Peter L. Markowitz is a Professor of Law at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and is the founding faculty member and co-director of the Kathryn O. Greenberg Immigration Justice Clinic. The clinic focuses on the intersection of immigration and criminal law and on immigration enforcement issues. It provides deportation defense representation to individuals and represents community-based and national advocacy organizations on impact projects. The clinic and Professor Markowitz have played a central role in many critical innovations in the field of immigration law, for example: creating the nation’s first public defender system for detained immigrants (the New York Immigrant Family Unity Project); developing the concept of detainer discretion (sanctuary laws); developing the first national immigration fellowship program (the Immigrant Justice Corps); and initiating the nation’s first full-service in-house immigration unit located in a public defender’s office (at The Bronx Defenders). Under Professor Markowitz’s leadership, the clinic has been honored with numerous awards, including the Daniel Levy Award for outstanding and innovative advocacy and recognized by the New York City Council for groundbreaking work on behalf of immigrant communities.

Professor Markowitz’s scholarship focuses on immigration and constitutional law.  He has published widely in leading law journals and in the popular press with op-eds appearing in The New York Times, The Nation, Huffington Post, and more. Prior to coming to Cardozo, Professor Markowitz taught at both New York University and Hofstra Schools of Law. He received his J.D. from New York University School of Law, magna cum laude, in 2001, along with the University Graduation Prize and the Sommer Memorial Award. Following graduation, Professor Markowitz clerked for the Honorable Frederic Block, U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of New York. Prior to entering academia, he was a Soros Justice Fellow at The Bronx Defenders.