Bio
Shaw Drake joined the ACLU Border Rights Center in 2018 as Policy Counsel. In this role he defends border communities against unconstitutional and inhumane policies, and develops border-related advocacy strategies, working closely with other ACLU border affiliates and ACLU national.
Prior to joining the ACLU, Shaw served as a law clerk for the Honorable James Orenstein in the Eastern District of New York and an Equal Justice Works Fellow at Human Rights First, where he authored the report “Crossing the Line – U.S. Border Agents Illegally Reject Asylum Seekers.” Shaw’s work during law school included travel, research, and writing on statelessness in the Dominican Republic, disappearances in Mexico, protests in Venezuela, surveillance and racial discrimination in Colombia, and military justice in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Before law school, Shaw worked for the Bellevue/NYU Program for Survivors of Torture in New York City and No More Deaths in Southern Arizona and Northern Sonora, Mexico.
Shaw graduated magna cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center, where he received a Juris Doctor, a Certificate in Refugees and Humanitarian Emergencies, the Bettina Pruckmayr Award in Human Rights, and was elected to the Order of the Coif. He holds a B.A. with highest honors in Latin American Studies and Romance Language from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Shaw serves on the Steering Committee of the International Migration Bill of Rights (IMBR) Initiative. He speaks fluent Spanish.
Featured work
![A U.S. Border Patrol vehicle sits parked in front of a crowd of people peering through the U.S.-Mexico border fence in San Diego.](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2022/06/Egbert-v-Boule-Blog-400x266.jpg)
Jun 27, 2022
Four Things to Know About the Supreme Court's Ruling in Egbert v. Boule
![An ACLU client looking at family photos.](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2022/06/BP_Blog-400x266.jpg)
Jun 7, 2022
Border Patrol is Investigating Itself Following Deaths, Report Reveals
![El Paso, Texas border wall between USA and Mexico running thru the desert.](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2021/09/Regular-TX-Border-400x266.jpg)
Sep 24, 2021
Addressing Racialized Violence Against Migrants Requires a Complete Overhaul of Customs and Border Protection
![Migrants in custody at U.S. Customs and Border Protection processing area under the Anzalduas International Bridge, Friday, March 19, 2021, in Mission, Texas.](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2021/08/Regular-Border-Patrol-400x266.jpg)
Aug 9, 2021
Border Patrol Must Stop Holding People in an Inhumane Outside Pen Under a Highway in South Texas
![young unaccompanied migrants, from ages 3 to 9, watch television inside a playpen at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2021/06/Migrant-Children-Texas-Header-400x266.jpg)
Jun 24, 2021
Unaccompanied Children’s Well-Being Must Come First at Fort Bliss and Across Texas
![A Customs and Border Protection officer questions immigrants in Rio Grande Valley sector of the Texas border on Aug. 20, 2019.](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2020/12/web20-cbp-pillar-blog-Wordpress_1110x740-400x266.jpg)
Dec 9, 2020
Biden Must Remove Border Patrol from Border Communities to Restore Civil Rights and Liberties
![A CBP truck is seen through a border wall](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2020/09/WEB20-CBP-blog-BlogImage-WordPress-1110x740-1-400x266.jpg)
Sep 30, 2020
CBP Wants to Destroy Records of Misconduct. We Can’t Let Them.
![A group of militarized federal agents with an agent in the center shining a bright flashlight toward the viewer.](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2020/07/WEB20-Militarized-Federal-Agent-Flashlight-BlogImage-WordPress-1110x740-1-400x266.jpg)
Jul 24, 2020
Border Patrol Violently Assaults Civil Rights and Liberties
![US military members are seen next to a red metal and barbed wire fence at the US border](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2020/03/web20-us-mexico-border-nogales-arizona-blogimage-wordpress-1110x740-1-400x266.jpg)
Mar 18, 2020
The Military Should not be Searching Cars or Checking Documents at the Border