AI, Immigration, and Human Rights

@article{beduschi_international_2021,

title = {International migration management in the age of artificial intelligence},

author = {Ana Beduschi},

url = {https://doi.org/10.1093/migration/mnaa003},

doi = {10.1093/migration/mnaa003},

issn = {2049-5846},

year  = {2021},

date = {2021-09-01},

urldate = {2024-10-22},

journal = {Migration Studies},

volume = {9},

number = {3},

pages = {576–596},

abstract = {Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to revolutionise the way states and international organisations seek to manage international migration. AI is gradually going to be used to perform tasks, including identity checks, border security and control, and analysis of data about visa and asylum applicants. To an extent, this is already a reality in some countries such as Canada, which uses algorithmic decision-making in immigration and asylum determination, and Germany, which has piloted projects using technologies such as face and dialect recognition for decision-making in asylum determination processes. The article’s central hypothesis is that AI technology can affect international migration management in three different dimensions: (1) by deepening the existing asymmetries between states on the international plane; (2) by modernising states’ and international organisations’ traditional practices; and (3) by reinforcing the contemporary calls for more evidence-based migration management and border security. The article examines each of these three hypotheses and reflects on the main challenges of using AI solutions for international migration management. It draws on legal, political and technology-facing academic literature, examining the current trends in technological developments and investigating the consequences that these can have for international migration. Most particularly, the article contributes to the current debate about the future of international migration management, informing policymakers in this area of growing importance and fast development.},

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pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{beduschi_digital_2019,

title = {Digital identity: Contemporary challenges for data protection, privacy and non-discrimination rights},

author = {Ana Beduschi},

url = {https://doi.org/10.1177/2053951719855091},

doi = {10.1177/2053951719855091},

issn = {2053-9517},

year  = {2019},

date = {2019-07-01},

urldate = {2024-10-22},

journal = {Big Data & Society},

volume = {6},

number = {2},

pages = {2053951719855091},

abstract = {The World Bank estimates that over one billion people currently lack official identity documents. To tackle this crucial issue, the United Nations included the aim to provide legal identity for all by 2030 among the Sustainable Development Goals. Technology can be a powerful tool to reach this target. In the digital age, new technologies increasingly mediate identity verification and identification of individuals. Currently, State-led and public–private initiatives use technology to provide official identification, to control and secure external borders, and to distribute humanitarian aid to populations in need. All of these initiatives have profound implications for the protection of human rights of those affected by them. Digital identity technologies may render individuals without legal documentation more visible and therefore less vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. However, they also present risks for the protection of individuals' human rights. As they build on personal data for identification and identity verification, data protection and privacy rights are most clearly affected. The prohibition of discrimination in the digital space is also of concern as these technological advances' societal impact is not yet fully understood. Accordingly, the article argues that emerging digital identity platforms will only contribute to the protection of human rights if the providers adequately mitigate any risks of potential discrimination and promote high standards of privacy and data protection.},

note = {Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{beduschi_vulnerability_2018,

title = {Vulnerability on Trial: Protection of Migrant Children's Rights in the Jurisprudence of International Human Rights Courts},

author = {Ana Beduschi},

url = {https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.journals/builj36&i=61},

year  = {2018},

date = {2018-01-01},

urldate = {2024-10-22},

journal = {Boston University International Law Journal},

volume = {36},

number = {1},

pages = {55–86},

abstract = {Although vulnerability does not have an express legal basis in international human rights law, international human rights courts, particularly the European Court of Human Rights (“ECtHR”), have increasingly drawn on this concept in their jurisprudence. The ECtHR has developed an important line of cases concerning migrant children, whom it considers as particularly vulnerable to physical and mental harm during the migratory process. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (“IACtHR”) also anchored this notion in an influential advisory opinion on the rights of migrant children. This article critically examines this case-law against the existing scholarship on vulnerability and the legal framework on human rights protection. It argues that the concept of vulnerability, when complemented by considerations of best interests of the child, can operate as a magnifying glass for State obligations, exposing a greater duty of protection and care vis-à-vis migrant children. It suggests that human rights courts should deploy a more substantial approach to migrant children’s rights based on the concept of vulnerability and on the principle of best interests of the child. Above all, this approach would foster stronger protection of these children’s rights in the long term. In addition, if effectively applied, it would allow human rights courts to avoid stigmatizing the most exposed individuals in the ongoing global migration crisis.},

