Dean Johnson Comments on Immigration Law for The Takeaway
Dean Kevin R. Johnson commented on new California laws that expand the rights of legal non-citizens for The Takeaway, a radio news program co-produced by Public Radio International (PRI), WNYC-New York Public Radio, The New York Times, and WGBH Radio Boston.
In a lengthy interview, Dean Johnson discussed California's plans to allow legal noncitizens to sit on juries, monitor polls during elections, and practice law, and emphasized the need for Congress to enact comprehensive immigration reform.
"All the state and local governments can do is to tinker around the margins to try to make some sense out of the current system that exists," Dean Johnson said. "It's only going to be Congress that can create some kind of path to legalization for undocumented immigrants, and it's only Congress that can give any kind of durable solution to this long-term problem."
Kevin R. Johnson is Dean and Mabie-Apallas Professor of Public Interest Law and Chicana/o studies at UC Davis School of Law. He is an internationally recognized scholar in the fields of immigration law and policy, refugee law, and civil rights.