Doris Meissner, former Commissioner of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), is a Senior Fellow at the Migration Policy Institute (MPI), where she directs the Institute’s U.S. immigration policy work. Her responsibilities focus on the role of immigration in America’s future and on administering the nation’s immigration laws, systems, and government agencies. Doris leads MPI’s Rethinking U.S. Immigration Policy initiative, which is generating a big-picture, evidence-driven vision of the role immigration can and should play in America’s future. As INS Commissioner in the Clinton administration, her accomplishments included reforming the nation’s asylum system; creating new strategies for managing U.S. borders; improving naturalization and other services for immigrants; shaping responses to migration and humanitarian emergencies; strengthening cooperation with Mexico, Canada, and other countries; and managing growth that doubled the agency’s personnel and tripled its budget.
Reimagining Citizenship
Event Overview
In this first event in our Reimagining Citizenship series, we’ll examine what President Biden and his team can realistically achieve when it comes to fixing our broken immigration system. What will the new administration tackle first, and why? What can it achieve through executive orders, and how likely is Congress to take meaningful action? Cornell Law School professor Steve Yale-Loehr will moderate a panel discussion with three leading immigration experts.
The series “Reimagining Citizenship” features scholars, writers, and artists whose work interrogates the limits and possibilities of legal, social, and cultural belonging. Through book talks, roundtables, and presentations, we consider how multidisciplinary, multispecies approaches to the study of migration open up new understandings of citizenship, borders, and social transformation. Organized through Cornell University’s Migrations Global Grand Challenge.
What You'll Learn
- How the Biden administration might deal with immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border
- What might be in store for DACA and other immigration issues
- What the Biden administration can do on its own to fix our immigration system and what will require congressional action
- How federal courts may help or hurt the Biden team’s efforts at immigration reform
Speakers
Jorge Lima is the Vice President of Immigration at Stand Together, leading its immigration strategy. He is also the Senior Vice President of Policy at Americans for Prosperity, leading a team of experts in support of policy change efforts. During his more than six years working with the immigration community, he has served various roles, including Executive Director of The LIBRE Initiative. Before that, Jorge served as Strategic Policy Advisor to Luis Fortuño, the governor of Puerto Rico. He also practiced law as an associate at the law firm of Holland & Knight and began his career as an attorney for the City of Miami. Having worked in both the private and public sectors, Jorge brings extensive experience in policy development and a keen understanding of its impact on the economy, businesses, and communities. A member of the Florida Bar, Jorge holds a Juris Doctor from Georgetown University and a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Miami.
Kerri Talbot is the Director of Federal Advocacy for the Immigration Hub. She works with both nonprofit organizations and Congress on policy and legislative advocacy to promote fair treatment of immigrants and refugees. She was previously a partner at the Veng Group, where she assisted nonprofit organizations and businesses, including the National Immigration Law Center, Deloitte, Human Rights First, and the Women’s Refugee Commission, with immigration policy advocacy. Kerri served as Chief Counsel for U.S. Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey for five years. She staffed Senator Menendez on the Gang of Eight and assisted in writing the comprehensive immigration reform bill that passed the Senate in 2013. Kerri previously worked at the American Immigration Lawyers Association, the Rights Working Group, Break the Chain Campaign, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, and Physicians for Human Rights. She graduated from Harvard Law School and Tufts University.
Stephen Yale-Loehr is Professor of Immigration Practice at Cornell Law School and of counsel at Miller Mayer in Ithaca, New York. He also directs the Immigration Law and Policy Center at Cornell Law and is a faculty fellow for the Cornell Migrations initiative as well as a non-resident fellow at the Migration Policy Institute. Professor Yale-Loehr has practiced immigration law for over 35 years and is co-author of the leading immigration law treatise “Immigration Law and Procedure,” published by LexisNexis, as well as the co-author or editor of many other books. He is a national expert on immigration law and has often testified before Congress. Professor Yale-Loehr received his Bachelor’s degree from Cornell University and his Juris Doctor degree from Cornell Law School.
Doris Meissner, former Commissioner of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), is a Senior Fellow at the Migration Policy Institute (MPI), where she directs the Institute’s U.S. immigration policy work. Her responsibilities focus on the role of immigration in America’s future and on administering the nation’s immigration laws, systems, and government agencies. Doris leads MPI’s Rethinking U.S. Immigration Policy initiative, which is generating a big-picture, evidence-driven vision of the role immigration can and should play in America’s future. As INS Commissioner in the Clinton administration, her accomplishments included reforming the nation’s asylum system; creating new strategies for managing U.S. borders; improving naturalization and other services for immigrants; shaping responses to migration and humanitarian emergencies; strengthening cooperation with Mexico, Canada, and other countries; and managing growth that doubled the agency’s personnel and tripled its budget.
Jorge Lima is the Vice President of Immigration at Stand Together, leading its immigration strategy. He is also the Senior Vice President of Policy at Americans for Prosperity, leading a team of experts in support of policy change efforts. During his more than six years working with the immigration community, he has served various roles, including Executive Director of The LIBRE Initiative. Before that, Jorge served as Strategic Policy Advisor to Luis Fortuño, the governor of Puerto Rico. He also practiced law as an associate at the law firm of Holland & Knight and began his career as an attorney for the City of Miami. Having worked in both the private and public sectors, Jorge brings extensive experience in policy development and a keen understanding of its impact on the economy, businesses, and communities. A member of the Florida Bar, Jorge holds a Juris Doctor from Georgetown University and a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Miami.
Kerri Talbot is the Director of Federal Advocacy for the Immigration Hub. She works with both nonprofit organizations and Congress on policy and legislative advocacy to promote fair treatment of immigrants and refugees. She was previously a partner at the Veng Group, where she assisted nonprofit organizations and businesses, including the National Immigration Law Center, Deloitte, Human Rights First, and the Women’s Refugee Commission, with immigration policy advocacy. Kerri served as Chief Counsel for U.S. Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey for five years. She staffed Senator Menendez on the Gang of Eight and assisted in writing the comprehensive immigration reform bill that passed the Senate in 2013. Kerri previously worked at the American Immigration Lawyers Association, the Rights Working Group, Break the Chain Campaign, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, and Physicians for Human Rights. She graduated from Harvard Law School and Tufts University.
Stephen Yale-Loehr is Professor of Immigration Practice at Cornell Law School and of counsel at Miller Mayer in Ithaca, New York. He also directs the Immigration Law and Policy Center at Cornell Law and is a faculty fellow for the Cornell Migrations initiative as well as a non-resident fellow at the Migration Policy Institute. Professor Yale-Loehr has practiced immigration law for over 35 years and is co-author of the leading immigration law treatise “Immigration Law and Procedure,” published by LexisNexis, as well as the co-author or editor of many other books. He is a national expert on immigration law and has often testified before Congress. Professor Yale-Loehr received his Bachelor’s degree from Cornell University and his Juris Doctor degree from Cornell Law School.
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