Media & Speaking
Firsthand analysisof law, policy, andinstitutional practice.
Jason Marks brings eleven years inside the U.S. asylum and refugee systems to interviews, panels, podcasts, lectures, trainings, and moderated conversations.
He has been photographed, interviewed, or quoted by national and international outlets on refugee protection, asylum, immigration policy, DHS operations and culture, and the federal workforce.
Featured Media
The New York Times Magazine · Cover story
The View From Inside Trump’s D.H.S.
Photographed and quoted in this reported examination of life inside the Department of Homeland Security. Marks discussed protection decisions, the danger of returning people to unsafe conditions, and changes in agency culture.
Read the profile →Selected Coverage & Interviews
NOTUS · July 9, 2026
Trump Is Deploying Every U.S. Refugee Officer to Just One Country
Quoted on the reassignment of the refugee officer corps and the transformation of U.S. refugee processing around admissions from South Africa.
View →The New York Times · June 23, 2026
How Trump Turned America’s Refugee Program Into a Pathway for White People
Quoted on the administration’s reshaping of the refugee program as Afrikaner admissions were prioritized while previously approved refugees remained excluded.
View →Not So Foreign Policy · June 15, 2026
Americans Are Open to Refugees, But America Is Not
Interviewed by former State Department official Liya Khan about public attitudes toward refugees and the work required to rebuild U.S. protection systems.
View →The Washington Post · August 7, 2020
The U.S. Hired Me to Protect Refugees. Now It Tells Me to Abandon Them.
An op-ed warning that dismantling America’s refugee and asylum protections would cost lives—and take years to reverse.
View →The New York Times · July 15, 2020
Asylum Officers Condemn What They Call ‘Draconian’ Plans by Trump
Quoted as a union representative for asylum and refugee officers on proposed restrictions and their consequences for protection adjudication.
View →Reuters · Global syndication · July 15, 2017
Australia–U.S. Refugee Swap Again in Doubt as Officials Exit Nauru
Quoted as AFGE Chief Steward on the U.S.–Australia refugee arrangement and operational changes affecting refugee processing on Nauru.
View →ABC News · August 10, 2020
America’s Role in Helping Refugees
Television interview on U.S. refugee policy, the responsibilities of protection, and the experience of officers charged with carrying it out.
View →Speaking
Programs can be designed for legal, academic, nonprofit, media, and general audiences as panels, keynote conversations, guest lectures, CLEs, podcasts, interviews, practical trainings, or moderated discussions.
Selected topics
- 01
How asylum and refugee adjudication works in practice
- 02
The rapid transformation of the U.S. immigration system—and its operational and human consequences
- 03
The U.S. Refugee Admissions Program and overseas refugee processing
- 04
From policy announcement to operational reality inside federal agencies
- 05
Credibility, interviewing, testimony, and the adjudicative record
- 06
Afghanistan, Ukraine, refugee protection, and the obligations of service
- 07
Turning legal and institutional experience into public writing and dramatic storytelling
Speaker biography
Jason Marks
Jason Marks is an attorney, writer, and advocate who spent eleven years at USCIS as an Asylum Officer, Refugee Officer, Asylum Training Officer, and Supervisory Refugee Officer. Earlier in his career, he led post-conviction capital-defense investigations across the Deep South, represented plaintiffs in civil litigation, and served as a Peace Corps Volunteer and legal instructor in Ukraine. His work now spans expert analysis, litigation support, professional training, public writing, speaking, advocacy, and original storytelling.
Interviews & engagements
For interviews, commentary, panels, podcasts, lectures, trainings, or moderated conversations, include the topic, format, audience, date or deadline, location or platform, and whether the event will be recorded.