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. 

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?

Join 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; and  Ethar El-Katatney, Editor-in-Chief of Documented, works to deliver essential news and information to immigrant communities.

Together, they will explore the state of U.S. immigration today, dispel common myths, and engage 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 help to clarify our new reality and outline what can be done to protect the rights and futures of our immigrant neighbors.