Bank Accountable for the Leakage of Funds From Africa’s Health Sector

This article explores the accountability of international financial institutions (IFIs), such as the World Bank, for human rights violations related to the massive leakage of funds from sub-Saharan Africa’s health sector. The article begins by summarizing the quantitative results of Public Expenditure Tracking Surveys performed in six African countries, all showing disturbingly high levels of leakage in the health sector. It then addresses the inadequacy of good governance and anticorruption programs in remedying this problem. After explaining how the World Bank’s Inspection Panel may serve as an accountability mechanism for addressing the leakage of funds, discussing violations of specific Bank policies and procedures that would support a claim related to leakage and examining the relevance of human rights concerns to such as claim, the article explores some of the Panel’s limitations and the positive steps taken to address these concerns

Communication and the circulation of letters in the Eastern Desert of Egypt during the Roman Period

Over the past thirty years, excavations in Egypt’s Eastern Desert, which was home to important mining sites and the hub for long-distance trade between Rome and the Near and Far East, have turned up thousands of potsherds inscribed with Greek and much fewer with Latin. Most of these texts are private and official letters and they tend to date to the first three centuries of the current era. Studying this large corpus of material, which has not been studied in a synthetic manner before, reveals multiple aspects of life in Roman Egypt: for example, we see how letters were exchanged, who handled and delivered them, whence and to where they were delivered, what obstacles could prevent their delivery, and who communicated with whom, namely, the networks that were formed through epistolary communication. The Eastern Desert brought people of different cultures together, who came to this hardly habitable area generally for reasons of work and commercial interest. It was important to the Romans because of its mines of precious metals and stones, and for its access to the Red Sea trade route, which connected the Mediterranean to South Arabia, Southern Africa, and India. People stationed in the Eastern Desert needed to communicate, and communication required infrastructure. The present work has thus been conducted with particular focus on the circumstances that surrounded the process of the circulation of letters and goods in the Eastern Desert. Overall, this study attempts to reveal how epistolary communication was the underpinning of Roman commercial and military operations in a critical part of the Roman empire