Marciana Laura Popescu PhD

I am a Professor at Fordham University, Graduate School of Social Service (GSS), holding a PhD in Sociology/Comparative Social Policy (University of Bucharest, 2000), an MSW from Tulane University, New Orleans (1997), and an MA in Social Policy (University of Bucharest, 1995). In February 2025, I graduated Fordham Law School, with a concentration in International Comparative and Foreign Law/International Law and Justice. While in law school, I was a a Crowley Human Rights felow (2022-2023), and worked on a study focusing on the emergency evacuations from Afghanistan in 2021. I was also part of the International Human Rights Law clinic (2023-2024), and co-authored a report on Iraq's protection policies for Yazidi women, victims of ISIS, and their families. I completed an externship with the Legal Aid Society/Immigration - that gave me the opportunity to work on an asylum case.

Throughout my academic career, I focused on human rights/women’s rights, humanitarian assistance, forced migration, and international development. Between 2014-2015, I conducted a rapid assessment of two displacement camps in Anse-A-Pite (Haiti) following the changes in naturalization/citizenship rights in the Dominican Republic, and the resulting forced displacement of the Haitian population. In 2016-2017, I was a Fulbright Senior Scholar in Austria, exploring migration policies within the EU space, and their impact on women asylum seekers or refugees. Between 2018-2023, I was a Fulbright Specialist on migration policy.

I am a member of the UN-NGO Committee on Migration since 2018, working on global and local migration policies. My research focuses on forced migration and gender, forced migration and health/mental health, and violence against women; as well as community capacity building and human rights/women’s rights. Since 2021, I am also the director of Her Migrant Hub Health Plus, Inc. (HMH), together with Dr. Alonzo. HMH started as a community-based initiative focusing on increasing access and utilization of health and mental health care services for women asylum seekers in NYC.

After passing the NYS bar exam, I was sworn in on September 24, 2025. Since July 2025, I joined the Gray Whale Law firm - as I am on sabbatical for the AY 2025-2026, and I intend to use this year to get some legal practice in immigration law. It is my hope that I can create synergy between my academic career and my legal practice, while also creating opportunities for students to work across disciplines and address the complex immigration challenges many of their clients are dealing with. One major question I have is whether the existing international human rights instruments can be effectively invoked to increase protections for humanitarian migrants, in the context of restrictive national immigration policies. Furthermore, within the current context in the United States, I want to explore how can the justice system protect the existing (valid) paths to regular immigration (particularly regarding international students and scholars, as well as professionals aiming to contribute their skills to the development and growth of the US economy).