Faculty - University of Virginia School of Law

CONTACT
dam3r@virginia.edu
(434) 924-3144
Room WB177C

ASSISTANT
Pennie Newell

SUBJECTS
Immigration and refugee law, presidential powers, international human rights, constitutional law

David A. Martin

Warner-Booker Distinguished Professor of International Law;
Joel B. Piassick Research Professor of Law
J.D., Yale Law School, 1975
B.A., DePauw University, 1970

A leading scholar in immigration, constitutional law and international law, David A. Martin has helped shape immigration and refugee policy while serving in several key U.S. government posts. He joined the Virginia law faculty in 1980, after a period of private practice in Washington, D.C., and service as special assistant to the assistant secretary in the State Department’s new human rights bureau. He has published numerous books and articles in scholarly journals, including a leading casebook on immigration and citizenship law, now in its seventh edition. His op-ed commentary has been published in The Washington Post, The New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, Legal Times, and The National Law Journal, among others.

As principal deputy general counsel of the Department of Homeland Security from January 2009 to December 2010, and in earlier government service at the Department of State and the Department of Justice (including an appointment as general counsel to the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1995-98), Martin was closely involved in critical legal and policy developments in the immigration field. These included the Refugee Act of 1980, a major alteration of U.S. asylum procedures in 1995, implementation of the 1996 statutory amendments to the immigration laws, Obama administration reforms of enforcement priorities and the detention system used in connection with immigration removal proceedings, and the federal government’s 2010 lawsuit against Arizona’s restrictive immigration enforcement law. He also served as DHS’ representative on the interdepartmental task forces created by President Obama’s executive orders for evaluating the cases of all detainees at Guantánamo and for reviewing overall detention policies in the battle against terrorism.

A graduate of DePauw University and Yale Law School (where he was editor-in-chief of the Yale Law Journal), Martin served as a law clerk for Judge J. Skelly Wright and Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr. In 1988 he chaired the Immigration Section of the Association of American Law Schools, and from 2003-05 he served as vice president of the American Society of International Law. He has held a German Marshall Fund fellowship for research in Geneva, and he serves on the board of editors of the American Journal of International Law and the International Migration Review.

Scholarship Profile: A Trailblazer in Immigration and Refugee Law
(Virginia Journal 2001)

Publications
Current Courses

All Courses

In the Media

"Marco Rubio Says Obama Shows 'Reluctance' to Enforce Immigration Law" (PolitiFact, 04/30/2013)
"Deferment Gives North Jersey's Young Immigrants New Hope" (NorthJersey.com, 04/25/2013)
"150 Forum Tackles Thorny Issues of Immigration" (The Boston College Chronicle, 03/28/2013)
"Enforcement of Georgia's Immigration law Will Vary" (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 12/14/2012)
"A Misplaced Crusade" (The National Law Journal, 10/29/2012)
"Immigration Policy's New Sticking Point: Drivers' Licenses For The Undocumented" (International Business Times, 08/23/2012)
"Immigration Agents Sue to Stop Obama's Non-deportation Policy" (The Washington Times, 08/23/2012)
"U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Launches Deferred Action Program" (NBC 29, 08/15/2012)
"Mitt Romney's Illegal Immigration Problem: Would He Reverse Obama's Order?" (The Christian Science Monitor, 08/15/2012)
"Process Set for Undocumented Youthful Immigrants to Remain in the U.S." (Tulsa World, 08/08/2012)
"USCIS Director Discusses Plan for New Deferred Action Program Policies" (C-SPAN, 08/07/2012)
"How young undocumented immigrants can qualify for US amnesty" (Alaska Dispatch, 08/07/2012)
"Obama's 'DREAM Act': How it Will Work is Still a Work in Progress" (Christian Science Monitor, 08/07/2012)
"A Lawful Step for the Immigration System" (Author) (The Washington Post, 06/24/2012)
"Gov. Jan Brewer: Immigration Announcement 'Outrageous'" (Arizona Republic, 06/15/2012)
"Alabama's Immigration Policy Heads to Court" (Reuters, 02/28/2012)
"Civil War 150th: Flood of Refugees Creates Second Wartime Crisis in Virginia" (Richmond Times-Dispatch, 01/30/2012)
"Fights Over 'Secure Communities'" (The Kojo Nnamdi Show, 08/10/2011)
"States, Cities Reject Federal Deportation Program" (NPR, 07/22/2011)
"Roundtable Considers Immigration" (The Daily Princetonian, 03/29/2011)
"Issue Update - Illegal Immigration" (WMRA, 10/13/2008)
"Goode Takes on ‘Anchor Baby’ Issue" (Daily Progress, 09/04/2008)
"Another Second-Class Citizen" (author) (Legal Times, 08/11/2008)
"Immigration Reform: Don't Count on It" (Chicago Tribune, 07/12/2008)
"Man Acquitted in Terror Case Faces Deportation" (Washington Post, 03/02/2008)
"Absolved of Terrorism, Haitian Still in Limbo" (Miami Herald, 02/04/2008)
"Activist Seeks Help for Immigrants' Kids" (Associated Press, 10/27/2007)
"The Military Commissions Act on Trial" (Chronicle of Higher Education, 08/09/2007)
"Sticking Hazleton With the Bill?" (The Times Leader (PA), 07/29/2007)
"Migrant Arrests Dip; Is the Reason Deterrence or Economic Slip?" (Associated Press, 07/28/2007)
"More Communities Use Local Police to Enforce U.S. Immigration Law" (Christian Science Monitor, 07/17/2007)
"System Makes It Difficult to Deport Foreign Criminals" (Port St. Lucie News & The Stuart News, 06/14/2007)
"Bush Policy Turns Mesa Airport into Deportation Hub" (The Arizona Republic, 03/04/2007)
"High Re-Arrest Rate for Illegal Immigrants/New Findings Come as U.S. Is Struggling to Deport Criminals" (McClatchy News Service, 01/09/2007)
"Prosecutions Won't Halt Railroad" (Denver Post, 12/10/2006)
"Feds Turning up the Heat: Immigrant Son Won't Lose Rights, U.S. Says" (Chicago Tribune, 09/08/2006)
"Concerns Raised About Special Treatment for Salvadorans" (Potomac News, 07/21/2006)
"Justice Overwhelmed" (Government Executive, 07/15/2006)
"Immigration Compromise Difficult to Forge" (NPR's "Morning Edition", 07/07/2006)
"A U.S. Citizen No More, Haitian to Be Deported" (Miami Herald, 06/29/2006)