Kari Hong

Cognoscenti contributor

Kari Hong, an assistant professor at Boston College Law School, is an expert in immigration law, immigration consequences of criminal convictions, criminal law and family law.

Recently published

Colorful decorations cover the walls the the rooms of immigrants at the U.S. government’s newest holding center for migrant children in Carrizo Springs, Texas, July 9, 2019. (Eric Gay/AP)

We Created Border Orphanages

The recent U.N. condemnation is a heartbreaking twist on how our country, which once set the gold standard for human rights, is now being investigated for violations, writes Kari Hong.

Cognoscenti

Jul 18, 2019

A Honduran woman holds her one-year-old in the back of a transport van after surrendering to U.S. Border Patrol agents Monday, June 25, 2018, near McAllen, Texas. (David J. Phillip/AP)

End Immigration Detention And Our 'Policy Of Deliberate Neglect'

Our immigration detention system is expensive, unnecessary and unsafe, writes Kari Hong, and its mission is to coerce people into forfeiting their rights.

Cognoscenti

Jun 26, 2019

Former President Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland walks into Federal District Court, Thursday, Nov. 2, 2017, in Washington. (Andrew Harnik/AP)

Donald Trump Should Nominate Merrick Garland

Appointing Merrick Garland, a justice in the "swing vote" mold of Anthony Kennedy, is exactly what our country needs to move on from rank partisanship, writes Kari Hong.

Cognoscenti

Jun 27, 2018

Immigrant children are shown outside a former Job Corps site that now houses them, Monday, June 18, 2018, in Homestead, Fla. It is not known if the children crossed the border as unaccompanied minors or were separated from family members. An unapologetic President Donald Trump defended his administration's border-protection policies Monday in the face of rising national outrage over the forced separation of migrant children from their parents. (Wilfredo Lee/AP)

Why America Needs More, Not Fewer, People Seeking Asylum

Asking for asylum is not a crime, writes Kari Hong. It is time to end the detention of asylum-seekers.

Cognoscenti

Jun 20, 2018

Brenda Ramirez, 18, speaks to reporters about the opportunities she receives via the DACA program during a protest at the federal building in downtown Jackson, Miss., Friday, Sept. 8, 2017. A group of human rights advocates, DACA recipients, immigrants and members of the Mississippi Immigrants' Rights Alliance, called for Mississippi's senators, Roger Wicker and Thad Cochran, both Republicans, to help protect DACA recipients and pass a DREAM act. The group then marched to the Governor's Mansion and made the same plea. (Rogelio V. Solis/AP)

Say 'No' To The Wall And 'Yes' To Dreamers

Not only should Congress deny Trump his wall, writes Kari Hong, it should refuse to fund any immigration arrests until common sense and compassion return to our immigration policy.

Cognoscenti

Jan 9, 2018

Dreamers Karen Caudillo, 21, of Florida is comforted by Jairo Reyes, 25, of Rogers, Arkansas as Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., accompanied by members of the House and Senate Democrats, speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2017. House and Senate Democrats gather to call for Congressional Republicans to stand up to President Trump's decision to terminate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative by bringing the DREAM Act for a vote on the House and Senate Floor. (Jose Luis Magana/AP)

There Is No Good Reason To End DACA. Period.

There's still time to legislate ourselves out of this mess, writes Kari Hong.

Cognoscenti

Sep 7, 2017

6 Things To Know About The Partial Reinstatement Of Trump’s Travel Ban

The back and forth on President Trump's travel ban has shown that his long game on immigration policy is not actually grounded in legal changes, writes Kari Hong.

Cognoscenti

Jun 26, 2017

There Is One Clear Way To End Trump’s Immigration Ban: An Act Of Congress

Immigration lawyer Kari Hong writes that an act of Congress, not an executive order, is the proper means of resolving refugee and asylum admissions.

Cognoscenti

Feb 2, 2017

It Was In Bars Like Pulse That We Learned To Love All Those In Our LGBT Alphabet

Kari Hong: The Pulse nightclub victims died in a space that was more sacred than what the word nightclub conveys.

Cognoscenti

Jun 17, 2016

In this photo taken Thursday, May 12, 2016, signage is seen outside a restroom at 21c Museum Hotel in Durham, N.C. North Carolina is in a legal battle over a state law that requires transgender people to use the public restroom matching the sex on their birth certificate. The ADA-compliant bathroom signs were designed by artist Peregrine Honig. (Gerry Broome/AP)

3 Reasons Why Bathroom Laws Matter

These laws are wrong and are beneath the dignity of us all.

Cognoscenti

May 31, 2016