Margaret D. Stock (born 1961) is an American politician, immigration attorney, and retired Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army Reserve. She is a recognized expert on immigration law as it applies to U.S. military personnel and veterans.
Stock was born in Boston in 1961 and grew up in Wellesley, Massachusetts. She was the fourth of nine children. When she was six years old, her father had the first of several heart attacks, and he died when she was 15. The family was in crisis, and she spent time in a homeless shelter and a foster home. While in high school, she got involved the Civil Air Patrol but she dropped out of high school before graduating.[5]
Stock led the development of three programs pertaining to immigration issues within the US military.
The Military Accessions Vital to National Interest (MAVNI) program, started in 2008, in cooperation with the Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security, helped the U.S. Armed Forces to attract and retain foreign nationals with language, medical, and other skills critical to military readiness and national security.[1][7][3]
She spearheaded the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) MAP program, "which pairs volunteer attorneys across the United States" with military families in need of their services.[1][7][3]
She also helped start the naturalization at Basic Combat Training program.[1][8]
Stock has also spent many years teaching. From 2001 to 2010, she worked as a professor at the United States Military Academy at West Point[1] first in the Department of Law, then in the Department of Social Sciences. She also taught at the University of Alaska Anchorage[1] in the political science department for two years. She is a former member of the Federalist Society.[9]
2016 Senate campaign
In 2016, Stock ran as an independent against Republican U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski. Her candidacy received the support of former Senator Mark Begich, a Democrat.[10] Stock came in third with 13.2% of the total vote, approximately 5,000 more votes than Democratic nominee Ray Metcalfe.[11]
Recognition
The Washington Times called her "the foremost authority on military veterans facing deportation."[12] Stock has testified regularly before Congress on issues involving immigration and national security.[13]
What Every Lawyer Needs to Know about Non-Citizens & the United States Military, in What Every Lawyer Needs to Know About Immigration Law, American Bar Association, Section of Administrative Law & Regulatory Practice (2014) (book chapter).
AILA's Guide to U.S. Citizenship & Naturalization Law, American Immigration Lawyers Association, 2014, at 153–182 (book chapter).
Immigration Law and the Military (American Immigration Lawyers Association 2012) (book).
Professionals: A Matter of Degree (5th Ed.) (co-authored with Martin J. Lawler) (AILA 2009).
The Role of Immigration in A Coordinated National Security Policy, 21 Georgetown Immigration Law Journal 383 (2007) (co-authored with Donald Kerwin).