REPORT FROM BJORKLUNDEN, PART II – My Boynton Society Lecture: “INTO THE MAELSTROM” — UNDERSTANDING AMERICAN IMMIGRATION IN THE AGE OF TRUMP

What is the Boynton Society?

 

The Boynton Society

Björklunden enjoys a loyal following among Door County residents and visitors, as well as Lawrence University alumni, parents and friends. The Boynton Society was formed to celebrate Björklunden and to secure financial backing for its programs. Those who support the mission of Björklunden make the Lawrence University Student Seminar programs possible for over 650 students each year as well as provide opportunities for the Lawrence University Conservatory of Music to perform in Door County.

Many Boynton Society members have attended summer seminars or spent time at the lodge during their years at Lawrence. Anyone who has been to Björklunden would agree that the experience can be life changing. Boynton Society members help to make sure that visitors of all ages will be able to enjoy the treasure that awaits as they venture into the “birch forest by the water” for years to come.

 

Who Chairs the Boynton Society:

Jone & Jeff Riester
Jone (LU’72) & Jeff (LU’70) Riester
Co-Chairs, The Boynton Society

PROGRAM NOTE: Jeff and I were in the same class at LU, attended the Lawrence Campus in Boennigheim together, overlapped at Wisconsin Law, and lived to tell about it.

Who were the Boyntons and how did they relate to Lawrence University:

The Björklunden Tradition

Björklunden* vid Sjön, Swedish for “Birch Grove by the Lake” is a 425-acre estate on the Lake Michigan shore just south of Baileys Harbor in picturesque Door County. A place of great beauty and serenity, the property includes meadows, woods, and more than a mile of unspoiled waterfront.

Björklunden was bequeathed to Lawrence University in 1963 by Donald and Winifred Boynton of Highland Park, Illinois. The Boyntons made the gift with the understanding that Björklunden would be preserved in a way that would ensure its legacy as a place of peace and contemplation. Winifred Boynton captured the enduring spirit of Björklunden when she said of her beloved summer home: “Far removed from confusion and aggression, it offers a sanctuary for all.”

Since 1980, Lawrence has sponsored a series of adult continuing-education seminars at Björklunden, interrupted only by a 1993 fire that destroyed the estate’s main lodge. In 1996, construction was completed on a new and larger facility, and the Björklunden Seminars resumed. The magnificent lodge and idyllic setting create a peaceful learning environment. Seminars address topics in the arts, music, religion, history, drama, nature, and more. Seminar participants may enjoy a relaxing week’s stay at the lodge or are welcome to commute from the area.

Throughout the academic year, groups of Lawrence students and faculty come to Björklunden for weekend seminars and retreats. Each student at Lawrence has the opportunity to attend a student seminar at Björklunden at least once during their studies. Student seminars provide the opportunity to explore exciting themes and issues and the time and the environment in which to embrace those ideas and their consequences. The magic of a Björklunden weekend is in the connection between thought and reflection. Making that connection fulfills one ideal of a liberal education.

The two-story Björklunden lodge is a magnificent 37,000 square-foot structure containing a great room, muti-purpose and seminar rooms, dining room and kitchen, as well as 22 guest rooms. The lodge accommodates a wide variety of seminars, meetings, conferences, receptions, family gatherings, musical programs and other special events and is available for use throughout the year. In addition to the main building, the Björklunden estate also includes a small wooden chapel built in a late 12-century Norwegian stave church (stavkirke) style, handcrafted by the Boyntons between 1939 and 1947.

 

What does the hand-crafted Boynton chapel look like today:

Boynton Chapel
Boynton Chapel
Bjorklunden
IInside the Boynton Chapel
Inside the Boynton Chapel
Bjorklunden
Inside the Boynton Chapel
Inside the Boynton Chapel
Bjorklunden
Inside the Boynton Chapel
Inside the Boynton Chapel
Bjorklunden

 

What did I say in my Lecture:

NOTE:  This written version contains “bonus material” that was cut from the live presentaton in the interests of time.

“INTO THE MAELSTROM” — UNDERSTANDING AMERICAN IMMIGRATION IN THE AGE OF TRUMP

BOYNTON SOCIETY LECTURE

LAWRNCE UNIVERSITY, BJORKLUNDEN, CAMPUS

BAILEY’S HARBOR, WISCONSIN

August 10, 2019

 

 

Greetings, and thank you so much for coming out to listen this beautiful afternoon on a topic that has consumed my post-Lawrence professional life: American Immigration.

