22nd Annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference
Oct. 9, 2025 | 9 a.m.-5:20 p.m. ET | CA MCLE: N/A
This year's Immigration Law and Policy Conference, organized by the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc., Migration Policy Institute, and the Georgetown University Law Center, will be on Thursday, Oct. 9. The in-person conference will be held at Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, DC, and livestreamed for virtual attendees.
The conference will feature thoughtful policy and legal analysis and discussion of some of the most important immigration issues that have surfaced in the U.S. policy debate, bringing together leading experts, policymakers, attorneys, advocates, and more. Email cmcnatt@cliniclegal.org with any questions.
AGENDA:
9:00 am ET Welcome & Opening Remarks
Anna Gallagher, Executive Director, Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC)
Andrew Selee, President, Migration Policy Institute (MPI)
Andrew I. Schoenholtz, Professor from Practice, Georgetown Law; Co-Director, Center for Applied Legal Studies; Faculty Director, Human Rights Institute, Georgetown Law; Faculty, Institute for the Study of International Migration, Georgetown University
9:15 am ET State of Play: Mass Deportation Campaign Hits the U.S. Economy, Communities,
and Public Opinion
Moderator: Doris Meissner, Senior Fellow and Director, U.S. Immigration Policy Program, MPI
Speakers: Adrian Carrasquillo, Reporter and Columnist, The Bulwark
Douglas Holtz-Eakin, President, American Action Forum; former Chief Economist, U.S. President’s Council of Economic Advisers
Erika Lee, Bae Family Professor of History and Faculty Director, Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America, Harvard University
Clifford Young, Chair, Public Affairs and Strategic Insights, Ipsos; Visiting Professor, Political Science, Texas A&M University’s Bush School of Government and Public Service
President Donald Trump largely won and is staking his presidency on the promise of fundamentally reshaping immigration. Having secured tens of billions of dollars from Congress to fund mass deportations, the Trump administration is extending its nationwide immigration crackdowns well beyond a focus on deporting criminal aliens, with the effects being felt in U.S. communities, on college campuses, at courthouses, in workplaces, and elsewhere. Alongside, there are signs that public opinion is shifting and is turning against the deportations-above-all strategy that has led to the deployment of the National Guard in Los Angeles and the District of Columbia, further militarization of the border, and creation of a vast new detention and enforcement apparatus. Amid profound policy changes and whole-of-government actions across the immigration system, including to legal immigration channels that bring in workers and international students, what are the likely near- and longer-term effects for the U.S. economy and its competitiveness? How does the current era of high enforcement compare to prior periods in U.S. history in which policymakers and publics turned against immigrants — and what steps then led to a return to the historic belief that immigration is a key touchstone in the nation's story, future, and identity? And is the shift in public opinion likely to prove meaningful?
10:30 am ET Coffee Break
11:00 am ET Expanding Access: Scaling Immigration Legal Services for Communities and the
Nation
Moderator: Anna Gallagher, Executive Director, CLINIC
Speakers: Jojo Annobil, CEO, Immigrant Justice Corps
Luis Guerra, Director of Field Engagement, CLINIC
Homero López, Legal Director, Immigration Services & Legal Advocacy, New Orleans, LA
Access to immigration legal services is critical — not only for the individuals who rely on them to navigate complex systems, but also for the health of communities and the strength of the country as a whole. Yet current statistics show that far too many immigrants remain without the legal support they need, leaving communities and families vulnerable. This panel will explain why full access is critical given the set of actions taken by this administration, which include ending prosecutorial discretion, maximizing the use of expedited removal, arresting immigrants at immigration court hearings, the return of family detention and family separation, leaving unaccompanied minors without access to legal counsel, and terminating Department of Justice (DOJ) legal orientation programs. Panelists will explore the impact of full access to immigration legal services, examining what it would mean for beneficiaries, local communities, and our country. Experts will discuss the workforce development and infrastructure needed to scale such legal services, as well as innovative approaches to delivering services that expand reach and efficiency.
