Michael Kagan

Director, UNLV Immigration Clinic
Professor of Law
Expertise: Immigration Law, International Human Rights Law, Administrative Law

Biography

Michael Kagan, director of the UNLV Immigration Clinic, teaches administrative law, professional responsibility, international human rights and immigration law.  In both his research and his clinical teaching, Kagan focuses on the tension between immigration law and civil rights.

Kagan has been published by numerous top law reviews and journals and wrote several of the most widely cited articles in the fields of international refugee and asylum law, which have been relied on by courts in multiple countries.  Kagan’s research on credibility assessment in asylum cases “guided most subsequent research and analysis on the topic,” according to a 2012 commentary. He is frequently interviewed on immigration issues by local, national and global news media, and is a frequent Op-Ed writer, with his work appearing in The Washington PostSalon.comThe Daily BeastWorld Politics Review, and The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Before coming to UNLV's Boyd School of Law, Kagan spent 10 years building legal aid programs for refugees throughout the Middle East and Asia, and lived in London, Cairo, Beirut and Jerusalem. He held teaching positions at Tel Aviv University and the American University in Cairo. His role in expanding refugee legal aid in the global south was profiled in Zachary Kaufman’s Social Entrepreneurship in the Age of Atrocities (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2012).

Education

  • J.D., University of Michigan Law School
  • B.A., Northwestern University

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Michael Kagan In The News

City Cast Las Vegas
The incoming presidential administration led a campaign that promised mass deportations. As the nation’s leader in mixed-status families, what does that mean for the portion of Las Vegas immigrants still working on their U.S. citizenship? Co-host Dayvid Figler talks with Michael Kagan, law professor and director of the UNLV Immigration Clinic, about how the current and possible future of immigration policy will impact everyone living in Las Vegas, and what residents can do to be prepared.
The Nevada Independent
Elias Benjelloun’s parents were issued their deportation orders quickly after President-elect Donald Trump first stepped into office in 2016. For the family, Benjelloun said, the deportation order felt somewhat like a betrayal. Originally from the Netherlands, the family’s asylum case had been pending for decades before the FBI had granted them assistance after Benjelloun’s father — owner of a popular Las Vegas hookah lounge — reported information.
U.S.A. Today
After years of Texas being the first stop for people illegally crossing the border, Lone Star State officials are volunteering to let President-elect Donald Trump use a state ranch as the last place immigrants set foot on American soil before being forcibly deported.On Tuesday, Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham offered Trump a 1,400-acre ranch near the border in South Texas to host a mass deportation facility. Buckingham bought the ranch earlier this year, she said, because the previous owner refused to let Texas build a border wall across it.
Nevada Current
Nevada’s captains of industry and political leaders are doing little, if anything, to prepare for the potential economic hit as well as the human toll of President-elect Donald Trump’s vow to deport at least 11 million undocumented immigrants, including 189,000 who live in Nevada.

Articles Featuring Michael Kagan

UNLV XMAS
Campus News | December 3, 2024

This month’s frosty headlines and highlights from the students and faculty of UNLV.

unlv pumpkins
Campus News | November 4, 2024

A monthly roundup of the top news stories at UNLV, featuring the presidential election, gaming partnerships, and much more.

Undergrad researcher Benjamin Sabir helps H. Jeremy Cho examine an atmospheric water harvesting device. (Jeff Scheid/UNLV)
Campus News | October 1, 2024

A monthly roundup of the top news stories featuring UNLV staff and students.

Students pass by Lied Library as they walk campus on the first day of Fall 2024 semester classes
Campus News | September 6, 2024

A collection of news highlights featuring students and faculty.