Expert Immigration witness

About

Expert Immigration Witness links academic migration specialists  to lawyers working on immigration cases. Scholars’ expert testimony can be crucial to winning asylum cases.  This site provides an easily accessible and free source for lawyers.  We encourage immigration lawyers to contact the academics listed on this site.

These academics have agreed to have their profiles listed and be contacted to provide expert witness testimony in immigration hearings.  Although the financial arrangement will be agreed upon by the scholars and the lawyers independently, we believe that fees for expert witnesses should be affordable to clients who are often poor.  We also encourage our expert witnesses to provide pro bono testimony to the extent possible for them.

If you would like to be added to the list, please contact Elliott Young

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Americas

Elliott Young, email, CV, Faculty page

Fields: History: Borderlands, Latin America and Transnational Migration

Countries: Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Cuba, Venezuela

Areas of Expertise: Gangs, Cartels, Gender and sexual orientation-based violence, LGBTQI persecution and political violence

Education: Princeton University, B.A, University of Texas, MA and PhD

Position: Professor of History, Lewis & Clark College

Cases: 450+

Alfonso Gonzales, email, CV

Fields: Political Science, Latin American Studies, Mexican American Studies

Countries: Mexico, El Salvador, and Guatemala

Areas of Expertise: Human Rights, Policing, Deportation, Social Minorities

Education: UCLA, BA; Stanford University MA; UCLA MA and PhD

Position: Assistant Professor, University of Texas, Austin

Debra H. Rodman, email, CV

Fields: Anthropology:Latin America and Transnational

Countries: Guatemala and Central America

Areas of Expertise: Domestic Violence/ Gender-Based Violence, Femicide, LGBT, Land Tenure, Migration

Education: University of Miami, BA and MA; University of Florida, PhD

Position: Associate Professor, Randolph-Macon College

Megan Ybarra, email, CV  * Only works with non-profit law firms on pro-bono basis

Fields: Geography

Countries: Guatemala and Mexico

Areas of Expertise: Land rights and land formalization; conservation displacements; lowlands Maya peoples

Education: New York University, BA; UC Berkeley, PhD

Position: Assistant Professor, University of Washington

Mark Overmyer-Velázquez, email, CV

http://elin.uconn.edu/mark-overmyer-velazquez/

Fields: Latina/o & Latin American Studies, History

Countries: Mexico, Chile, United States

Areas of Expertise: Migration, Undocumented/Irregular Migration, DREAMers

Education: University of British Columbia, BA; Yale University, MA and PhD

Position: Director, Institute of Latina/o, Caribbean & Latin American Studies; Associate Professor of History, University of Connecticut

Regine O. Jackson,email, CV 

http://www.agnesscott.edu/academics/faculty/regine-jackson.html

Fields: Sociology and Urban Studies

Countries: Haiti

Areas of Expertise: Political and economic migration, family separation, cultural norms and adaptations

Education: Brown University, BA; University of Michigan, MA and PhD

Position: Associate Professor of Sociology, Agnes Scott College

Raymond Craib, email, CV

Fields: Latin American history and geography

Countries: Mexico, Chile, Central America

Areas of expertise:  migrant labor and farmworkers, early history of immigration, land tenure, policing

Education:  Yale University (Ph.D.); University of New Mexico (M.A.); Eastern Michigan University (B.A.)

Position:  Associate Professor of History, Cornell University

Gilberto Rosas, email, CV

Fields: Latin American anthropology

Countries: Mexico, Mexico-United States Borderlands

Areas of expertise: violence, state, racisms, criminality, refugee, policing, immigration, detention and deportation.

Education: Loyola Marymount, BA; University of Texas, Austin, M and PhD
Position: Associate Professor of Anthropology & Latin@ Studies, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Joe Wiltberger, email, CV

Fields: Anthropology, Latin America, United States, and Transnational

Countries: Central America, El Salvador

Areas of Expertise: Migration, Violence, Gangs, Family and Youth Migration

Education: University of Notre Dame, BA; University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, MA and PhD

Position: Assistant Professor of Central American Studies, California State University, Northridge

Alexander Aviña, email, CV

Fields: History

Countries: Mexico

Areas of Expertise: Drugs and Gangs

Education: University of Southern California, PhD

Position: Associate Professor of History, Arizona State University, Tempe

Eladio Bobadillo, email, CV

Fields: History: Immigration Policy, Immigrants’ Rights, Intra-ethnic Relations, Social Movements

