Immigration in Europe - HumanitarianNet - Universidad de Deusto

FRAMING THE ISSUES AND MEETING THE CHALLENGES... 39to bring matters before the courts for resolution. In those instances,the NGOs have worked closely with private lawyers and law professorsin drafting complaints, filing lawsuits and preparing and submittinglegal briefs to the courts in support of their positions. Because of theircredibility within the legal community, academics play an importantand influential part in immigration related litigation.Finally, and perhaps most importantly, academics in the UnitedStates often shape the terms and influence the outcome of the immigrationdebate. For example, law professors in the United States regularlywrite articles and books analysing and criticising discriminatory andineffective immigration law and policies and often offer proposedalternatives to such. Supreme Court Justices and federal court judgeslook to these articles in reviewing and deciding important immigrationcases before them. It is also quite common for immigration and constitutionallaw professors to serve in high positions within the Departmentof Justice and the Immigration and Naturalization Service for differentperiods of time during their professional careers. 6ConclusionIn light of the many pressing issues and challenges facing Europe,and the role that academics and NGOs can play, it is vital that we worktogether to promote the investigation, publication and disseminationof credible and reliable information about migrants and refugeesavailable for use by migrants, their advocates and the decision makersthroughout Europe. The thoughtful and analytical qualities possessedby academics combined with the energy, experience and knowledge ofNGO advocates and practitioners working with and for migrantcommunities provide the best setting to meet and address the manymigration-related challenges facing Europe in the twenty-first century.ReferencesJRS (2002): JRS-Europe annual report 2001-2002, available on the JRS-Europewebsite at http://www.jrseurope.org.6 David Martín, a law professor at the University of Virginia School of Law and AlexAleinikoff, a law professsor at the Georgetown University Law Center have both served atdifferent times during the 1990s as General Counsel of the Immigration and NaturalizationService.