Ilya Somin to headline 'Luminaries in Law' event at Seattle U Law

Somin's lecture will draw from his scholarship challenging the way that immigration is increasingly framed by some influential political and cultural figures

SEATTLE, WA, UNITED STATES, February 24, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Ilya Somin, professor of law at George Mason University and the B. Kenneth Simon Chair in Constitutional Studies at the Cato Institute, will take part in a fireside chat with Seattle University School of Law Dean Anthony E. Varona and Professor Andrew Siegel at noon on Thursday, March 19, 2026, at Sullivan Hall on Seattle University's campus, as part of the Dean's Luminaries in Law Lecture and Conversation Series. During the discussion, "Immigration is not Invasion," they will explore Somin’s scholarship challenging the increasingly common framing of immigration as an “invasion,” examining its constitutional, historical, and democratic implications.

Somin's research focuses on constitutional law, property law, democratic theory, federalism, and migration rights. He is the author of "Free to Move: Foot Voting, Migration, and Political Freedom" (Oxford University Press, revised and expanded edition, 2022), "Democracy and Political Ignorance: Why Smaller Government is Smarter" (Stanford University Press, revised and expanded second edition, 2016), and "The Grasping Hand: Kelo v. City of New London and the Limits of Eminent Domain" (University of Chicago Press, 2015, rev. paperback ed., 2016), coauthor of "A Conspiracy Against Obamacare: The Volokh Conspiracy and the Health Care Case" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013), and co-editor of "Eminent Domain: A Comparative Perspective" (Cambridge University Press, 2017). "Democracy and Political Ignorance" has been translated into Italian and Japanese.

Somin’s work has appeared in numerous scholarly journals, including the Yale Law Journal, Stanford Law Review, Northwestern University Law Review, Georgetown Law Journal, Critical Review, and others. Somin has also published articles in a variety of popular press outlets, including the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, CNN, NBC, The Atlantic, USA Today, Boston Globe, US News and World Report, South China Morning Post, National Law Journal and Reason. He has been quoted or interviewed by the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Time, Newsweek, The Economist, the Christian Science Monitor, the Financial Times, The Guardian, the Associated Press, CBS, MSNBC, NPR, BBC, Reuters, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Al Jazeera, and the Voice of America, among other media.

Somin’s writings have been cited in decisions by the United States Supreme Court, multiple state supreme courts and lower federal courts, and the Supreme Court of Israel. He is co-counsel for the plaintiffs in VOS Selections, Inc. v. Trump, a case challenging the constitutionality of President Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs. Somin has testified on the use of drones for targeted killing in the War on Terror before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Human Rights. In 2009, he testified on property rights issues at the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Somin writes regularly for the popular Volokh Conspiracy law and politics blog, now affiliated with Reason magazine (previously affiliated with the Washington Post from 2014 to 2017). From 2006 to 2013, he served as co-editor of the Supreme Court Economic Review, one of the country’s top-rated law and economics journals.

Somin has served as a visiting professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. He has also been a visiting professor or scholar at the Georgetown University Law Center, the University of Hamburg, Germany, the University of Torcuato Di Tella in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Uriel Reichman University in Israel, and Zhengzhou University in China. He is a University Affiliate of the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University, and an affiliated faculty member of the George Mason University Institute for Immigration Research. Before joining the faculty at George Mason, Somin was the John M. Olin Fellow in Law at Northwestern University Law School from 2002-2003. From 2001-2002, he clerked for the Hon. Judge Jerry E. Smith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Professor Somin earned his B.A., summa cum laude, at Amherst College, his M.A. in political science from Harvard University, and his J.D. from Yale Law School.

This event is co-sponsored by the Seattle University School of Law Project on the Supreme Court and Our Constitutional Future.

About the Dean's Luminaries in Law Lecture and Conversation Series

This series brings to Seattle U Law nationally and internationally preeminent leaders from law practice, the judiciary, government, and the corporate world, to share their bold ideas about the future of law and the legal profession.

About the Project on the Supreme Court and Our Constitutional Future

The Seattle U Law Project on the Supreme Court and Our Constitutional Future is an initiative dedicated to focusing academic, community, and student attention on the significant role the United States Supreme Court (and state supreme courts) play in shaping the world in which we all live. The Project sponsors symposia, speakers, curriculum, and research that both educate about the work of our high courts and advocate for a judiciary oriented towards protecting democracy and creating the preconditions for a just and humane future.

Nicole Jennings
Seattle University School of Law
+1 360-540-0133
njennings@seattleu.edu
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