 

Whether you realize it or not, immigration shapes the lives of each of us in this room. It will also determine the future of our children, grandchildren, and following generations.  Will they continue to be part of a vibrant democratic republic, valuing human dignity and the rule of law?  Or, will they be swept into the maelstrom as our beloved nation disintegrates into a cruel, selfish, White Nationalist kleptocracy, mocking and trampling most of the principles that we as “liberal artists” grew up holding dear.

 

The Maelstrom
“The Maelstrom”
Bjorklunden
Maelstrom
“The Maelstrom”

 

 

Many of you have thought about this before in some form or another. Indeed, that might be why you are here this afternoon, rather than outside frolicking in the sunlight. But, for any who don’t recognize the cosmic importance of migration in today’s society, in the words of noted scholar and country music superstar Toby Keith, “It’s me, baby, with your wake-up call.”

Toby Keith
040601-N-8861F-003 Naval Support Activity Naples, Italy (Jun. 1, 2004) – Country singer Toby Keith sings at a recent United Service Organization (USO) sponsored concert held at Naval Support Activity, Naples, support site in Gricignano. Keith, joined by rock legend Ted Nugent will also be traveling to Germany, Kosovo and the Persian Gulf during the tour. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer’s Mate 2nd Class Lenny Francioni (RELEASED)

 

For, make no mistake about it, civilization is undergoing an existential crisis. Western liberal democracy, the rule of law, scientific truth, humanism, and our Constitutional guarantees of Due Process of law for all are under vicious attack. Evil leaders who revel in their anti-intellectualism and pseudo-science have shrewdly harnessed and channeled the powerful cross currents of hate, bias, xenophobia, fear, resentment, greed, selfishness, anti-intellectualism, racism, and knowingly false narratives to advance their vitriolic program of White Nationalist authoritarianism, targeting directly our cherished democratic institutions. And, their jaundiced and untruthful view of American immigration is leading the way toward their dark and perverted view of America’s future.

 

As fellow members of the Boynton society, I assume that all of you are familiar with our beautiful chapel, painstakingly hand-constructed by Winifred Boynton and her husband Donald – a true labor of love, optimism, humanitarianism, and respect for future generations. Here are the words of Winifred Boynton:

Boynton Chapel
Boynton Chapel
Bjorklunden
Door County, WI

 

During those years the chapel was in the building, the world was being torn apart by the hatred and fighting of a war and we realized the tremendous need for centers of peace and Christian love for our fellow man. . . . We found ourselves selecting moments of great joy for the large murals. And, the decision to dedicate the chapel to peace was the natural culmination. [Ruth Morton Miller, Faith Built a Chapel, Wisconsin Trails, Summer 1962, at 19, 21-22]

The Boyntons
Donald and Winifred Boynton

 

If Winifred were among us today, in body as well as spirit, she would approve of the learning, humane values, and concern for our fellow man fostered through our seminars this week and this program.

 

For those of you who weren’t able to join us this week, here are some of the “ripped from the headlines” items that we discussed in the American Immigration and Culture Seminar led by my good friend, the amazing Jennifer Esperanza, Professor of Cultural Anthropology at Beloit College, herself a first generation American whose family came from the Philippines, and me.    

Jennifer Esperanza
Professor Jennifer Esperanza
Beloit College
Anthropology Department

  

From Sunday’s Wisconsin State Journal: “Trump’s stamp on immigration courts; recent trend in judges is former military and ICE attorneys” and “Swamped courts fast-tracking family cases: Speeding up hearings aims to prevent migrant families from setting down roots while they wait to find out whether they qualify for asylum.”

 

From Monday’s Los Angeles Times: “’As American as any child:” Defunct citizenship query may still lead to Latino undercount.”

 

From Wednesday’s El Paso Times: “Mr. President, the hatred of the El Paso shooting didn’t come from our city: When you visit today, you will see El Paso in the agony of our mourning.  You will also see El Paso at its finest.”

 

From Thursday’s New York Times: “Climate Change Threatens the World’s Food Supply, United Nations Warns.”

 

From Thursday’s Huffington Post: “Children Left without Parents, Communities ‘Scared to Death’ After Massive ICE Raids.”

