Stanford University, Bruce Tyson Mitchell
Professor of Law

Jennifer M. Chacón is a leading scholar and advocate at the intersection of immigration law, constitutional law, and criminal law. Her research focuses on how legal frameworks related to immigration and law enforcement shape racial and ethnic identities, citizenship, and social belonging. Chacón is the co-author of the textbook Immigration Law and Social Justice, and the book Legal Phantoms. Legal Phantoms tells the stories of those directly impacted by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, shedding light on the complexities of navigating uncharted legal territory and the creativity and resilience with which those impacted find their own paths. Professor Chacón is a past Chair of the American Association of Law School’s Section on Immigration, and of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Rules Committee. She is a member of the American Law Institute, and is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation (ABF).

Holly Cooper

UC Davis School of Law, Co-Director
of Immigration Law Clinic

Holly S. Cooper is a nationally recognized expert on immigration detention issues and the immigration consequences of criminal convictions who has worked extensively on advocating for detained immigrants' rights. She founded the first friend of the court program for detained immigrant children, the Detained Immigrant Children’s Rights Project at the Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project. Cooper and the Immigration Law Clinic recently won the class action case Lucas R. v. Azar, deepening and expanding protections for the most vulnerable children in custody including children with disabilities, children moved to more restrictive facilities, children who are not promptly released to sponsors, children who are administered psychotropic medications, and children whose lawyers are obstructed from comprehensive representation. She has also served as an expert consultant to Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch for their reports on immigration detention conditions and the rights of immigrant detainees.