Bio
Michael Tan is a Deputy Director for the ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project (IRP). His practice includes litigation and advocacy relating to immigration detention, immigrants' access to education, and the rights of undocumented young people. He is a graduate of Harvard College and the Yale Law School and also holds a Master's Degree in Comparative Literature from New York University. After law school, Michael clerked for the Honorable M. Margaret McKeown of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and worked at IRP as Skadden Fellow and a Liman Public Interest Fellow. In 2014, he was awarded a California Lawyer of the Year Award in Immigration Law for his work on Rodriguez v. Robbins, a class action lawsuit challenging the prolonged detention of immigrants without bond hearings. Michael was awarded a Best Lawyers Under 40 Award by the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association in 2016, and was also named a Best LGBT Lawyer Under the Age of 40 by the National LGBT Bar Association in 2017.
Featured work
![](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2019/09/blog-immg-dwh-500x280-v01_0-400x266.jpg)
Apr 16, 2013
On Eve of Immigration Reform Rollout, Immigration Detainees Win Right to Fair Hearing
![Mass Incarceration](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2019/09/blog-prisonstandards-500x280-v01_0-400x266.jpg)
Mar 14, 2013
Which Would You Prefer – Spending $164 or $15?
![Dulce Matuz](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2019/09/dreamers-500x280-crop-v08-400x266.jpg)
Jan 18, 2013
New Federal Guidance Makes Clear That States Should Let the DREAMers Drive
![Mass Incarceration](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2019/09/blog-prisonstandards-500x280-v01_0-400x266.jpg)
Jan 18, 2013
Curtailing Immigration Prison System Can Reduce Spending Without Hurting Public Safety
![](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2019/09/blog-exposeandclose-v02-400x266.jpg)
Nov 15, 2012
ACLU Files Class Action Lawsuit Challenging Mandatory Immigration Lock-up