 

From Friday’s Washington Post: “The poultry industry recruited them. Now ICE raids are devastating their communities: How immigrants established vibrant communities in the rural South over a quarter century.”

And, finally, check these out from today’s Washington Post: “When they filed their asylum claim, they were told to wait in Mexico – where they say they were kidnapped;” and “ICE raids target workers, but few firms are charged;” and “Pope Francis again warns against nationalism, says recent speeches sound like ‘Hitler in 1934.’”

 

Just before I came to deliver this lecture, I was on the phone with Christina Goldbaum of the New York Times who is writing an article on the Administration’s efforts to “break” the Immigration Judges’ union (of which I am a retired member) which will appear tomorrow.

Christina Goldbaum
Christina Goldbaum
Immigration Reporter
NY Times

 

Now, this is when, “in former lives,” I used to give my comprehensive disclaimer providing plausible deniabilityfor everyone in the Immigration Court System if I happened to say anything inconvenient or controversial – in other words, if I spoke too much truth.  But, now that Im retired, we can skip that part.

No BS
IMPORTANT WARNING
ENTERING NO BS ZONE

 

Nevertheless, I do want to hold Lawrence, the Boynton Society, Mark, Alex, Kim, Jeff & Joanie, you folks, and anyone else of any importance whatsoever, harmless for my remarks this afternoon, for which I take full responsibility. No party line, no bureaucratic doublespeak, no “namby-pamby” academic platitudes, no BS. Just the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, of course as I see it, which isn’t necessarily the way everyone sees it. But, “different strokes” is, and always has been, an integral part of the “liberal arts experience” here at Lawrence.

But, that’s not all folks! Because todayis Saturday, this is Bjorklunden, and youare such a great audience, Im giving you my absolute, unconditional, money-back guarantee that thistalk will be completely freefrom computer-generated slides, power points, or any other type of distracting modern technology that might interfere with your total comprehension or listening enjoyment.  In other words, am the power pointof this presentation.

Executive Summary

I will provide an overview and critique of US immigration and asylum policies from the perspective of my 46 years as a lawyer, in both the public and private sectors, public servant, senior executive, trial and appellate judge, educator, and most recently, unapologetic “rabble rouser” defending Due Process and judicial independence.

I will offer a description of the US immigration system by positing different categories of membership: full members of the “club” (US citizens); “associate members” (lawful permanent residents, refugees and asylees); “friends” (non-immigrants and holders of temporary status); and, persons outside the club (the undocumented). I will describe the legal framework that applies to these distinct populations and recent developments in federal law and policy that relate to them. I will also mention some cross-cutting issues that affect these populations, including immigrant detention, immigration court backlogs, state and local immigration policies, and Constitutional rights that extend to non-citizens.

Click this link to continue with the full version of the speech:

BOYNTON SOCIETY LECTURE

 

“Made my day” moment:

Three members of the fantastic Lawrence undergraduate student staff who attended the lecture told me afterward “We’re joining your ‘New Due Process Army.’” Thus, the “Brjorklunden Brigade of the NDPA” is born!

 

What did the Society members do after the “serious stuff” was over?

Partied, of course:

 

Who runs Bjorklunden?

 

Mark Breseman
Mark Breseman (LU ’78)
Executive Director
Kim Eckstein
Kim Eckstein
Operations Manager
Alex Baldschun
Alex Baldschun
Assistant Director
Jeff Campbell
Jeff Campbell
Head Chef
Mark Franke
Mark Franke
General Maintenance Mechanic
Lynda Pietruszka
Lynda Pietruszka
Staff Assistant/Weekend Manager

How can you join the Boynton Society or participate in future programs at Bjorklunden (you to not have to be a Lawrence University graduate, student, or otherwise affiliated with the University)?

Click here for further information:

https://www.lawrence.edu/s/bjorklunden/boynton_society

 

PWS

08-23-19

 

 

 

 

BJORKLUNDEN REPORT, PART I: “American Immigration: A Legal, Cultural, & Historical Approach to Understanding the Complex and Controversial Issues Dominating Our National Dialogue”

BJORKLUNDEN REPORT, PART I: “American Immigration: A Legal, Cultural, & Historical Approach to Understanding the Complex and Controversial Issues Dominating Our National Dialogue”

 

I had the pleasure of co-teaching this course with my good friend Professor Jennifer Esperanza of the Beloit College Anthropology Department. The venue was Lawrence University’s amazing Northern Campus, known as Bjorklunden, on the wildly beautiful shores of Lake Michigan in Door County, Wisconsin, from August 4-9, 2019. This was a “derivative” of an immigration component of a summer session of Jenn’s class for undergraduates at Beloit. This time we had a group of 15 enthusiastic, well-informed post graduate students from a variety of professional backgrounds.

