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Comparing French Approach to Immigration Reform

By immigrationprof

From the American Immigration Council:

A Different Take on Immigration Reform

How France and the United States Are Grappling with a Path to Citizenship and Access for Asylum-Seekers in the 21st Century
 
April 9, 2013
8:00 AM to 10:15 AM
B-338 Rayburn House Office Building

All eyes are on the 113th Congress as it begins an historic debate on immigration reform.  The impact of the debate will be felt not only in the United States, but around the globe. Significantly, the French people are also struggling with critical immigration reform issues, such as a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and more generous protections for asylum-seekers. Comparing these national debates offers fresh insight into what’s at stake in immigration reform, and helps to put American issues and concerns into a broader social context. Experts from Europe and the United States will present the results of several new reports on these issues in two panel discussions.

8:00 – 8:30 – Registration, Coffee and Pastries
8:30 to 9:20 – Panel 1:  Seeking a Path to Citizenship:  The French and American Experience 
Based on research conducted by the Migration Policy Group of Brussels, Belgium, it is clear that legalization in the United States and regularization of status in France is both a social imperative and an issue that has long been at the heart of immigration reform efforts in both countries. While each country can learn from the other’s experience, the effort to create immigration systems that reflect a 21st century world have far more in common than many people realize.
Moderator: Guillermo Cantor, Senior Policy Analyst, Immigration Policy Center of the American Immigration Council
Panelists: Thomas Huddleston, Policy Analyst, Migration Policy Group (Brussels), Matthieu Tardis, Head of Secretariat General, France terre d’asile & Mary Giovagnoli, Director, Immigration Policy Center of the American Immigration Council.
 
9:30 to 10: 15 – Panel 2:  Is there Room for Asylum Reform in Comprehensive Immigration Reform?
The public debate in the United States may revolve around border enforcement, legalization, and temporary and permanent visas, but asylum and refugee advocates have been quietly pressing for much needed reforms to the asylum system, most notably changes to the one-year filing deadline and other provisions that limit access to asylum in the United States.  This panel takes a look at the current state of asylum reform with an analysis of how these issues compare to those currently facing French asylum-seekers.
Moderator: Melanie Nezer, Senior Director for U.S. Policy and Advocacy, Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society.  Panelists:  Andrew I. Schoenholtz, Visiting Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center & Matthieu Tardis, Head of Secretariat General, France terre d’asile.

For more information, contact Amanda Beadle at abeadle@immcouncil.org

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