Professor Amelia Wilson, Director of the Immigration Justice Clinic at Haub Law, discusses the legal framework surrounding ICE enforcement in Newsweek. She notes that when ICE has evidence someone is in the U.S. without authorization, it can serve as the basis for both detention and deportation proceedings under current federal law.

Amelia Wilson
Biography
Professor Amelia Wilson joined the Haub Law faculty in 2024 when she became the Director of the Immigration Justice Clinic (“IJC”). In her role as Director of the IJC, Professor Wilson also has clinical teaching responsibilities. Previously, Professor Wilson was an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Immigrants’ Rights/International Human Rights Clinic at Seton Hall School of Law. Prior to joining Seton Hall School of Law, Professor Wilson served for four years as Supervising Attorney, Research Scholar and Lecturer-in-Law at Columbia Law School where she co-taught the Immigrants’ Rights Clinic. Professor Wilson has been practicing in the area of immigration law since 2005 and has represented hundreds of individuals as they navigate our detention and deportation system. She specializes in representing noncitizens with mental health disabilities, and her research and scholarship focus on safeguarding the due process rights of this particularly vulnerable population. In addition to teaching, writing, and engaging in direct legal services, Professor Wilson helped the Department of Justice build the first (and to date, only) government-funded appointed counsel system for any immigrant group. Professor Wilson received her JD from the University of Minnesota Law School and her BA from the University of Iowa.
Education
- BA, University of Iowa
- JD, University of Minnesota Law School
Selected Publications
View all of Professor Wilson’s publications on or download her CV (PDF).
- What’s the Matter with Franco-Gonzalez, 57 U.C. Davis L. Rev. 1267 (2023)
- Force Multiplier: An Intersectional Examination of One Immigrant Woman’s Journey Through Multiple Systems Of Oppression, 38 Berkeley J. Gender L. & Just. 1 (2023)
- Accessing Justice: A Call for Reparations for the Survivors of Medical Abuse at the Irwin County Detention Center, 37 Md. J. Int'l L. 54 (2022)
- Franco I Loved: Reconciling the Two Halves of the Nation’s Only Government-Funded Public Defender Program for Immigrants, 97 Wash. L. Rev. Online 21 (2022)
- Addressing All Heads of the Hydra: Reframing Safeguards for Mentally Impaired Detainees in Immigration Removal Proceedings, 39 N.Y.U. Rev. L. & Soc. Change 313 (2015) (with Natalie Prokop & Stephanie Robbins)
- Applying Method to the Madness: The Right to Court Appointed Guardians Ad Litem and Counsel for the Mentally Ill in Immigration Proceedings, 16 U. Pa. J.L. & Soc. Change 1 (2013) (with Natalie Prokop)
Areas of Interest
Immigration Law
Related News and Stories
Professor Amelia Wilson of the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at ǿմý provides legal clarity in Newsweek on a proposed White House policy regarding green card revocations. She explains that under the Immigration and Nationality Act, the Department of Homeland Security does not have the authority to unilaterally revoke a permanent resident’s legal status.
Professor Amelia Wilson, Director of the Immigration Justice Clinic at Haub Law, speaks to Mother Jones about the devastating effects of defunding the National Qualified Representative Program, a DOJ initiative providing attorneys for detained immigrants with mental illness. Wilson previously led the NQRP and offers vital insight into what was lost when this federal protection was removed.