6th Annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference (Part 2 of 5)

Wednesday, 6/24/2009 10:45 AM (EST)

Plenary Session II: Prospects for Immigration Reform: What to expect from Washington?
Both John McCain and Barack Obama held similar views about the need for and elements of immigration reform, so immigration as an election campaign issue fell from the stage.  With the deepening economic crisis gripping the administration and Congress, immigration reform has fallen further from the ranks of top-tier issues likely to command congressional attention in the coming months.  Yet the problems and dysfunctional impacts of the current system continue to dominate the workings and circumstances of countless communities and workplaces around the nation.  In addition, immigration issues are ever-present in legislative debates, whether the issue is re-authorization of E-Verify as part of budget bills or the possibility of stimulus funding being spent to generate jobs that might be filled by unauthorized workers.  This panel will examine the prospects for reform from the standpoint of the executive branch, Congress, and constituencies likely to be most affected by new measures.

Session Moderator:  Doris Meissner, Senior Fellow and Director of the US Immigration Policy Program, Migration Policy Institute

Session Speakers:
Serena Hoy, Senior Counsel, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada
Rick Johnson, Vice President, Lake Research Partners
John Morton, Assistant Secretary for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), US Department of Homeland Security