 

Here’s what we set out to achieve:

 

 

 Class Description:

All Americans are products of immigration. Even Native Americans were massively affected by the waves of European, involuntary African-American, Asian, and Hispanic migration. Are we a nation of immigrants or a nation that fears immigration? Should we welcome refugees or shun them as potential terrorists? Do we favor family members or workers? Rocket scientists or maids and landscapers? Build a wall or a welcome center? Get behind some of the divisive rhetoric and enter the dialogue in this participatory class that will give you a chance to “learn and do” in a group setting. Be part of a team designing and explaining your own immigration system.

Class Objectives:

  • _Understand how we got here;
  • _Understand current U.S. immigration system and how it is supposed to work;
  • _Learn more about the various lived experiences of immigrants and refugees through their personal stories and ethnographic accounts
  • _Develop tools to become a participant in the ongoing debate about the future of American immigration;
  • _Get to know a great group of people, enjoy Door County, and have some fun in and out of class

 

 

Here are our “five major themes:”

 

Day 1: An Introduction to Immigration (From the Top Down and the Bottom Up)

Highlight: Getting the “immigration histories” of the participants

 

Day 2:  Labor Migration: Push/Pull Factors

Highlight: Stories and examples of the “hard-work culture” created by various groups of hard-working immigrants to the U.S. both documented and undocumented with a particular emphasis on the culture created by Hispanic restaurant workers

Day 3: “Making Home”

Highlight: Watching and discussing NPR broadcast on German immigrants in rural Wisconsin which related directly to the family histories of many of us in the class (including me)

 

Day 4: “Well Founded Fear”

Highlights: Jenn’s live storytelling performance of her own family immigration experience, watch on Youtube here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEODrtuj_Pk&t=323s

My coverage of the entirety of refugee history and modern U.S. refugee and asylum laws in 70 minutes (favorite student comment/compliment: “I expected this to be deadly, but it wasn’t.”)

 

Day 5: Contemporary Issues: The Future of Immigration, Refuges, & Asylum

Highlight: The class presentations of the famous (or infamous) “Mother Hen v. Dick’s Last Resort” “Build Your Own Refugee System” Exercise

 

Here’s the complete Course Outline (although admittedly we varied from this when necessary):

Bjorklunden 2019 Syllabus_American Immigration

 

Here’s my “Closing Statement:”

 

“CLOSING STATEMENT”

Lawrence University

Bjorklunden Campus

Bailey’s Harbor, WI

August 9, 2019

 Jenn and I thank you for joining us. We’ve had our “Last Supper” and our “Final Breakfast” here at beautiful Bjorklunden. That means that our time together is ending.

 In five days, we have completed a journey that began on Monday with hunter-gatherers in Africa thousands of years ago, and ends inside today’s headlines about ripping apart families in Mississippi and trying to develop better approaches to refugees: individuals who are an integral part of the human migration story as old as man, and who will not be stopped by walls, prison cells, removals, or cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment or rhetoric from our so-called “leaders.” On the way, we wound through our own rich immigration heritages and personal stories about how migration issues continue to shape our lives, including, of course, bringing this wonderful group together in the first place.

 Jenn shared with you some very personal stories about her own family’s recent immigration experiences and how it shaped, and continues to mold her own life and future.  I introduced you, at least briefly, to a key part of my own life, the U.S. Immigration Court, the retail level of our immigration system, where “the rubber meets the road” and where the maliciously incompetent actions of unqualified politicos have created “Aimless Docket Reshuffling” and made a bad joke out of the precious Constitutional right to Due Process under law for all in the U.S. regardless of status or means of arrival.

 Our lively class discussions have not been “merely academic,” but real and practical.  We have discussed real life scenarios literally “ripped from today’s headlines,” involving real people and real human dilemmas, including the challenges facing those whose job it is to ensure that justice is served.  Although this class is done, the learning, the intense human drama, and the “living theater” of American immigration will continue.

