Professor Rebecca Sharpless, associate dean for experiential learning and director of the Immigration Clinic, recently participated in three speaking events. At the AILA Law Journal Symposium, she spoke on “The Role of Federal Courts in Shaping Asylum Law: A Comparative Analysis.” She also gave a talk on her recent book, Shackled: 92 Refugees Imprisoned on ICE Air at Harvard Law School, and spoke about “Litigation and the 2024 Election” at the Federal Court Litigation Section of the American Immigration Lawyers Association meeting.
Sharpless researches and writes in the areas of immigration law, progressive lawyering, and the intersection of immigration and criminal law. Her scholarship focuses on how hierarchies within these areas affect the most marginalized, denigrated, and unpopular groups. Professor Sharpless’ work addresses the harms and limitations of the conceptual framework for immigration reform that draws its narrative force from a contrast between model immigrants and people who have been convicted of a criminal offense.
The docket and pedagogy of the Immigration Clinic reflect and inform Sharpless' scholarly work. With her clinic students, she represents indigent noncitizens in removal proceedings and engages in litigation in U.S. district court and before the U.S. courts of appeals. She also speaks widely on immigration law, including at academic symposia and events such as the annual conference of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
