Thursday, January 15, 2015
Abramson Family Founders Room, AU School of International Service
FORUM AGENDA
8:30-9:00am
9:00-9:30am
Arrival and Coffee
Welcome
Eric Hershberg, Director, American University’s Center for
Latin American & Latino Studies
9:30am-11:00am Panel 1: Academic Perspectives
Moderator/discussant:
Eric Hershberg, Director, American University’s Center for
Latin American & Latino Studies
Panelists:
Matthew Wright, Department of Government, American
University
Michele Waslin, Immigration and the States Project, The Pew
Charitable Trusts
Janelle Wong, Department of American Studies, University of
Maryland
Ali A. Valenzuela, Politics Department, Princeton University;
Research Fellow, American University’s Center for Latin
American & Latino Studies
11:00-11:15am Break

11:15am-12:15pm
12:15-1:30pm :
1:30-3:00pm
3:00-3:10pm
Panel 2: Conversation with Political Analysts
Moderator/discussant:
Ted Hesson, Immigration Editor, Fusion
Panelists:
Vanessa Cárdenas, Vice-President, Progress 2050, Center for
American Progress
Cristóbal J. Alex, President, Latino Victory Project
Lunch and Keynote Address
Butler Board Room
Jayesh Rathod, Associate Professor of Law, American
University’s Washington College of Law; founding Director,
AU’s Immigrant Justice Clinic
Panel 3: Stakeholder and Advocacy Perspectives
Moderator/discussant:
Audrey Singer, Senior Fellow, Metropolitan Policy Program,
Brookings Institution
Panelists:
Gregory Chen, Director of Advocacy, American Immigration
Lawyers Association
Andrea Zuniga, Legislative Representative, AFL-CIO
Jeanne M. Atkinson, Executive Director, Catholic Legal
Immigration Network
Wendy D. Cervantes, Vice President, Immigration & Child
Rights Policy, First Focus
Concluding Remarks
Eric Hershberg, Director, American University’s Center for
Latin American & Latino Studies