Deborah E. Anker is Clinical Professor of Law and the Founder of the Harvard Law School Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program (HIRC). Professor Anker is one of the most widely known asylum practitioners, teachers and scholars in the United States and a pioneer in the development of clinical legal education in the immigration field, training students in direct representation of refugees and creating a foundation for immigration clinics at law schools around the U.S.
Author of the leading treatise, Law of Asylum in the United States, Anker has co-drafted groundbreaking U.S. Gender Asylum Guidelines and amicus curiae briefs. Her historical work on U.S. ratification and implementation of the UN Refugee Convention in The Forty Year Crisis, is a classic that has shaped the interpretation of U.S. asylum law, especially in an internationalist direction. Professor Anker co-authored the first study of the expedited removal process for asylum seekers. She has received numerous awards for her work in the asylum and immigration field.
Professor Anker work has been cited by federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court as well as by various international tribunals. Professor Anker has received numerous awards for, among other achievements, her human rights work and teaching. Anker was designated a Woman of Justice by the Massachusetts Bar Association, and in 2011, she was elected as a Fellow to the American Bar Foundation. She is a Senior Research affiliate of the London-based, Refugee Law Initiative.
The United States has long recognized the duty to protect refugees and prevent their return to persecution or torture. Indeed, the United States is a signatory to the Protocol to the Refugee Convention and the Convention Against Torture and has incorporated both treaties directly into domestic law and regulations. The Biden administration has, however, continued…
