For more than 35 years, this immigration law and policy expert witness has focused on immigration law, refugee and asylum matters, constitutional law, race relations, and Asian American legal history. His professional work includes analysis of immigration enforcement practices, due process protections, citizenship and deportation issues, family-based immigration matters, political asylum, and the legal treatment of immigrant communities within the United States. He has also provided consultations, depositions, affidavits, and courtroom testimony for over 30 years in immigration-related legal proceedings and policy disputes.

His legal and academic career has included longstanding appointments as a law professor at several public and private universities and law schools, where he has taught immigration law, evidence, negotiation, constitutional law, migration theory, rebellious lawyering, and Asian American legal history. In addition to classroom instruction, he has participated extensively in immigration clinic education, immigrant rights initiatives, racial equity advocacy, and public-interest legal education involving underserved immigrant communities. His background further includes leadership roles in community-based legal advocacy organizations and interdisciplinary immigration policy development.

Distinct from practitioners whose experience centers primarily on private immigration filings, his work frequently examines broader structural and constitutional issues affecting immigration systems and immigrant communities. He previously served as co-counsel in a precedent-setting United States Supreme Court asylum case and has participated in numerous appellate immigration and civil rights matters involving asylum law, deportation defense, due process protections, naturalization, and immigrant rights. His scholarship and analysis additionally encompass immigrant detention, race and immigration history, labor issues affecting immigrant populations, sanctuary policies, and the relationship between immigration enforcement and civil rights protections.

He earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of San Francisco following undergraduate studies in psychology. His professional affiliations, leadership activities, and scholarly contributions include founding and directing the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, service on immigration and civil rights advisory bodies, and participation in public policy and social justice initiatives focused on immigration reform and immigrant rights. He has authored numerous books, law review articles, policy publications, and immigration law practice guides addressing immigration law, refugee protections, deportation policy, race relations, constitutional challenges within the immigration system, and Asian American legal history.