12:15 pm ET Lunch
1:40 pm ET A New Era: Immigration Enforcement Above All Else
Moderator: Muzaffar Chishti, Senior Fellow, MPI
Speakers: Hamed Aleaziz, Reporter, The New York Times
Tanya Broder, Senior Counsel, Health and Economic Justice Policy, National Immigration Law Center
R. Gil Kerlikowske, Former Commissioner, U.S. Customs and Border Protection; Former Chief of Police, Seattle, WA and Buffalo, NY
Harold Medina, Chief of Police, Albuquerque, NM; President, Major Cities Chiefs Association
The Trump administration has deployed an unprecedented, whole-of-government campaign in pursuit of its mass deportations agenda. Beyond tapping Congress for an unparalleled level of federal spending on immigration enforcement, the administration has reached deep into myriad government agencies to redeploy civilian and military manpower, connect databases, recruit state and local law enforcement, and move to cut off access to safety net services and benefits to identify removable noncitizens for arrest or encourage them to "self-deport." Over several months, the country has witnessed:
- Intense, sweeping enforcement operations by ICE and other DHS, State, and Justice Department personnel, as well as enhanced vetting of already present and prospective legal immigrants
- Passage of the Big Beautiful Bill, with a record $170 billion for immigration enforcement, and the increased cooperation of state and local law enforcement through 287(g) agreements and other arrangements
- The identification of removable noncitizens through unprecedented sifting of IRS, Social Security, Medicaid, and other records
- The first-ever deployment since the Jim Crow era of the National Guard over a governor's objections, as well as unprecedented use of the military for immigration enforcement.
- The methodical creation of a climate of fear through messaging, recruitment of third countries as destinations for deportees, harsh detention conditions in places such as Alligator Alcatraz, and efforts to cut off access to public benefits for immigrants, including lawfully present ones, and in some cases their U.S.-born family members.
Amid this flood of developments to immigration enforcement practices and policies, as well as broader government engagement with immigrants, this panel will seek to identify the most significant and long-lasting actions and the deeper trendlines.
3:00 pm ET A Keynote Conversation with Fareed Zakaria
Moderator: Doris Meissner, Senior Fellow and Director, U.S. Immigration Policy Program, MPI; former Commissioner, U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service
Speaker: Fareed Zakaria, Host of Fareed Zakaria GPS, CNN; Columnist, The Washington Post; and author of Age of Revolutions
This wide-ranging conversation with a leading journalist/public intellectual will focus on the implications of today’s U.S. immigration policy for foreign affairs, competitiveness in an era of hyper-fast technological change, and demographic and workforce needs as the U.S. population ages. How can the United States move beyond the current politically charged environment toward more pragmatic debates about the role that immigration should play in an era of rapid societal transformation?
3:45 pm ET Coffee Break
4:00 pm ET Do the Courts Matter? The Trump Administration Tests the Limits of Immigration
Law
Moderator: Andrew I. Schoenholtz, Professor from Practice and Faculty Director, Human Rights Institute and Center for Applied Legal Studies, Georgetown Law
Speakers: Breanne Deppisch, National Politics Reporter, Fox News Digital
Omar Jadwat, Director, Immigrant’s Rights Project, American Civil Liberties Union
Ilya Somin, Professor of Law, Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University
On day one of his second term, President Donald Trump issued an executive order seeking to overturn a Supreme Court precedent established in 1898 granting automatic birthright citizenship to virtually every baby born on U.S. soil. Two months later, he invoked the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to quickly deport some 250 men, mostly Venezuelans, to a high-security prison in El Salvador. In June, the president sent Marines and National Guard troops to Los Angeles in response to protests over roving patrols stopping and detaining people on the basis of race alone. These and many other major policies unveiled during the administration's first several months were swiftly challenged in court, some finding their way almost immediately to the Supreme Court while others grind their way through the system. Panelists will discuss how federal judges have responded to these extraordinary attempts to expand the power of the executive branch over immigration and citizenship law, and to limit due process and access to courts.
5:15 pm ET Closing Remarks
Anna Gallagher, Executive Director, CLINIC
Complimentary registration is offered to accredited journalists. Media seeking registration should contact Jeremy Weitz at jweitz@cliniclegal.org.
If you are a Georgetown student wishing to register, please email cmcnatt@cliniclegal.org. Limited in-person complimentary registration is available to Georgetown students using their student email and a valid student ID. Complimentary registration does not include lunch.
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Georgetown University Law Center and Online
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