I am the Provost’s Distinguished Associate Professor at William & Mary, in Williamsburg, Virginia, where I teach courses on immigration, law, and policing. I received my PhD in History from Columbia University. I am originally from South Florida, the most interesting place in America.

My first book, The Migrant’s Jail: An American History of Mass Incarceration, is available from Princeton University Press. The Migrant’s Jail has received four book prizes, including the Frederick Jackson Turner Award and the Ellis Hawley Prize from the Organization of American Historians. It has been featured in publications including the New Yorker, El País, and The Marshall Project. A paperback is forthcoming in Spring 2027, as well as a Spanish translation.

I am currently working on a project about the history of ICE and the evolution of immigration raids over the 20th century, as well as essays on the immigration service’s data sharing practices and rural Louisiana as a laboratory for mass deportations.

I’d love to hear from you! And if you’re teaching any of my work in your classes, I’d love to talk with your students. You can reach me at blnofil@wm.edu.