Prerna Lal ← Undocumented, Unafraid, Unapologetic

Agony and The Real Hobson’s Choice

May

2013

Yesterday evening, I willed myself to watch the Senate Judiciary Committee throw certain immigrant families under the bus, including, but not limited to, same sex bi-national couples, and relatives of certain U.S. citizens. I knew it was coming, and a lot has happened to prepare me for it, but I still don’t have words to express how ...

Juris Doctor

May

2013

One torture is over. I graduated from law school on Sunday, May 19, 2013. I almost did not make it on time to claim my place in the line-up. Story of my life. First, I had a late haircut appointment. Then, we missed the first train as everyone did not have tickets. Then, since we ...

Why I Sat Down In the D.C. Mayor’s Office for One City, One License

May

2013

Last week, Mayor Vincent Gray of the District of Columbia, introduced a new bill to allow undocumented residents of the District to obtain driver’s licenses and ID cards. This legislation might represent a great step forward for equality and safety in D.C., except that Mayor Gray has decided to create a separate class of driver’s ...

How the Senate Immigration Bill Overturns Matter of Wang, Clarifies the Child Status Protection Act and Should Put an End to the Government’s Appeal In De Osorio

Apr

2013

One of the good parts of the Senate immigration bill, dissected here, is that it should put an end to the litigation concerning aging out of children under immigration laws. If you are new to this, Congress passed the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) in 2001 to remedy the problem of children, who upon turning 21, were being ...

Registered Provisional Immigrant? Legalization Provision of Senate Immigration Bill Creates Incentives To Remain Undocumented

Apr

2013

After a week of painstaking research, hounding Senate staffers for answers, and gathering second-opinions from immigration lawyers, I’ve come to the conclusion that the legalization provision of the recently released Senate immigration bill, Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013, does not work. In fact, the proposed Senate legislation locks undocumented immigrants into ...

Senate Immigration Bill – The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Apr

2013

Crossposted at HuffPost The Senate immigration bill dropped last night and I’ve finally done a quick-read through. These are my initial thoughts about the legislation - The Good DREAM Act - No age cap on the DREAM Act, which would allow anyone who was brought here before the age of 16, a five-year pathway to citizenship. Undocumented ...

How Pinkwashing Masks the Retrograde Effects of Immigration Reform

Apr

2013

As the Senate gears up to introduce immigration reform bill, keep in mind what is not in the legislation. Justin Feldman and I co-wrote this piece after mutually observing the appropriation of queer undocumented youth and LGBT organizations for comprehensive immigration enforcement, a proposed reform that could exclude millions while ramping up militarization of the ...

AAG 2013: Paper Presentation on The Geography of Immigration Policy

Apr

2013

I’m immensely lucky to have my dear friend, Marisol Ramos, presenting a paper on our behalf at the American Association of Geographers Conference in Los Angeles, California this week.. Marisol and I originally met over Twitter in 2008, when she invited me to the United We Dream convening in Washington D.C. At that time, social media ...

Reproduction, Eugenics and Immigration Law

Apr

2013

I’ve posted a new working paper on SSRN – Reproduction, Eugenics and Immigration Law. Abstract: Policies designed to exclude the children of unwanted immigrants from citizenship have insidious roots in the eugenics movement. Today’s anti-immigrant agenda is no different than the one that animated the eugenicists into enacting the restrictive 1924 legislation. Nor is there a ...

Fijian Elections in 2014 – Overseas Fijian Citizens Can Participate

Apr

2013

I’m so immensely excited about having the chance to vote in the first Fijian elections in more than a decade. I’ve never had the chance to vote! And I’m absolutely uninterested in voting for the lesser of two evils in the U.S. These are the parties seeking registration under the new decree: Fiji Labour Party (originally ...