8:30AM
REGISTRATION OPENS

9:00AM – 9:15AM
WELCOME
Karen Grisez
Public Service Counsel
Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP

INTRODUCTION
Most Rev. Nicholas DiMarzio
Bishop of Brooklyn

9:15AM – 10:30AM
KEYNOTE | New Directions for Forced Migration Policy Studies
T. Alexander Aleinikoff
Director of the Zolberg Institute on Migration and Mobility
The New School

10:45AM – 12:00PM
SESSION I | Enforcement Efforts and their Adverse Impact on Protection: A Discussion about North America,
Europe, and the Global South
Over the last few years, we have seen increased efforts to build barriers and systems that prevent refugees and asylum seekers from reaching safety and applying for asylum protection. How are enforcement efforts in various regions of the world impacting refugee protection and access to asylum? What challenges do enhanced enforcement efforts impose? How have efforts to externalize borders and prevent access to asylum countries impacted genuine refugees? How can we address these problems?

Moderator: Michele Pistone, Non-Resident Fellow and Associate Editor, Journal on Migration and Human Security, Center for Migration Studies; Professor of Law and Director of the Clinic for Asylum, Refugee and Emigrant Services (CARES), Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law

Speakers:

• Wendy Young, Executive Director, Kids in Need of Defense (KIND)
• Rick Towle, Deputy Director at UNHCR, New York

12:00PM – 1:15PM
LUNCH

1:15PM – 2:30PM
SESSION II | Challenges in Responding to the Needs of Refugees, Displaced Persons and their Host Communities in Protracted Situations
A majority of refugees and internally displaced persons are in protracted situations—defined by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees as five years or longer. Many of them are in low and medium income countries that have few resources available to provide security, education, livelihood and entrepreneurship opportunities, healthcare and other services for host communities, let alone refugees and displaced persons. This panel will discuss opportunities and challenges in addressing protracted situations, particularly in the context of adoption of the Global Compact on Refugees in December 2019.

Moderator: Susan Martin, Donald G. Herzberg Professor Emeritus in the School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University

Speakers:

• Sarah Deardorff Miller, Adjunct Assistant Professor, School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University  
• Leah Zamore, Senior Policy Analyst, Center on International Cooperation, New York University
• Msgr. Robert J. Vitillo, Secretary General, International Catholic Migration Commission

2:45PM – 4:00PM
SESSION III | Access to Asylum on the US-Mexico Border
The Trump administration and DHS officers have pursued a series of strategies to restrict access to the US asylum system. Most of these strategies – interception, turn-backs, zero tolerance enforcement, the separation of children from parents, requiring asylum-seekers to await the US asylum process in Mexico and barring asylum to most migrants who arrive at the US-Mexico border – have been focused on the US southern border. Other measures, such as the expansion of expedited removal, began at the border but have now been expanded to cover the entire United States and persons in the country for two years or less. The panel will review, critique and discuss alternatives to these policies.

Moderator: Donald Kerwin, Executive Director, Center for Migration Studies

Speakers:

• Josiah Heyman, Professor of Anthropology, Endowed Professor of Border Trade Issues, and Director of Center for Interamerican and Border Studies, University of Texas, El Paso
• Carmen Maquilon, Director of Catholic Charities Immigration Services of the Diocese of Rockville Centre

4:00PM – 5:00PM
CLOSING PRESENTATION
Jaime Winders will moderate an open discussion of research and policy priorities.