Deep, variegated, and unresolved tensions run between and within the U.S. courts of appeals’ standard of review classifications of the five core elements of the refugee definition. Several circuits have taken note of their dissonant jurisprudence, calling for either en banc or Supreme Court intervention. While existing scholarship raises cogent criticisms of excessive factual deference […]

Climate-related displacement is a topic of increasing concern in both academic research and the political, social, and humanitarian spheres. As many seek to develop legal regimes that will allow those living in the most climate-affected areas to move with dignity, individuals and communities living in these countries, regions, and localities are often resistant to the […]

The United States border, for noncitizens, has a unique quality to it. Each time a noncitizen crosses that border, they are no longer private individuals. They can no longer choose to give up their information–instead, there is a forced exchange: data for entry. Who they are, what they are, and everything that connects them to […]

With the climate crisis wreaking havoc worldwide, millions of people have been forced to leave their homes, increasingly often to other countries. These people are called climate migrants. Climate migrants commonly originate from developing countries that carry unsustainable debt burdens, which prevent the financing of disaster reconstruction, climate adaptation, but more importantly, direct aid and […]