Human Rights Project and Human Rights Program Present

Reframing the Migrant Crisis: Law, Labor, and the State of Asylum in Uncertain Times 

With the recent upsurge in migration at the southern border, the United States may be witnessing the most significant challenge to migrant rights, including the right to asylum, and to the protection of workers in decades. The goal of this conference is to make space for a sober assessment of our present moment by shedding light on the acute and systemic challenges to our current immigration system, their relevant economic dimensions, and by highlighting the role of organizations working to protect the rights of all immigrants in these challenging times.

PROGRAM

10–11 am Coffee, sign-in, and tour of student research projects (Bertelsmann Campus Center lobby)

11:00 am – 12:30 pm Panel 1: How communities respond to the needs of newly arrived migrants

Laura Garcia, New York Immigration Coalition - Strengthening immigrant rights in the Hudson Valley
Valerie Carlisle, Grannies Respond/Reunite Migrant Families - Volunteer response and mobilization
Karin Anderson Ponzer, Legal Director, Neighbors Link - Community law practice on legal services for newly arrived migrants

An estimated 180,000 migrants have arrived in NYC and across the state since the spring of 2022, and state and local governments, community organizations, and volunteer groups have mobilized to meet their immediate needs. The panelists will reflect on the direct-response work they are engaged in, how they understand community needs to be evolving, how they navigate (mis)information flows and common frustrations, and talk about their strategies for marshaling community resources to help sustain their work amidst a public climate where immigration has become a flashpoint of political debate.

1:30–3:30 pm Panel 2: Are we in an asylum crisis?

Alex Aleinikoff, Dean and University Professor, New School for Social Research, former Deputy High Commissioner, UNHCR
Shannon Lederer, Director of Immigration Policy, AFL-CIO
Lenni Benson, Distinguished Chair in Immigration and Human Rights Law, New York Law School; Founder, Safe Passage Project

The upsurge at the border has focused attention on asylum, the right to remain for those who have a well-founded fear of persecution. With fewer alternatives available, asylum has become an option of first resort for legal advocates and migrants seeking protection and the opportunity to work after fleeing their countries. The number of applicants in the system has grown exponentially over the past decade and the processing times of nearly five years are increasingly theoretical. No one disputes that asylum is ill-suited to addressing the vast and diverse flow of immigrants arriving at a time of massive labor demand. There are increasing fears—or hopes, depending on the political position—that the current situation will spell the end of asylum as we know it. The participants in this panel have decades of experience in immigration law and policy, and they will explore the place of asylum in understanding and addressing the current situation as well as what has been overlooked or obscured by that focus.

4:00 pm: Screening of Borderland | The Line Within (109 mins.)

Followed by a panel discussion featuring filmmakers Pamela Yates, Paco de Onis, activist Kaxh Mura’l, and Joe Nevins, Dept. of Geography, Vassar College.

Borderland | The Line Within exposes the profitable business of immigration and its human cost while weaving together the stories of immigrant heroines and heroes resisting and showing a way forward. 

All events are free and open to the public. Please RSVP here.

This program is supported by the Consortium on Forced Migration, Displacement, and Education

About the Consortium on Forced Migration, Displacement, and Education: In early 2016, Vassar, Bard, Bennington, and Sarah Lawrence colleges founded the Consortium on Forced Migration, Displacement, and Education to explore what role institutions such as ours could play in addressing this development. Since then, the New School has joined our Consortium and we have partnered with the Council for European Studies. We are grateful to the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for their generous support of our goals.

---

For more information, call 845-758-7127, or e-mail [email protected].

Time: 10:00 am – 7:00 pm EDT/GMT-4

Location: Bertelsmann Campus Center, Weis Cinema

Subscribe: Save this Event: Subscribe / .ics File