Immigration Law Research Guide: Home

Getting Started

When beginning a new research project, it is usually helpful to consult sources that can provide either some background or a comprehensive overview of the subject you will be studying. Consulting these types of resources can help you understand the issues involved in your research area and assist you in developing a list of search terms to use in your research. You may want to consult legal periodicals, legal encyclopedias, or ALR annotations at this early stage of your research.

Periodicals

While there are some legal periodicals that focus primarily on immigration law (e.g. Georgetown Immigration Law Journal and Immigration and Nationality Law Review), you are likely to find individual articles on United States immigration law in a great number of journals and law reviews. The MLIC has both print and electronic periodical indexes, and any of these can be used to look for journal articles on immigration.

The MLIC's collection contains both subject-specific encyclopedias and general legal encyclopedias. For an encyclopedia specific to immigration law, consult one of the following:

• Gibney, Matthew J. & Randall Hansen (eds.). Immigration and asylum : from 1900 to the present (ABC-CLIO 2005). (Reference Alcove) JV6012 .I46 2005
• Loucky, James (ed.). Immigration in America today : an encyclopedia (Greenwood Press 2006).(First floor Stacks) JV6465 .I4754 2006

The MLIC's general legal encyclopedias are located on the third floor of the building in the Mark S. Skaggs West Reading Hall. Our collection includes both the first and second editions of American Jurisprudence and Corpus Juris, two major legal encyclopedias. You will find an index for each set at the end of the last main volume. Helpful search terms in either encyclopedia might include:

• Aliens
• Citizens or Citizenship
• Immigration
• Naturalization

The Index to Legal Periodicals (1908 to date) and the Current Law Index (1980 to date) can be found on the main floor of the MLIC in the Main Reading Room. You may use either of these print indexes to look for journal articles by title, subject, and author. These indexes also provide both a Table of Cases and Table of Statutes which will allow you to find articles discussing a particular case or statute.

Here is a list of Law Reviews (accessed via HeinOnline) that address immigration issues directly:

• Georgetown Immigration Law Journal
• Georgetown University Law Center Immigration Law Reporter
• Immigration and Nationality Law Review

Symposium issues of law reviews focused on immigration law and policy may also provide a wealth of information. Some symposium issues in the MLIC's collection include:

• Symposium: Immigration Law and Reform 47.1 Harvard Journal on Legislation 167 (Wntr 2010)
• Symposium on Migration 23.1 Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy (Spring 2009)
• Symposium: National Borders and Immigration 45.4 San Diego Law Review 863 (Fall 2008)
• Symposium: Immigration Law in Pennsylvania: Policy and Practice 17.2 Widener Law Journal 355 (June 2008)
• Symposium: Immigration: To Admit or Deny? 32.2 Nova Law Review 309 (2008).
• Allen Chair Symposium 2008: Immigration in the Twenty-First Century: Perspectives on Law and Policy 42.4 University of Richmond Law Review 831 (2008).
• Symposium: Holes in the Fence: Immigration Reform and Border Security in the United States 59.3 Administrative Law Review 521 (2007).
• Symposium: Reforming U.S. Immigration Policy 5.2 Georgetown Journal of Law and Public Policy 341 (2007).
• Symposium : Immigration: Both Sides of the Fence. 84 Denver University Law Review (2007).
• Symposium : New Dimensions of Citizenship. 75 Fordham Law Review 2373 (April 2007).
• Symposium on Immigration Appeals and Judicial Review. 55 Catholic University Law Review 905 (Summer 2006).
• Symposium on Children and Immigration. 15 Boston University Public Interest Law Journal 187 (Spring 2006).
• Symposium : North American migration, Trade and Security. 11 Law and Business Review of the Americas 321 (Summer-Fall 2005).
• Migration and Refuge in the Twenty First Century : A Symposium in Memory of Arthur Helton. 36 Columbia Human Rights Law Review 287 (Spring 2005).
• Symposium : Immigration and Civil Rights After September 11 : The Impact on California. 38 U.C. Davis Law Review 599 (March 2005).
• Immigration Matters Symposium. 29 Southern Illinois University Law Journal 1 (Fall 2004).
• Symposium : Changing the Face of Immigration : A Year in Transition. 19 St. John's Journal of Legal Commentary 1 (Fall 2004).
• Symposium on Immigration Law and Terrorism. 50 Loyola Law Review 1 (Spring 2004).

• Alien criminals -- United States
• Asylum, Right of -- United States
• Emigration and immigration law -- United States
• Legal assistance to immigrants -- United States
• Naturalization -- United States
• Political refugees -- Legal status, laws, etc. -- United States
• United States Immigration and Naturalization Service