Forensic Evaluations for Immigration Courts: A Critical Commentary on Legal and Ethical Considerations.

The US population of immigrants and refugees has steadily increased, as have efforts to curtail their numbers via detention and deportation. Critically, forensic evaluations for immigration courts have reflected a burgeoning specialty of both empirical scholarship and professional practice. In recognizing the growing role of forensic practitioners in immigration-related evaluations, the current article examines legal and professional issues facing the field. Specifically, the empirical landscape regarding "immigration trauma" is introduced as a salient backdrop to all other professional issues. Building on this framework, advancements and developing areas of empirical work concerning these specialized evaluations are reviewed. Moreover, this article has examined recently established guidelines and ethical considerations informing immigration evaluations. To illustrate, a substantive analysis of competency in immigration proceedings highlights salient similarities and crucial distinctions between due process rights in criminal and civil courts. Concluding remarks highlight salient future directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]