NYLS Professor Lenni B. Benson, together with Professor Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia of Penn State Dickinson Law, has released the third edition of Immigration and Nationality Law, published by Carolina Academic Press.
The seminal textbook has been revised to reflect the evolving landscape of immigration law and policy, particularly developments in the courts and the executive branch. The introduction to the third edition highlights how immigration law intersects several areas of legal practice, while the text provides a strong foundation in the constitutional, statutory, and regulatory frameworks essential for practitioners. Coverage spans topics ranging from expedited removal and constitutional analysis to nonimmigrant visas and humanitarian relief.
The new edition maintains emphasis on the role of administrative agencies, appreciation for public servants, and a problem-based approach that challenges students to work through complex and shifting immigration scenarios. These features continue to distinguish Immigration and Nationality Law as both practical and analytically rigorous.
Professors Benson and Wadhia collectively bring more than 60 years of experience in immigration law, including work in private practice, policy, the federal government, and legal education. Both are recipients of the American Immigration Lawyers Association’s prestigious Elmer Fried Excellence in Teaching Award.
About Professor Lenni B. Benson
Professor Lenni B. Benson has been teaching and writing in the field of immigration law since 1994. In addition to serving as a Professor of Law at NYLS for more than 25 years and founding the School’s Immigration and Litigation Clinic, she created the Safe Passage Project, which links unaccompanied children and teenagers facing deportation to legal representation. She was appointed the Distinguished Chair in Immigration and Human Rights Law at NYLS in 2019.
Professor Benson has won national awards for her pro bono leadership and excellence in immigration teaching, including the prestigious Child 10 Award in 2018, which recognizes international human rights leaders protecting children. She also published an edited academic volume of international essays with Professor Mary Crock of the University of Sydney entitled Protecting Migrant Children: In Search of Best Practice (Elgar Press, 2018).
Professor Benson is a member of several national task forces on the needs of migrant youth and has been a speaker for the federal government at national trainings. She was a founding Steering Committee member of the American Immigration Representation Project, formed in 2017 to expand pro bono representation of detained immigrants as part of the national project, www.immigrationjustice.us. From 2012 to 2015, she was Chair of the Immigration and Nationality Law Committee of the New York City Bar Association. In 2012, she and Professor Russell Wheeler of American University Washington College of Law completed a study of the immigration courts for the federal government’s Administrative Conference of the United States.
A native Arizonan, Professor Benson earned her B.S. and J.D. degrees from Arizona State University, where she graduated cum laude for both degrees. She is also a former partner in the international law firm of Bryan Cave, LLP.