Seminar Topics:
I. Significance of New BIA Alvarez Decision on Categorical Analysis

Categorical analysis, extra-element analysis and its limits: Where the government is limited to the elements of the offense of conviction, and the record of conviction, and where it is not. Different rules depend on the criminal removal ground and the circuit.

II. Attorney General's New Moral Turpitude Analysis

The new Matter of Silva-Trevino (AG November 8, 2008) analysis of whether a conviction is a crime of moral turpitude, how to resist this new rule, and how to practice under it.

III. Preserving Issues in the Lower Court

Tips on how not to waive important issues: What counsel must do before the IJ to preserve an issue for appeal to the BIA, and before the BIA to preserve an issue for a petition for review. Analogies to similar rules in criminal appeals.

IV. Evidentiary Issues in Criminal Removal Cases

How to establish a reasonable probability that a non-deportable offense within a divisible statute is actually prosecuted, under the Duenas rule. Differences between proof of the existence of a conviction, and proof of the nature of the conviction. Attacks on government evidence, including right to cross-examination, reliability, hearsay, and weight v. admissibility for different types of evidence.

Top Faculty:
Dan Kesselbrenner, Director, National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild, author of Immigration Law and Crimes (2008)

Norton Tooby, author of Tooby's Crimes of Moral Turpitude (2008), Tooby's Guide to Criminal Immigration Law (2008), Criminal Defense of Immigrants (2007), Aggravated Felonies (2006), and Safe Havens: How to Identify and Construct Non-Deportable Convictions (2005)

Rebecca Sharpless, Visiting Clinical Assistant Professor, Florida International University, College of Law