Tom Jawetz is a senior fellow for Immigration Policy at American Progress. Prior to joining American Progress, Jawetz served as deputy general counsel of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security from 2021 to 2022. Previously, he was vice president of Immigration Policy at American Progress from 2015 to 2021, after serving as chief counsel on the Immigration Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee. In that capacity, Jawetz devised and executed strategies for immigration-related hearings and markups before the Committee on the Judiciary and legislation on the House floor. He has testified before the U.S. House of Representatives and advised members of Congress and congressional staff on all areas of immigration law and policy.
Prior to his time at the Judiciary Committee, Jawetz worked as the immigration detention staff attorney at the National Prison Project, a part of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). There, he represented detainees in class action and individual challenges to unlawful conditions of confinement and twice testified before Congress. While at ACLU, he investigated abuses in Louisiana jails and prisons during and after Hurricane Katrina and co-authored the report “Abandoned and Abused: Orleans Parish Prisoners in the Wake of Hurricane Katrina.” Jawetz previously represented asylum-seekers in judicial and administrative proceedings with the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs and served as a law clerk to the Hon. Kimba M. Wood of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Jawetz holds a bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College and a J.D. from Yale Law School.
The Trump Administration Must Immediately Resume Processing New DACA Applications
As the Supreme Court’s decision goes into effect, the Trump administration must now allow 300,000 young people to file new applications for DACA, including 55,500 of the youngest DACA-eligible individuals who did not previously have the chance to apply.
Federal Immigration Officials Must Take Immediate Action To Prevent Further Coronavirus Outbreaks at Detention Facilities
As COVID-19 spreads exponentially at detention facilities nationwide, ICE’s inadequate response is leaving tens of thousands of detainees and facility staff, as well as broader communities, increasingly vulnerable.
Federal Immigration Officials Can Help Protect Public Health During the Coronavirus Pandemic
While some local law enforcement agencies have responded to the COVID-19 outbreak by diverting people away from prisons and jails and by releasing particularly vulnerable incarcerated individuals, federal immigration officials are continuing to endanger the lives and safety of detained people and undermine public health.
DHS Must Suspend Certain Immigration Enforcement Practices During the Coronavirus Outbreak
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has yet to issue a formal statement suspending certain immigration enforcement initiatives to preserve life and safety during the coronavirus outbreak.
Bait and Switch: How the Trump Administration Is Trying to Deport Spouses of U.S. Citizens
A federal court in Maryland recently blocked the Trump administration’s use of a program designed to promote legal status for the spouses of U.S. citizens to instead entrap and deport them.
Board of Immigration Appeals Greenlights Deportation of Immigrants Eligible for and Deserving of Relief
A recent decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals illustrates why a deportation-only approach to immigration enforcement leads to unfair and unjust outcomes.
DACA Recipients’ Livelihoods, Families, and Sense of Security Are at Stake This November
As the Supreme Court prepares to hear arguments on the fate of DACA, new results show that the initiative remains critical for recipients, their families, and the economy.
A new Trump administration rule undermines key protections and sanitary standards for migrant children. The move is dangerous and cruel.
Tom Jawetz argues that the Trump administration's new rule undermining the Flores agreement would further put migrant children entering the United States in danger by eliminating basic, important safeguards.
Restoring the Rule of Law Through a Fair, Humane, and Workable Immigration System
Policymakers must break free of the false dichotomy of America as either a nation of immigrants or a nation of laws, and advance an immigration system that is fair, humane, and actually works.
Building a More Dynamic Economy: The Benefits of Immigration
Tom Jawetz, vice president for Immigration Policy at American Progress, testified before a hearing on the benefits of immigration at the U.S. House of Representatives on June 26, 2019.
