Marian Miner Cook
Athenaeum

There is no greater flashpoint in American politics today than the issue of immigration. It touches on our most basic senses of identity, community, and home. Residents of Los Angeles and thousands of other cities across the country are confronting basic questions of citizenship: Should U.S. citizenship be a right or a privilege that can be revoked? Who is authorized to live in the United States, and where does that authority come from? What role should the government play in separating people from their families and homes? William Menard ’09, an immigration lawyer representing clients in deportation defense, employment, and family-based immigration, will address these pressing questions, offering case studies about some of the people he has represented, their lives and stories, and offer his thoughts on how to repair what is more-often-than-not a broken legal immigration system.