News & Commentary written by Michael Tan

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Michael Tan

Deputy Director

ÌÒ×ÓÊÓÆµImmigrants’ Rights Project

Bio

Michael Tan is Deputy Director of the ÌÒ×ÓÊÓÆµImmigrants' Rights Project (IRP). From 2008 to 2022, Michael held a range of roles at IRP, where he began as a Liman Public Interest Fellow and later worked as a Skadden Fellow. Prior to returning to the ACLU, Michael served as Senior Advisor to the Co-Presidents at Community Change, a nationwide organization that empowers low-income people, and particularly low-income people of color, to lead movements for social change. Michael was also a Clinical Lecturer in Law and Associate Research Scholar in Law at Yale Law School, where he co-taught the Worker and Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic, and served as Executive Director of The Movement Project, a new initiative on labor, climate, and migration issues.

Michael is a graduate of Harvard College and the Yale Law School and also holds a Master's Degree in Comparative Literature from New York University. He clerked for the Honorable M. Margaret McKeown of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He has received several awards for his work, including a California Lawyer of the Year Award in Immigration Law, a Best Lawyers Under 40 Award from the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, and a Best LGBT Lawyer Under the Age of 40 Award from the National LGBT Bar Association.


Featured work

Nov 5, 2015

Judges Say No to Obama’s Lock-’Em-Up-With-No-Questions-Asked Immigration Detention Policy

Judges Say No to Obama’s Lock-’Em-Up-With-No-Questions-Asked Immigration Detention Policy

Aug 10, 2015

President Obama Wants to Continue Imprisoning Immigrant Families

President Obama Wants to Continue Imprisoning Immigrant Families

Apr 13, 2015

Asylum Seekers Shouldn’t Have to Worry About Posting Bond When They Flee Their Homes

Asylum Seekers Shouldn’t Have to Worry About Posting Bond When They Flee Their Homes

Dec 16, 2014

Detained for the Holidays

Detained for the Holidays

Oct 3, 2014

Obama Tells Arizona: Let Dreamers Drive

Obama Tells Arizona: Let Dreamers Drive

Oct 1, 2014

Scholars Evaluate the Cost of Locking Up Immigrants For Months and Years on End. The Results Are as Bad as You'd Expect.

Scholars Evaluate the Cost of Locking Up Immigrants For Months and Years on End. The Results Are as Bad as You'd Expect.

May 28, 2014

Immigrants Held Indefinitely Without a Hearing? Another Court Says No

Immigrants Held Indefinitely Without a Hearing? Another Court Says No

Jan 3, 2014

License to Dream

License to Dream

Nov 20, 2013

Locking Up the Legals

Locking Up the Legals

Aug 7, 2013

VICTORY: Federal Court Rules Immigration Detainees Deserve Fair Hearings

VICTORY: Federal Court Rules Immigration Detainees Deserve Fair Hearings