 

Countries: United States, Mexico, Central America

 

Areas of Expertise: Enforcement, Policy, and Social Movements

 

Education: Weber State University, BIS (History, English, International Politics); Duke University, PhD (History)

 

Position: Assistant Professor, University of Kentucky (beginning fall 2019)

Casey Marina Lurtz, email,  CV

Fields: History: Borderlands, Mexico, Chiapas, Central America, migration, land reform, labor 

Countries: Mexico (specifically Chiapas), Central America

Areas of Expertise: Migration, Labor, land reform/agriculture

Education: Harvard University B.A., University of Chicago Masters and PhD

Position: Assistant Professor of History, Johns Hopkins University

Jessica Ordaz, email, CV

Fields: History, Ethnic Studies, Border Studies

Countries/Regions: United States, Mexico, and Central America

Areas of Expertise: Latinx history, US/Mexico border studies, social movements, immigration history, state violence, the detention and deportation regime, the carceral state

Education: Ph.D. and M.A., University of California, Davis; B.A. University of California Santa Barbara

Position: Assistant Professor of Ethnic Studies, University of Colorado, Boulder

Thomas Boerman, email, CV

Fields: Gang/organized crime, corruption and state sponsored violence, gender-based violence, LGBTI, human rights/environmental defenders, Maya and Garifuna

Countries: El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala

Education: B.A. International Studies, Central America focus. University of Oregon 1988 Ph.D. University of Oregon, 2002

Position: Independent Consultant

Lily Pearl Balloffet, email

Fields: History, Migration Studies

Countries/Regions: Latin America, Middle East

Areas of Expertise: global migration & displacement history, social movements, inter-american relations

Education: Ph.D. and M.A., University of California, Davis; B.A. Wellesley College

Position: Assistant Professor of Latin American & Latino Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz

Lisa Munro, email, CV 

Fields: Latin American history, American Indian studies, ethnohistory, cultural history

Regions: Mexico, Central America (particularly Guatemala)

Areas of expertise: modern Latin American history, revolutions, U.S.-Latin American relations, state violence, neoliberalism, history of archaeology/anthropology, indigenous language/communities (particularly Kaqchikeles)

Education: PhD/history (University of Arizona, 2015), MA/history (University of Arizona), BA/United States history (Fort Lewis College, Colorado). Also Peace Corps service in Guatemala, 2004-2006.

Position: Study abroad director, Mérida, Yucatán (Central College) and independent scholar

David Kazanjian, email, CV, Faculty page

Fields: English, Cultural Studies

Countries: Mexico, Central America

Areas of Expertise: Political and Economic migration, land tenure, indigeneity, violence and social conflict

Education: Stanford University BA, Sussex University (UK) MA, University of California, Berkeley PhD

Position: Professor, University of Pennsylvania

Alan Shane Dillingham, email

Fields: History, Indigenous Studies

Countries: Mexico (especially Oaxaca)

Areas of Expertise: Indigeneity, Education, Politics

Education: American University BA, University of Maryland, PhD

Position: Assistant Professor, Albright College

Autumn Quezada-Grant, Roger Williams University, email

Fields: History

Countries: Mexico, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Peru

Areas of Expertise: Indigenous issues, gender based issues, gangs, organized crime, LGBTI

Education: B.A. History, Louisiana Tech University, M.A. Northwestern State University, Ph.D. University of Mississippi

Position: Associate professor of History, Roger Williams University

Cases: 150+ cases

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Asia and Middle East

Madeline Hsu, email, CV

Fields: History: Migration, Asian American, U.S. since 1865, Transnationalism and Diaspora, Modern China, ethnic studies

Countries: China, Taiwan, United States

Areas of Expertise: Immigration policy, Chinese diaspora, international education, refugee policy

Education: Pomona College, B.A, Yale University, MA and PhD

Position: Associate Professor of History, The University of Texas at Austin

Alex Boodrookas, email, CV

Fields: History, Migration, Citizenship, Labor

Countries: Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman

Areas of Expertise: The history of movement restrictions and immigration and naturalization legislation,

deportation, political repression

Education: George Washington University, BA, NYU, MA & Ph.D.

Position: Assistant Professor of History, Metropolitan State University of Denver