 Jenn and I have enjoyed working with all of you over this week. The past five days have certainly been a high point for us this summer.

 We have communicated our shared values of fairness, scholarship, timeliness, respect, and teamwork!  And, we hope that our ability to bond and bridge generational, age, academic, gender, professional, cultural, and geographic gaps to bring you this learning experience has served as a “living example” of how those shared values play out in “real life.”

 For me and others like me, our “time on the stage” is winding down. Others, like Jenn and Chuck, are still very much engaged in the production. Still others, like Mary’s inspiring grandchildren, Jenn’s boys, and my eight grandchildren, are “waiting in the wings” to take the stage and assume their full roles in the ongoing drama of human history.

 Our hope and challenge for each of you is that no matter where you are in the process of lifelong learning and doing, you will reach your full potential as informed, caring, and compassionate human beings, and that you will continue to strive to make our world a better place!  We also hope that something that you have learned in this class will make a positive difference in your life or the life of someone you care about.

 Thanks again for inviting us into your lives, engaging, participating, and sharing. Journey forth safely, good luck, and may you do great things in all phases of life!

 

Here’s our “Class Photo” taken on the deck outside the Lakeside Seminar Room where we met:

Left to right: Steve Handrich, Judge Charlie Schudson, Nancy Behrens, Mary Poulson, Jeff Riester (fellow LU ’70), Chuck Meissner, Genie Meissner, Chuck Demler (LU ’11, Associate Director of Major and Planned Giving), Greta Rogers, Me, Professor Jennifer Esperanza (Beloit College), Renee Boldt, Susan Youngblood, Chris Coles, Cynthia Liddle, Fred Wileman (my cousin), Mary Miech

Here are some shots of Bjorklunden:

Bjorklunden
Bjorklunden — A Different World
Bjorklunden Lodge
Bjorklunden Lodge
Bjorklunden -- Lake Michigan South
Looking South Along Lake Michigan Shore
Naturalist Jane
Exploring the Ice Age With “Naturalist Jane”
Lake Michigan North
AM on Lake Michigan Looking North Toward Bailey’s Harbor
Moon Over Lake Michigan
Moon Over Lake Michigan
Looking East
Looking East

And, this is Jenn and me conducting our “exit session” @ the Door County Brewing Co. in Bailey’s Harbor:

Jenn & Paul
“Oh, the beauty of exam-free teaching!”

Thanks again to Mark Breseman (LU ’78), Executive Director; Kim Eckstein, Operations Manager; Alex Baldschun, Assistant Director; Jeff Campbell, Head Chef; Mark Franks, General Maintenance Mechanic; Lynda Pietruszka, Staff Assistant/Weekend Program Manager, and, of course, the amazing, brilliant, personable, and talented LU student staff at Bjorklunden for taking care of our every need and making everything work.

The student staff basically runs the place from an operational standpoint. While many universities brag about their hotel and hospitality management programs, as far as I could see the student staff at Lawrence was getting great “hands on” experience and training in hospitality management from the ground up. How do I know? Well, in the “corporate phase” of my career, I represented some of the largest international hotels and hospitality corporations in the world. The “hands on” training that these students were getting appeared to be very comparable to those of well-known hotel management programs and just the type of skills that major hotel chains are always looking for in their executives and managers.

Special thanks to Alex and Kim, for emergency copying and technical services; to Kim for showing me the only “Level 2” Electric Vehicle Charger in Bailey’s Harbor (I’ve recommended that as a proudly eco-friendly institution Lawrence install Level 2 EV Chargers and dedicated plugs for Level 1 EV Chargers in convenient locations on both the Appleton and Northern Campuses); to Jeff for giving me tasty vegan options for every meal; and to Lynda and Mark Franks for their general cheerfulness and  “can do” attitude. I also appreciate the student staff who resided on my corridor for putting up with my constant whistling.

I thank Chuck Demler for getting me involved in the Bjorklunden teaching program. I am indebted to Jeff Riester for not sharing his recollections (if any) of our time together as undergraduates at Lawrence with particular reference to our two terms at the Lawrence Overseas Campus then located in Boennigheim, Germany.

