*16th Annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference - Register Now!*

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Monday, October 7, 2019 | 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Georgetown University Law Center | Washington, DC


Keynote Speaker: Kevin K. McAleenan, Acting Secretary of Homeland Security


REGISTER NOW: [link removed]


Panel Spotlight:

*The Humanitarian and Migration Crisis Originating in Central America: The Need for Regional Approaches*

Moderator: Andrew Schoenholtz, Professor from Practice, Georgetown Law; Director, Human Rights Institute; Co-Director, Center for Applied Legal Studies

In recent years, the humanitarian and migration crisis in the three Northern Triangle countries of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras has resulted in increasing international migration, particularly of women and children as well as unaccompanied minors. Most of them cross the Guatemala-Mexico border to head towards the United States, while some migrate to countries in the region, such as Costa Rica. Many are fleeing serious violence carried out by gangs and other non-state actors, though the search for better livelihoods and family reunification with relatives already in the United States plays a role as well. Governments do not control territories where gangs and drug cartels rule, nor are they able to protect women and girls from domestic abuse and other forms of violence or insecurity. Natural disasters, climate change, food insecurity, and poor economic conditions exacerbate the situation for vulnerable people. This panel will discuss the best ways for governments, international organizations, and NGOs in the region to address this crisis, particularly in terms of root causes and the protection of families and children.

Speakers:

*Chiara Cardoletti-Caroll, Deputy Regional Representative for the United States of America and the Caribbean, UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR)

Chiara Cardoletti-Carroll has more than 15 years of experience in humanitarian response, policy development, and government relations. Previously, she was responsible for leading and coordinating the protection response for refugees and internally displaced populations in the Republic of the Sudan, working closely with inter-agency partners and the host government.

She also served for more than four years in the Executive Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees in Geneva, covering refugee protection issues worldwide and advising on matters of international human rights and humanitarian law. Cardoletti-Carroll has worked extensively on refugee protection, internal displacement, and statelessness issues in UNHCR field operations, including East Timor, Ethiopia, Ivory Coast, Iran, and Afghanistan.


*Anthony Fontes, Assistant Professor, School of International Service at American University

Anthony Fontes earned a PhD in Human Geography (2015) from the University of California, Berkeley. He writes and teaches about violence, illicit economies, mass incarceration, ethnography, and the politics of security in the Americas. His first book, "Mortal Doubt: Transnational Gangs and Social Order in Guatemala City "(UC press 2018), explores the rise of extreme peacetime violence in Central America's Northern Triangle, illuminating the blurred boundaries between the underworld, the state and law-abiding society, and the ways the region's struggle with violence and poverty is intimately linked to its relationship with the United States.

Currently, he is conducting research for a new book on the undocumented Central American migrant crisis and what it means for Central America, the Central American diaspora, and U.S. society more broadly.


*Maureen Meyer, Director for Mexico & Mexican Rights, The Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA)

Maureen Meyer directs WOLA's Mexico program with a special focus on analyzing U.S.-Mexico security policies and their relation to organized crime-related violence, corruption, and human rights violations in Mexico. She promotes justice for human rights violations in Mexico and also carries out advocacy work regarding U.S. security assistance to Mexico through the Merida Initiative. As part of the program, she co-directs WOLA's work on border security and migration and advocates for greater protections for migrants in transit through Mexico and in the U.S. borderlands.

Meyer is a member of the Mexican-based Collective for Analysis of Security with Democracy. Before joining WOLA in 2006, Meyer lived and worked in Mexico City working with the Miguel Agustin Pro Juarez Human Rights Center, as an International Development Fellow with the Catholic Relief Services in the Dominican Republic, and as the Mexico Country Coordination Group for Amnesty International.


Other panel topics this year include:

* State of Play: Central to the Trump Administration's Record, Immigration Looms as the Major 2020 Issue

* Drawing a New Line: Recent Changes in U.S.-Mexico Border Policy

* Volleying Among the Branches of Government: DACA, TPS, Asylum and Other Policies that Hang in the Balance


This event will not be livestreamed.
Email [email protected] with any questions.
Reporters seeking to register should email Michelle Mittelstadt at [email protected].



Migration Policy Institute [ [link removed] ]

Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. [ [link removed] ]

Georgetown Law [ [link removed] ]







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