Immigration is one of the defining and polarizing issues of our times. An increasing number of people are migrating due to climate change, wars, poverty, and other push factors. Immigration is being used to stoke racial fears, divide working-class people, and undermine democracy worldwide. The Cornell Migration and Human Rights Program seeks to engage those issues and sits at the nexus of practice and research on immigration law in the United States and around the world. The Program supports the collaboration of scholars, practitioners and students at Cornell’s Law School and its Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy and more than a dozen visiting fellows with deep expertise in immigration and human rights.
Our fellows program brings together prominent immigration scholars, policymakers, and other public figures across the ideological spectrum in a non-resident capacity.
Gretchen Hanson is the Program Coordinator for the Migration and Human Rights Program. In this role, she collaborates with program faculty to lead key fundraising efforts and provides strategic programmatic support for ongoing projects and research. Her responsibilities include facilitating proposal development, preparing reports for funders, managing financial stewardship and overseeing the program’s communications strategy. She supports a variety of legal and policy initiatives, including the Fellows program and various events. She also serves as a liaison between program faculty and departments across the Law School and the broader university, while maintaining relationships with external funders.
With a decade of experience in international development, Gretchen brings expertise in program management, implementation, volunteer coordination and proposal development for initiatives focused on sustainable agriculture, food security, and locally-led development. She holds a B.S. from Iowa State University and a master’s degree in Global Development from Cornell University, with a concentration in agriculture and rural development. She is fluent in Thai.
Dylan Rogers became part of the Cornell Law School Centers and Programs Team in March 2024, taking on the role of Administrative Assistant. In this role, he plays a key part in supporting multiple centers and initiatives, including the Migration and Human Rights Program. Dylan handles a broad spectrum of administrative responsibilities, oversees the coordination of program events and activities, and helps maintain clear and effective communication within the team and with outside partners. His strong organizational skills and dedication to high standards are vital to the efficient functioning of the program and its continued success in advancing its mission.
Wendy Samples joined the Cornell Law School Centers & Programs Team as an Administrative Assistant in January 2024. In this role, she provides vital support to several centers and programs, including the Migration and Human Rights Program. Wendy’s responsibilities encompass managing various administrative tasks, coordinating program activities, and facilitating effective communication among team members and external partners. With her keen attention to detail and commitment to excellence, she plays a crucial role in ensuring the program operates smoothly, actively contributing to its overall mission and objectives.
For more than a decade, the Migration & Human Rights Program has served as a hub that directly links immigration law practice within Cornell’s clinics and wide-ranging research by Cornell faculty with law and policy discussions in Washington, DC, Albany, and around the world. In the past five years, the program has raised nearly five million dollars, including through significant grants from the Charles Koch Foundation, the Crankstart Foundation, the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, the Immigrant Justice Corps, the Open Society Foundations, the Robert S. Bosch Stiftung, and the Mellon Foundation Just Futures Initiative (through the Cornell University Migrations Initiative) as well as the First Baptist Church and the First Presbyterian Church of Cooperstown, New York, and major contributions from several anonymous individual and institutional donors. This funding has enabled the Program to expand its core programs and created a structure that makes it unique in the immigration ecosystem in the United States.
