FACULTY
Faculty Profile
Full-time Faculty
D. Carolina Núñez
Charles E. Jones Professor of Law
Carolina Núñez is the Charles E. Jones Professor of Law at Brigham Young University’s J. Reuben Clark Law School. She researches and writes about immigration law, citizenship, and immigrant rights, with a specific emphasis on undocumented immigrants. Professor Núñez’s articles have been published in various journals, including the Southern California Law Review, Georgetown Law Journal, and the Boston College Law Review. Her most recent scholarship explores the Fourteenth Amendment’s Birthright Citizenship Clause in the context of the Constitution’s rejection of heredity-based civic status. Her commentary on immigration-related current events has appeared in the Deseret News, the Salt Lake Tribune, on BYU Radio, and KUER.
Professor Núñez is the recipient of student- and university-awarded teaching recognitions. She has taught a variety of courses, including Immigration Law, Immigrant Rights, Citizenship Seminar, Plenary Power Colloquium, and Torts. Professor Núñez also co-founded the J. Reuben Clark Law School’s Refugee and Immigration Initiative, through which law students have provided legal assistance to women and children detained in an immigration detention center in southern Texas. She has served in many administrative roles at the law school, including as Associate Dean for Research and Academic Affairs and Associate Dean for Faculty and Curriculum.
An active member of the legal academy and her local community, Professor Núñez participates in many organizations. She sits on the Advisory Board for Mormon Women for Ethical Government, Utah Valley University’s Student Support Advancement Board, and the Bar Nominating Committee for the American Bar Association’s Section of Legal Education and Admissions.
A summa cum laude graduate of the Brigham Young University Law School, Professor Núñez clerked for the Honorable Fortunato P. Benavides of the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. She subsequently practiced commercial litigation at Stoel Rives LLP in Salt Lake City, Utah, and joined the BYU law faculty in 2008.
Additional Information
Publications & Papers
- Apophatic Interpretation, Birthright Citizenship, and the Anti-Aristocratic Constitution, with Lucy Williams, working paper. [SSRN]
- Birthright Citizenship and Apophatic Interpretation, Guest Post, Balkanization Blog, May 12, 2026. [https://balkin.blogspot.com/2026/05/birthright-citizenship-and-apophatic.html]
- The Citizenship Clause is Part of an Anti-Aristocracy Constitution, Trump v. Barbara Symposium, ImmProf Blog, April 18, 2026. [https://immprof.com/trump-v-barbara-symposium-the-citizenship-clause-is-part-of-an-anti-aristocracy-constitution-by-d-carolina-nunez/]
- Hidden Bias in U.S. Caselaw, with Matthew Jennejohn, Samuel Nelson, and Lucy Williams, forthcoming U.C. Irvine L. Rev. (2026).
- “Women’s Language” in Supreme Court Oral Arguments, with Lucy Williams, David Wingate, Aerin Christensen, and Anna Mae Walker, 97 U. Colorado L. Rev. 1 (2026). [U. Colorado L. Rev.]
