Just Conversations | This Moment in Immigration: What’s At Stake and What Can Be Done

About Just Conversations

Just Conversations is a series co-presented by the Center for Brooklyn History and Brooklyn Org that brings into dialogue issues facing our borough, city, and society and gives voice to the change makers who move us towards a more equitable future. This program is co-presented with Documented, the second in a two-part series about immigration. Watch a recording of the first program here. 

This week, Brooklyn Org, The Center For Brooklyn History at Brooklyn Public Library, and our partners at Documented hosted the second part of our Just Conversations Series to discuss pressing issues in immigration.

Across the country, migrants and refugees are living in fear as the nation confronts a pivotal moment in our history. Sweeping state-level restrictions along with drastic changes in national policies around asylum access, deportations, ICE raids, and detentions, have both intensified the debate over who is welcome in America and under what terms, and created unbearable circumstances for the millions living in the United States who must ask themselves on a daily basis – when I leave my home, will I return?

Brooklyn Org was grateful to partner with the Center for Brooklyn History to invite four leading voices on the frontlines of immigration advocacy, policy, journalism, and humanitarian response:

• Omar Jadwat, Director of the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project, has led landmark litigation to defend immigrant rights nationwide
• Hans Van de Weerd, Senior Vice President for Resettlement, Asylum & Integration at the International Rescue Committee, oversees programs supporting refugees and asylum seekers in the U.S. and Europe
• Murad Awawdeh, President & CEO of the New York Immigration Coalition, brings decades of grassroots organizing and policy leadership
• Ethar El-Katatney, Editor-in-Chief of Documented, works to deliver essential news and information to immigrant communities

Together, they explored the state of U.S. immigration today, dispeled common myths, and engaged in an urgent conversation about the people, principles, and possibilities at the heart of the immigration debate. At this time of great uncertainty, when actions around immigration raise existential questions about American democracy itself, these experts helped to clarify our new reality and outlined what can be done to protect the rights and futures of our immigrant neighbors.