Professor Wadhia to speak on immigration prosecutorial discretion at American University event

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State Law professor Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia will deliver a talk on the use of prosecutorial discretion in immigration law on Jan. 30 at the American University Law Review’s symposium taking place at the Washington, D.C., office of law firm Mayer Brown.

The annual conference, “Bordering on Legal Limits?  A Symposium Analyzing the President's Executive Action on Immigration,” brings together leading experts on immigration law to discuss immigration enforcement, prosecutorial discretion, and President Barack Obama’s recent executive action and the subsequent responses from opponents. 

Wadhia, director of the Center for Immigrants’ Rights Clinic at Penn State Law, will present at 9:30 a.m. on “The History of Prosecutorial Discretion in Immigration Law.” Her talk will provide an overview of the historical and legal foundations of the use of prosecutorial discretion in immigration enforcement.

Panelists at the symposium will address the legal implications of the president’s executive actions and discuss congressional and state-level challenges, including forthcoming legislation and litigation currently underway. Related papers will be published in the American University Law Review.

Wadhia, Samuel Weiss Faculty Scholar and clinical professor of law at Penn State Law, is an expert on immigration law and one of the nation’s leading scholars on the role of prosecutorial discretion in immigration law. Her scholarship in this area has served as a foundation for scholars, advocates, and government officials seeking to understand or design a strong prosecutorial discretion policy. Her work identifies the historical role of prosecutorial discretion in immigration law, the extent to which some acts of discretion operate as a benefit, and the dynamic role and need for transparency, sound procedures, and accountability. Her book, Beyond Deportation: The Role of Prosecutorial Discretion in Immigration Cases, will be published this year by New York University Press and is the first on the topic.