- Opinion: President Trump’s spending freezes violate separation of powers and federal law, with Kif Augustine-Adams, John Fee, Frederick Mark Gedicks, Lisa Grow, Michalyn Steele, and Lucy Williams, Deseret News, Mar. 13, 2025. [https://www.deseret.com/opinion/2025/03/13/trump-spending-freeze-separation-of-powers-ica/]
- Opinion: Why everyone should care about the Constitution’s separation of powers, with Kif Augustine-Adams, John Fee, Frederick Mark Gedicks, Lisa Grow, Michalyn Steele, and Lucy Williams, Deseret News, Feb. 19, 2025. [https://www.deseret.com/opinion/2025/02/19/constitution-separation-of-powers-protects-individual-rights/]
- Opinion: Eliminating birthright citizenship bypasses the Constitution and legal precedent, with Kif Augustine-Adams, John Fee, Frederick Mark Gedicks, Lisa Grow, Michalyn Steele, and Lucy Williams, Deseret News, Feb. 13, 2025. [https://www.deseret.com/opinion/2025/02/13/us-birthright-citizenship-legal-precedent-trump-executive-order/]
- Dark Matter in the Law, 62 B.C. L. Rev. 1555 (2021). [SSRN]
- Sites of (Mis)Translation: The Credible Fear Process in a United States Detention Center, 35 Geo. Immigr. L.J. 399 (2021) (with Kif Augustine-Adams). [SSRN]
- Hidden Bias in Empirical Textualism, 109 Geo. L.J. 767 (2021) (with Matthew Jennejohn & Sam Nelson). [SSRN]
- Does a Conviction for a Crime Listed in the Grounds of Inadmissibility Terminate a Lawfully Admitted Permanent Resident’s Period of Continuous Residence for Purposes of Cancellation of Removal?, 47 Preview U.S. Sup. Ct. Cas., Nov. 4, 2019, at 4. [SSRN]
- Brief of Amicus Curiae Ad Hoc Coalition of Utah Law Professors in Support of Petitioners, with Kif Augustine-Adams, In Re Mary Doe and Jane Doe, Case, No. 20180806-SC, Utah Supreme Court, supporting the admission of undocumented immigrants to the Utah State Bar, March 22, 2019. [SSRN]
- Citizenship Gaps, reviewing books by Kunal M. Parker, Carrie Hyde, and Richard Sobel, 54 Tulsa L. Rev. 301 (2019). [SSRN]
- Mapping Citizenship: Status, Membership, and the Path in Between, 2016 Utah L. Rev. 477 (2016). [SSRN]
- Is the Board of Immigration Appeals’ Refusal to Toll the Filing Period for Motions to Reopen Removal Proceedings Subject to Judicial Review?, 42 Preview U.S. Sup. Ct. Cas., Apr. 20, 2015, at 254. [SSRN]
- War of the Words: Aliens, Immigrants, Citizens, and the Language of Exclusion, 2013 BYU L. Rev. 1517 (2013). [SSRN]
- Beyond Blood and Borders: Finding Meaning in Birthright Citizenship, 78 Brook. L. Rev. 835 (2013). [SSRN]
- Is a State Conviction for Possession with Intent to Distribute Marijuana an Aggravated Felony for Which an Alien May Be Deported Under the Immigration and Nationality Act?, 40 Preview U.S. Sup. Ct. Cas., Oct. 1, 2012, at 34. [SSRN]
- Inside the Border, Outside the Law: Undocumented Immigrants and the Fourth Amendment, 85 S. Cal. L. Rev. 85 (2011). [SSRN]
- Fractured Membership: Deconstructing Territoriality to Secure Rights and Remedies for the Undocumented Worker, 2010 Wis. L. Rev. 817 (2010). [SSRN]
- Recognizing the Role of Discretion in the Immigration System, JURIST – Forum, Aug. 16, 2012 [http://jurist.org/forum/2012/08/carolina-nunez-immigration-discretion.php]
- To What Extent Does Former Section 212(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act Apply to Aliens Who Are Deportable for an Aggravated Felony Conviction?, 39 Preview U.S. Sup. Ct. Cas., Oct. 3, 2011, at 27. [SSRN]
- Still on the Border: The Fractured Membership Rights of the Undocumented Worker, Clark Memorandum, Spring 2010, at 19. [SSRN]
- Associate Dean for Research and Academic Affairs, 2017 - 2019 and 2022 – 2024
- Associate Dean for Faculty and Curriculum, 2020 – 2021
- R. Wayne Hansen Teaching and Learning Faculty Fellowship, 2023
- Charles E. Jones Endowed Professorship, 2021 - present
- Francis R. Kirkham Professorship in Law, 2019 – 2020 academic year
- Professor of Law, 2017 – present
- Associate Professor of Law, 2010 – 2017
- Visiting Assistant Professor of Law, 2008 – 2010
- Litigation Associate, Stoel Rives, LLP, 2005-2007
- Law Clerk to the Honorable Fortunato P Benavides, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, Austin, TX, 2004-2005