Presidential Power and Immigration Policy: America’s Uncivil War — From Lincoln to Today
Executive actions on immigration go hand-hand with our country’s history. Through time, Presidents have used their discretionary enforcement powers to make policies that go beyond the regular immigration laws. Join HistoryMiami Museum for an all-star panel discussion on Presidential Power and Immigration Policy. Enjoy historical insights from nationally recognized experts on this topic.
Featuring an introduction by Harold Holzer, winner of the 2015 Gilder-Lehrman Lincoln Prize, is one of the country's leading authorities on Abraham Lincoln and the political culture of the Civil War era. A prolific writer and lecturer, and frequent guest on television, Holzer served for six years (2010–2016) as Chairman of The Lincoln Bicentennial Foundation. For the previous 10 years he co-chaired the U. S. Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission (ALBC), appointed by President Clinton. President Bush awarded Holzer the National Humanities Medal in 2008; and in 2013, Holzer wrote an essay on Lincoln for the official program at the re-inauguration of President Barack Obama.
Holzer, who now serves as The Jonathan F. Fanton Director of Hunter College's Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute, has authored, co-authored or edited 52 books. His latest major book, Lincoln and the Power of the Press: The War for Public Opinion, won the Lincoln Prize, as well as The Mark Lynton History Prize from the Columbia University School of Journalism, The Hazel-Dicken Garcia Award, and the 2016 Goldsmith Book Prize from the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government.
Panelists:
Maria A. Rodriguez, Executive Director of the Florida Immigration Coalition. She has co-founded or helped establish half a dozen award-winning organizations, including a free medical clinic, a housing cooperative, an arts & therapy group and an electoral entity, which are all thriving today. From foreign policy advocacy on Southern Africa and Central America, to domestic organizing for quality housing and healthcare at home, Maria brings principled and effective leadership that yields concrete results. She grew up in Puerto Rico in a multi-cultural family and is a graduate of Georgetown University.
Dr. Tracy Devine Guzmán, Associate Professor of Latin American Studies and Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures at the University of Miami. She holds a B.A. from the University of Virginia; an M.A. from the College of William and Mary; and a Ph.D. from Duke University. Her research and teaching interests lie at the intersection of intellectual and cultural history, social and political theory, philosophy, and cultural production. Dr. Guzmán has engaged in research and political advocacy in the Americas for two decades. She has won individual and institutional grants from the Ford Foundation, the Tinker Foundation, FLAS, FIPSE/ CAPES, the Fulbright Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Dr. Alex Stepick, Emeritus Professor of Global and Sociocultural Studies at Florida International University and Professor of Sociology at Portland State University. He has written eight books and over 50 articles on the impact of immigrants on the U.S., focusing primarily on Miami. The American Anthropological Association and the Society for Applied Anthropology awarded him the Margaret Mead Award for his work with Haitian refugees. His law review article on U.S. refugee and asylum law is used as a definitive reference in classrooms at major law schools throughout the U.S. He was a Fulbright Fellow twice and has received grants from all the major scientific research institutions, including the then largest grant ever in Cultural Anthropology from the National Science Foundation.
Chief Justice Frank J. Williams, former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island, a notable Abraham Lincoln scholar and author, and one of the nation’s leading experts on Lincoln, as well as one of its major Lincolnian collectors. The author, co-author, or editor of a dozen books, including Judging Lincoln and the recent volumes The Mary Lincoln Enigma and Lincoln as Hero. Williams also serves as founding chairman of The Lincoln Forum and President of the Ulysses S. Grant Association.
Moderator: Harold Holzer
Seating is limited and available on a first come, first served basis.
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