Immigration, Constitutional Law Scholar Eunice Lee Joins University of Arizona Law Faculty

The University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law welcomes Eunice Lee as associate professor of law. She joins the Bacon Immigration Law and Policy Program as co-director with professors Shefali Milczarek-Desai and Lynn Marcus. Lee is teaching Civil Procedure and an elective course in Immigration Law. 

"We are thrilled to welcome Professor Lee to the community of scholars and students from around the world who come to Arizona Law and departments across campus to study migration and immigration," says Arizona Law Dean Marc Miller. "She brings a unique mix of theoretical power, with her dual training in law and anthropology, and the kind of sustained, real-world experience in immigration law and policy that is a powerful foundation for great scholarship, great teaching, and high-impact work."

Lee’s research centers on the legal and social construction of citizenship, migration and borders. She engages overlapping areas of immigration, administrative, constitutional, and international refugee law to understand the rights of immigrants in the United States. Through both doctrinal analysis and ethnographic methods, she also considers how these rights shape boundaries of sovereignty and statehood, and how advocates and communities expand the possibilities of law through social change. 

"I'm thrilled to have made the University of Arizona and Tucson my new home!” says Lee. “It's an honor and joy to be part of the law school's vibrant intellectual community. Even in these challenging times, my colleagues and students have given me the warmest possible (socially-distanced) welcome. I look especially forward to continuing my journey this fall with my Civil Procedure small section students, and to building on the strength of the law school's programming in immigration law and migration studies." 

In conjunction with her law professorship, Lee will also make valuable contributions to other university entities.  

"University of Arizona faculty and students will benefit tremendously from Professor Lee's expertise and contributions to Anthropology, where she will enhance our strength in international migration, borders, and refugees. We look forward to her future faculty affiliate appointment in the School," says Diane Austin, director of the School of Anthropology. 

In prior practice, Lee litigated to expand the constitutional rights of immigrants at the national American Civil Liberties Union. Her docket included numerous class actions against mandatory immigration detention, challenges to racial and religious profiling of Muslim Americans post-9/11, and lawsuits expanding the education rights of immigrant students. She also co-directed the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies at UC Hastings College of Law, where she led litigation and advocacy to broaden protections for refugee women, children, and LGBTQ+ individuals.  

Lee received her J.D. from Yale Law School, pursued her M.A. and Ph.D. (expected 2020) in Anthropology at UC Berkeley and her B.A. from Stanford University. She previously served as the Albert M. Sacks Fellow at Harvard Law School's Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program. After law school, Lee clerked for the Hon. Carlos F. Lucero of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. In 2019, she received the "40 Under 40" Award from the national LGBT Bar Association for her work expanding protections for transgender and queer asylum seekers.