Finally, thanks to my good friend and professional teaching colleague Professor Jenn Esperanza of Beloit College (who also happens to be “best buds” with my daughter Anna and her husband Daniel, a fellow Professor at Beloit College) for undertaking this adventure together and being willing to share so much of her very moving and relatively recent personal experiences with immigration and being part of the “American success story.” Jenn and I appreciated the enthusiastic participation of all the members of our group and their signing up for our class.

 

Due Process Forever!

 

PWS

 

08-21-19

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

JOURNAL ON MIGRATION & HUMAN SOCIETY (“JMHS”) PUBLISHES MY TRIBUTE TO JUAN OSUNA (1963-2017): “An Overview and Critique of US Immigration and Asylum Policies in the Trump Era”

 

New from JMHS | An Overview and Critique of US Immigration and Asylum Policies in the Trump Era
View this email in your browser
A publication of the Center for Migration Studies
Donald Kerwin, Executive Editor
John Hoeffner and Michele Pistone, Associate Editors

An Overview and Critique of US Immigration and Asylum Policies in the Trump Era

By Paul Wickham Schmidt (Georgetown Law)

This paper critiques US immigration and asylum policies from perspective of the author’s 46 years as a public servant. It also offers a taxonomy of the US immigration system by positing different categories of membership: full members of the “club” (US citizens); “associate members” (lawful permanent residents, refugees and asylees); “friends” (non-immigrants and holders of temporary status); and, persons outside the club (the undocumented). It describes the legal framework that applies to these distinct populations, as well as recent developments in federal law and policy that relate to them. It also identifies a series of cross-cutting issues that affect these populations, including immigrant detention, immigration court backlogs, state and local immigration policies, and Constitutional rights that extend to non-citizens. It makes the following asylum reform proposals, relying (mostly) on existing laws designed to address situations of larger-scale migration:

  • The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and, in particular, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) should send far more Asylum Officers to conduct credible fear interviews at the border.
  • Law firms, pro bono attorneys, and charitable legal agencies should attempt to represent all arriving migrants before both the Asylum Office and the Immigration Courts.
  • USCIS Asylum Officers should be permitted to grant temporary withholding of removal under the Convention Against Torture (CAT) to applicants likely to face torture if returned to their countries of origin.
  • Immigration Judges should put the asylum claims of those granted CAT withholding on the “back burner” — thus keeping these cases from clogging the Immigration Courts — while working with the UNHCR and other counties in the Hemisphere on more durable solutions for those fleeing the Northern Triangle states of Central America.
  • Individuals found to have a “credible fear” should be released on minimal bonds and be allowed to move to locations where they will be represented by pro bono lawyers.
  • Asylum Officers should be vested with the authority to grant asylum in the first instance, thus keeping more asylum cases out of Immigration Court.
  • If the Administration wants to prioritize the cases of recent arrivals, it should do so without creating more docket reshuffling, inefficiencies, and longer backlogs

Download the PDF of the article

 

Read more JMHS articles at http://cmsny.org/jmhs/

Want to learn more about access to asylum on the US-Mexico border? Join the Center for Migration Studies for our annual Academic and Policy Symposium on October 17.

 

 

 

 

****************************************

My long-time friend Don Kerwin, Executive Director of CMS, has been a “Lt. General of the New Due Process Army” since long before there even was a “New Due Process Army” (“NDPA”). Talk about someone who has spent his entire career increasing human understanding and making the world a better place! Don is a great role model and example for newer members of the NDPA, proving that one can make a difference, as well as a living, in our world by doing great things and good works! Not surprisingly, Don’s career achievements and contributions bear great resemblance to those of our mutual friend, the late Juan Osuna.

 

So, when Don asked me to consider turning some of my past speeches about our immigration system and how it should work into an article to honor Juan, I couldn’t say no. But, I never would have gotten it “across the finish line” without Don’s inspiration, encouragement, editing, and significant substantive suggestions for improvement, as well as that of the talented peer reviewers and editorial staff of JMHS. Like most achievements in life, it truly was a “team effort” for which I thank all involved.

 

Those of you who might have attended my Boynton Society Lecture last Saturday, August 10, at the beautiful and inspiring Bjorklunden Campus of Lawrence University on the shores of Lake Michigan at Bailey’s Harbor, WI, will see that portions of this article were “reconverted” and incorporated into that speech.

