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William Paterson University to Hold Conference on Immigration Reform on March 31

Immigration scholars and activists to discuss evolution of immigration policy over past 30 years, and challenges for reform

A day-long conference on the evolution of immigration policy over the past three decades, as well as the challenges of immigration reform, will be held at William Paterson University in Wayne on Thursday, March 31, 2016 from 9:15 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the Cheng Library Auditorium on campus.  Admission is free and open to the public.

“Not Legal, Not Leaving: The Immigration Reform Quagmire from 1986 to 2016” will feature panels that include both immigration scholars and activists who will address topics such as immigration reform, state and local approaches to immigrant policy, and immigrant activism.  The conference will also mark several important anniversaries of immigration policy: the 30th anniversary of the passage of the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act, which allowed almost 3 million undocumented immigrants to obtain legal status; the 20th anniversary of the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, the last comprehensive immigration package adopted by the U.S. Congress; and the 10th anniversary of the 2006 immigrant marches, which mobilized immigrants across national, racial, and status boundaries after the House of Representatives adopted an anti-immigrant bill.

The first panel, from 9:30 to 10:45 a.m., will explore “Immigration Reform since 1986.” Panelists include Rodolfo de la Garza, professor, Department of Political Science, Columbia University; Lori Nessel, professor of law and director of the Seton Hall University School of Law’s Center for Social Justice; and Karol Ruiz, board member of the Wind of the Spirit Immigrant Resource Center and immigration attorney at Diaspora Law. The panel will be moderated by Ryan Rebe, Department of Political Science, William Paterson University.

Panel two, “State and Local Approaches to Immigrant Policy,” will run from 11 a.m. to  12:15 p.m. Panelists will be Mara Sidney, associate professor, Department of Political Science, Rutgers University–Newark; Stephen Ruszczyk, adjunct professor, Department of Sociology and Latin American and Latino Studies, City College CUNY; Jackie Vimo, director of regional advocacy, New York Immigration Coalition; and Marisol Conde-Hernandez, Marsha Wenk Public Interest Law Fellow at the Rutgers School of Law-Newark. The moderator is Arnold Lewis, chair, Department of Political Science, William Paterson University.

The third panel, from 2 to 3:15 p.m., is “Immigrant Political Activism.” Speakers include Alyshia Gálvez, associate professor and director of the Jaime Lucero Mexican Studies Institute, Lehman College CUNY; Fanny Lauby, assistant professor, Department of Political Science, William Paterson University; and Joelle Lingat, national secretary general, Anakbayan-USA. Richard Huizar, assistant professor, Department of Political Science, William Paterson University, serves as moderator.

The conference is co-sponsored by William Paterson University’s Department of Political Science, Latin American Studies Program and the Tinker Foundation, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, and Office of the Provost.

For information, contact conference organizers Fanny Lauby, laubyf@wpunj.edu, 973-720-3422 or Richard Huizar, huizarr@wpunj.edu, 973-720-3432.