Jocelyn Dyer

Jocelyn Dyer serves as a Clinical Assistant Professor at The Catholic University of America's Columbus School of Law, directing the Immigrant & Refugee Advocacy Clinic. With nearly two decades of immigration law practice, she specializes in asylum law and has extensive experience training pro bono attorneys and mentoring law students through high-stakes immigration cases.

Education:

• J.D., University of Pennsylvania Law School (cum laude, Senior Editor of University of Pennsylvania Law Review)
• B.A., Cornell University

Professor Dyer's expertise centers on immigrant and refugee law with deep specialization in asylum law and immigration detention systems. Her work addresses critical gaps in access to counsel for noncitizens, developing innovative models for group mentorship and pro bono representation in detained asylum cases. She actively contributes to national discourse through frequent speaking engagements at American Immigration Lawyers Association conferences and the North American Refugee Health Conference, focusing on capacity-building and crisis response in immigration systems.

As clinic director, Professor Dyer supervises student attorneys handling asylum cases with life-or-death consequences, achieving significant outcomes including secured asylum grants after contested trials and reunification of Afghan families separated during the Taliban takeover. She pioneered cross-clinic collaborations with University of Maryland and American University law schools to prepare Afghan refugees for Asylum Office interviews through workshops serving nearly 100 individuals in Virginia during the 2022-2023 academic year.

The Immigrant & Refugee Advocacy Clinic operates as a community partnership model, collaborating with refugee resettlement agencies to deliver legal services while providing hands-on training for law students. Recent initiatives include Spring Break immersion trips where students represent clients in immigration proceedings and develop trauma-informed interviewing techniques for asylum seekers.