CLE "Undocumented Criminal Procedure: Immigration Enforcement and the Fourth Amendment" with Devon Carbado

Professor Devon Carbado, Elihu Root Professor of Law, NYU School of Law, will discuss: Contemporary debate over Noem v. Perdomo treats the case as a doctrinal novelty. It is not. For decades, the Supreme Court has permitted the government to use race—specifically “Mexican appearance” or “apparent Mexican ancestry”—as a factor in determining whether a person is undocumented. These decisions, lodged at the intersection of immigration law and criminal procedure, are part of a larger, neglected but consequential body of Fourth Amendment jurisprudence. I call these decisions “the undocumented cases,” and the regime they have produced “undocumented criminal procedure.”  The undocumented cases did far more than legitimate race-based immigration enforcement: they quietly reengineered Fourth Amendment doctrine itself. In carving out space for racialized suspicion, the Court created doctrinal pathways that culminate in Noem v. Perdomo and that have systematically weakened Fourth Amendment protections while expanding governmental power and discretion far beyond immigration enforcement.

This event has been approved to offer one New York State CLE credit in the category of Areas of Professional Practice. The credit will be both transitional and non-transitional, appropriate for both newly admitted and experienced attorneys. Reunion Weekend 2026 free academic sessions are open to all of the NYU Law community, non-reunioning alumni signup now to attend.