 

Also, those who might have taken the class “American Immigration, a Cultural, Legal, and Anthropological Approach” at the Bjorklunden Seminar Series the previous week, co-taught by my friend Professor Jenn Esperanza of The Beloit College Anthropology Department, and me had the then-unpublished manuscript in their course materials, and will no doubt recognize many of the themes that Jenn and I stressed during that week.

 

Perhaps the only “comment that really mattered” was passed on to me by Don shortly after this article was released. It was from Juan’s wife, the also amazing and inspiring Wendy Young, President of Kids In Need of Defense (“KIND”):Juan would be truly honored.”

Donald M. Kerwin
Donald M. Kerwin
Executive Director
Center for Migration Studies
Juan P. Osuna
Juan P. Osuna (1963-2017)
Judge, Executive, Scholar, Teacher, Defender of Due Process
Wendy Young
Wendy Young
President, Kids In Need of Defense (“KIND”)
Me
Me

 

PWS

 

08-19-19

 

 

 

“VACATION WITH A PURPOSE” THIS AUGUST: COME SPEND A WEEK OF FUN AND GROUP LEARNING WITH PROFESSOR JENNIFER ESPERANZA (BELOIT COLLEGE) AND ME AT LAWRENCE UNIVERSITY’S BEAUTIFUL BJÖRKLUNDEN CAMPUS ON THE SHORES OF LAKE MICHIGAN IN BEAUTIFUL DOOR COUNTY, WI! – Register For “American Immigration” Aug. 4-9, 2019 Here!

American Immigration

A Legal, Cultural, & Historical Approach to Understanding the Complex and Controversial Issue Dominating Our National Dialogue. All Americans are products of immigration. Even Native Americans were massively affected by the waves of European, involuntary African-American, Asian, and Hispanic migration. Are we a nation of immigrants or a nation that fears immigration? Should we welcome refugees or shun them as potential terrorists? Do we favor family members or workers? Rocket scientists or maids and landscapers? Build a wall or a welcome center? Get behind some of the divisive rhetoric and enter the dialogue in this participatory class that will give you a chance to “learn and do” in a group setting. Be part of a team designing and explaining your own immigration system. Your faculty leaders will be retired U.S. Immigration Judge Paul Wickham Schmidt, currently an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown Law, and Professor Jennifer Esperanza of the Beloit College Anthropology Department, who will also share her compelling experiences as the daughter of immigrants. Professor Esperanza and Judge Schmidt have successfully used their unique “legal/cultural anthropological approach” in undergraduate teaching and will now offer it in a post-graduate seminar.

Paul Wickham Schmidt ’70, retired in 2016 after 13 years as a U.S. Immigration Judge at the Arlington (VA) Immigration Court. Prior to that, he was an Appellate Immigration Judge on the Board of Immigration Appeals, U.S. Department of Justice, serving as the Chairman for six years. He also practiced business immigration law as a partner at Jones Day and managing partner of the D.C. Office of Fragomen. He was Senior Executive in the “Legacy INS” under administrations of both parties. Following graduation from Lawrence, he received a J.D from the University of Wisconsin Law School. He also received the 2010 Lucia Briggs Distinguished Achievement Award from Lawrence. Currently, he is an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown Law, writes the blog immigrationcourtside.com, and is a frequent speaker, radio, and tv commentator on current immigration issues.

Jennifer Esperanza received her Ph.D. in Anthropology from UCLA. She also holds a M.A. from UCLA and a B.A. from USC. She has been a Professor of Anthropology at Beloit College since 2008. As one of two socio-cultural anthropologists in the Department of Anthropology, her primary areas of expertise include political economy, Southeast Asia (Indonesia and the Philippines), tourism and handicrafts, language and identity, consumerism and immigration and refugee resettlement in the United States. She believes students must learn that culture cannot be properly understood without examining its economic and political contexts. In addition to authoring a number of scholarly publications, she received a Marvin Weisberg Foundation for Human Rights Faculty Research Grant in 2015, and a Mellon Foundation research grant in 2018-19.

Date:
Sunday, August 4, 2019 to Friday, August 9, 2019
Fee(s):
$925 – Double; $1,200 – Single; $465 – Commuter
Topic(s):
Law & Politics
********************************************
Come join us this summer in Door County for an exciting and unforgettable vacation and learning experience.
Paul & Jennifer
Here’s the link for registration: