At the invitation of the Migrations Studies Master Program, Amanda Frost will discuss the revocation of student visas, the use of the Alien Enemies Act (1798) for law enforcement purposes, the campaign to revoke citizenship, and the questioning of birthright citizenship, opening up a broader discussion on the state of civil liberties in the United States today.

The presentation will be in English, and the Q&A session will be in French and English.

Biography

Amanda Frost is a Professor of Law and Director of the Immigration, Migration, and Human Rights Program at the University of Virginia. A specialist in immigration law, citizenship, and judicial ethics, her work has been cited by numerous courts, including the US Supreme Court, and has led to her being heard by Congress. She also publishes in the national press (The Atlantic, The Washington Post, The New York Times, etc.) and internationally (Le Monde).

A recipient of a fellowship from the American Council of Learned Societies, she published You Are Not American: Citizenship Stripping from Dred Scott to the Dreamers (2021), which was praised by The New York Times and was a finalist for the Mark Lynton History Prize. She is currently working on a new book on the history of birthright citizenship (to be published in 2026).

Before entering academia, she worked as a lawyer in the federal court system and the U.S. Senate, directed the American University's immigration law clinic, and was a Fulbright scholar on transparency in the EU. She taught at Harvard, UCLA, Université Lyon 3, Nanterre, and Mainz, then at American University before joining the University of Virginia.