We are thrilled to announce that Barbara Hines has joined VECINA as a mentor. Barbara has done so much for asylum seekers in Texas throughout her career, and has inspired countless students to become immigration lawyers. We are honored to have her!
Barbara Hines is a former clinical professor and founder of the University of Texas Law School Immigration Clinic. She directed and co-directed the immigration clinic of the University of Texas School of Law from 1999 to 2014. Professor Hines was awarded the 2014 University of Texas School of Law Massey Award for Teaching. She currently teaches as an adjunct professor at the law school.
From 2014 to 2017, she was a Senior Fellow at the Emerson Collective and worked on local and national immigration issues, focusing primarily on the detention of immigrant families.
She served on the Board of the National Immigration Project from 1997 until 2019. She is currently the Co-Chair of the Board of Grassroots Leadership, an abolitionist organization dedicated to reducing mass immigration and criminal incarceration.
Professor Hines has practiced in the field of immigration law since 1975. She has received numerous teaching and professional awards, including the 2020 Texas Law Review Association Leon Green Award, 2018 Ohtli Award for Outstanding Service to the Mexican Community in the U.S. from the Foreign Secretary of Mexico, 2015 National Women’s Political Caucus Women of Courage Award, 2015 Spirit of CHLSA award of the Chicano/Hispanic Law Students Association of University of Texas School of Law, 2010 National Lawyers Guild Carol King Award; 2009 MALDEF Excellence in Legal Services Award; 2007 American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) Elmer Fried Excellence in Teaching and 1992 AILA Jack Wasserman Award for Excellence in Litigation.
Professor Hines was a Fulbright scholar in Argentina in 1996 and 2004, helped establish the first immigration clinic there and continues to collaborate on immigration issues in Argentina.
She has litigated many issues relating to the constitutional and statutory rights of immigrants in federal and immigration courts including the lawsuit leading to the closure of the Hutto immigrant family detention center in 2009. She was a founding member of the Karnes Pro Bono Project, which provided legal services to families detained at the Karnes Detention Center. She was involved in the drafting and passage of in-state tuition legislation for undocumented students in Texas, the first of such laws in the country. Professor Hines continues to work on national immigration issues and advocacy.
Professor Hines received her B.A. with honors in Latin American Studies from the University of Texas at Austin in 1965, attended the University of Texas School of Law and received her J.D. from Northeastern University in 1975.
Welcome to the team, Barbara!