Crossroads talk on immigration history & law

The lecture series Crossroads: Ideas for a New Century will continue on Friday, Nov. 7 at 7:30 p.m. at Orcas Center. Juliet Stumpf, professor of immigration and citizenship law at Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland, Ore., will speak on “Crossing New Borders: Making Sense of the U.S. Immigration Debate through Law, History, and Politics.”

The lecture series Crossroads: Ideas for a New Century will continue on Friday, Nov. 7 at 7:30 p.m. at Orcas Center. Juliet Stumpf, professor of immigration and citizenship law at Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland, Ore., will speak on “Crossing New Borders: Making Sense of the U.S. Immigration Debate through Law, History, and Politics.”

Stumpf’s talk will address the debate over immigration from current and historical perspectives. Her talk will also address the implications of various policy decisions regarding immigrants and possible solutions.

Stumpf will draw on both scholarship and practical experience to explain the current national immigration debate by focusing on law, history and the political environment. As a professor of law, both at Lewis & Clark and earlier at New York University, she has studied the ways in which immigration law intersects with other substantive areas of law, including constitutional law, criminal law, national security law, civil rights, and employment law.

As a Senior Trial Attorney in the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department, she litigated employment discrimination claims and advocated for increased civil rights protections on behalf of immigrants and U.S. citizens of color. She also worked for the law firm of Morrison and Foerster in Palo Alto, Calif. and Washington, D.C., where she served as the representative to the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs and the Washington Lawyers Committee for Human Rights.

Professor Stumpf received her law degree from Georgetown University Law Center, where she was an editor of the Georgetown Law Journal, and her B.A. from Oberlin College. During her college years, she also took part in a program called Experiment in International Living in Quito, Ecuador, where she studied the local language and culture and conducted field research on torture of juveniles by government security forces.

The Crossroads series presents thoughtful, provocative speakers who help the Orcas community think about timely issues, both local and global. It is sponsored by the Friends of the Orcas Island Library in cooperation with Orcas Island Public Library, with generous support from the Sir Francis Bacon Foundation, the Daniel and Margaret Carper Foundation, the Orcas Island Community Foundation, Orcas Center, and individual contributors at the door. Tickets may be obtained at Darvill’s Bookstore and the Orcas Library at no cost. Contributions at the doors to ensure the continuation of the series are greatly appreciated.