Gone are the days of University life for Law Prof. David Martin. The calm days of lectures and meetings with students and faculty members are, for now, part of the past.
A specialist in international and immigration law, Martin now is on two years of leave from the University, to work for Barack Obama’s administration at the Department of Homeland Security.
Martin will serve as Principal Deputy General Counsel, currently acting as the General Counsel, which means he is the second most senior lawyer in the department, he said.
The department has a wide range of responsibilities, Martin said, noting that he will deal with the more delicate ones.
Currently, Martin is serving former Gov. Janet Napolitano, D-Arizona,, a 1983 Virginia Law School alumna who helped Martin get his current position — a lucky coincidence, he said.
In addition to that connection, Martin said he was a supporter of Obama during the campaign and was asked to be a part of the transition team that examined the Department of Homeland Security in November.
The transition teams were designed before the Inauguration to “ensure that senior appointees have the information necessary to complete the confirmation process, lead their departments, and begin implementing signature policy initiatives immediately,” according to change.gov, Obama’s Web site prior to becoming president.
Martin brings significant experience to his role in the Obama administration. He served as special assistant to the assistant secretary for human rights and humanitarian affairs at the State Department in the late 1970s and also as General Counsel of the Immigration and Naturalization Service in the mid-1990s. As a result of both his government and academic work, Martin said he knows “a lot about the benefits and enforcement of immigration policies.”
One of Martin’s ongoing goals is to refine the system of processing both applications for citizenship and residency to be more efficient. This will include improving the enforcement and verification procedures for ensuring foreign employees’ legal statuses. Martin said he also would like to tackle the legalization of undocumented residents, adding that there is no current delineation between detainment versus refugee status.
“We need a system that works, is enforceable and responsive to human needs and to economic restrictions,” he said.
A 1975 Yale Law School alumnus, Martin said he was drawn to immigration through his work at the State Department.
“I worked with human rights issues when they were brand new to the department, specifically the refugee offices,” he said.
After the Vietnam War, there was a mass exodus and the office was overwhelmed, at which point Martin had to learn immigration law, he said. He added that he gained further knowledge about refugee and immigration law after becoming a professor.
At the University, Martin teaches international law, including immigration and refugee law, as well as constitutional law. He also initiated the University’s immigration law program in collaboration with Assoc. Law Prof. Kerry Abrams, and is currently the program director. Abrams said she and Martin teach the same courses and have worked together with students conducting independent research.
“He is one of the most effective and dedicated teachers, and it is a real treat to be on faculty with someone who has such real world experience,” she said. “People are willing to come here from far away because of [Martin’s] reputation.”
Martin also is deeply involved with immigrant detention issues, as Immigration and Customs Enforcement is a major part of his work at the DHS. At the upcoming Virginia Festival of the Book, Martin will moderate a discussion about asylum seekers in the United States. The Law School will host the event with the sponsorship of Amnesty International as part of the five-day festival beginning March 18.
David Ngaruri Kenney, a political refugee from Kenya, and his lawyer Phillip Schrag are the authors of “Asylum Denied: A Refugee’s Struggle for Safety in America.” The book will be featured in the festival and the discussion will be about Ngauri’s journey to the United States, the Web site said. Martin, who organized the event, said he is concerned with the issues surrounding detention practices and is working to improve the system.
He added that it is important to get students and the wider community involved with the International Rescue Committee. One branch of IRC is located in Charlottesville and aids in resettling about 150 refugees per year in the area, according to the IRC Web site.
As his participation in the Festival of the Book suggests, Martin is still very much involved in the University and wider Charlottesville community, despite his relocation. When his tenure with DHS and the administration is complete, he said he intends to return to the Law School. He is still in e-mail contact with many of his students and is supervising students’ papers.
“This is quite an exciting time for me,” Martin said. “I’m enjoying it immensely.”