Attorney · Writer · Advocate

Jason Marks

Former USCIS Supervisory Refugee Officer and Asylum Training Officer

Former Chief Union Steward, USCIS Refugee Affairs

Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (Ukraine) · Former Capital Defense Investigator, Southern Center for Human Rights

Portrait of Jason Marks

Drawing on a career spanning capital-defense investigation, Peace Corps service in Ukraine, civil litigation, and eleven years inside the U.S. asylum and refugee systems, Jason Marks brings firsthand institutional experience to expert analysis, public writing, advocacy, and creative storytelling.

For more than two decades, Jason Marks has worked where law, institutions, and human lives intersect. He led post-conviction capital-defense investigations across the Deep South, represented plaintiffs in California courts, taught law in Ukraine, and spent eleven years at USCIS, where he adjudicated thousands of asylum and refugee cases, supervised refugee officers, and served as an Asylum Training Officer. For four years, Marks also served as Chief Union Steward for USCIS Refugee Affairs, representing colleagues facing disciplinary and other adverse employment actions. He led public advocacy on behalf of asylum and refugee officers and organized union amicus participation in several major national cases challenging refugee and asylum policies adopted during the first Trump administration.

11Years inside USCIS asylum and refugee programs
ThousandsAsylum and refugee cases adjudicated or reviewed
HundredsUSCIS asylum and refugee officers trained
GlobalAssignments across five continents

01

Expert Work

Complex asylum and refugee matters: strategic attorney consultations, case assessment, expert declarations, litigation support, record review, mock interviews, professional training, CLEs, and operational analysis.

Explore Expert Work

02

Writing & Public Commentary

Essays and analysis on refugee protection, asylum law, democracy, Ukraine, public institutions, and the human consequences of immigration policy.

Read the Writing

03

Creative Work

Original television, film, and theatre drawn from refugee and asylum work, capital-defense investigation, and Peace Corps service in Ukraine.

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Work with Jason

Expert consultations, litigation support, training, speaking, and creative inquiries.