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pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{beduschi_big_2017,

title = {The Big Data of International Migration: Opportunities and Challenges for States Under International Human Rights Law},

author = {Ana Beduschi},

url = {https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.journals/geojintl49&i=987},

year  = {2017},

date = {2017-01-01},

urldate = {2024-10-22},

journal = {Georgetown Journal of International Law},

volume = {49},

number = {3},

pages = {981–1018},

abstract = {Technology, as the epitome of our contemporary society, permeates the realm of international migration. Migrants and refugees are increasingly using mobile phones and digital features available online to prepare for migration and while on the move. Concurrently, advances in computer science allow for progressively more accurate analysis of the data generated by mobile devices and online searches. In particular, big data can be used to determine specific behavioural patterns, geolocation and human interactions. This article investigates the implications of these technological advances for States under international human rights law. It argues that big data can and should be used as a tool for the protection of migrants’ human rights by enhancing both decision-making and measures to prevent unnecessary deaths at sea, ill-treatment and human trafficking of migrants. Consequently, the article examines whether the development of new technologies can affect States’ capabilities for the identification of individuals in need of protection. It posits that to the extent that protection is mandated by human rights instruments, States may have a positive obligation to use available technologies to identify and assist vulnerable migrants. It evaluates this possibility against the protection of migrants’ right to life, the prohibition of torture, inhuman and degrading treatment, and the prohibition of slavery and forced labour. In doing so, the article also emphasizes the limits and risks posed by the unrestrained use of new technologies, notably with respect to the protection of migrants’ right to privacy and data protection.},

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pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{hu_algorithmic_2017,

title = {Algorithmic Jim Crow},

author = {Margaret Hu},

url = {https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.journals/flr86&i=651},

year  = {2017},

date = {2017-01-01},

urldate = {2024-10-22},

journal = {Fordham Law Review},

volume = {86},

number = {2},

pages = {633–696},

abstract = {This Article contends that current immigration- and security-related vetting protocols risk promulgating an algorithmically driven form of Jim Crow. Under the “separate but equal” discrimination of a historic Jim Crow regime, state laws required mandatory separation and discrimination on the front end, while purportedly establishing equality on the back end. In contrast, an Algorithmic Jim Crow regime allows for “equal but separate” discrimination. Under Algorithmic Jim Crow, equal vetting and database screening of all citizens and noncitizens will make it appear that fairness and equality principles are preserved on the front end. Algorithmic Jim Crow, however, will enable discrimination on the back end in the form of designing, interpreting, and acting upon vetting and screening systems in ways that result in a disparate impact. 

Currently, security-related vetting protocols often begin with an algorithm-anchored technique of biometric identification — for example, the collection and database screening of scanned fingerprints and irises, digital photographs for facial recognition technology, and DNA. Immigration reform efforts, however, call for the biometric data collection of the entire citizenry in the United States to enhance border security efforts and to increase the accuracy of the algorithmic screening process. Newly developed big data vetting tools fuse biometric data with biographic data and internet and social media profiling to algorithmically assess risk. 

This Article concludes that those individuals and groups disparately impacted by mandatory vetting and screening protocols will largely fall within traditional classifications — race, color, ethnicity, national origin, gender, and religion. Disparate-impact consequences may survive judicial review if based upon threat risk assessments, terroristic classifications, data-screening results deemed suspect, and characteristics establishing anomalous data and perceived foreignness or dangerousness data — nonprotected categories that fall outside of the current equal protection framework. Thus, Algorithmic Jim Crow will require an evolution of equality law.},

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}