Course Description
The world’s refugees – persons forced to flee home countries – topped 15 million in 2014. This course will examine laws and policies governing forced migration. International and U.S. legal systems and institutions; substantive, procedural, and evidentiary aspects of an asylum claim; causes; and trafficking and other refugee experiences will be studied.
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
Graduate law students will be required to demonstrate mastery
of the material through an applied project not required of the
Juris Doctor students. Graduate law students are primarily
international lawyers seeking expertise in the American legal
system. This expertise is gained through exposure to Juris
Doctor courses in which they will be required to perform more
extensive reading and research.
Athena Title
Refugee and Asylum Law
Semester Course Offered
Offered every year.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
To develop an understanding of the U.S. and international legal framework that governs the treatment of forcibly displaced persons, including refugees and asylum seekers.
Topical Outline
Topics likely to be discussed include: (1) overview, causes, and history of forced migration; (2) laws and policies governing refugees and asylum seekers; (3) interrelation of international and U.S. laws and institutions; (4) substantive elements and procedural and evidentiary issues pertaining to asylum claims; (5) detention, trafficking, and other experiences of refugees; (6) the principle of nonrefoulement (nonreturn); (7) internally displaced persons; (8) climate refugees; (9) comparison of U.S. policies with those in other countries.