Friday October 22, 2021
12:30-1:30 p.m.
Online Zoom Meeting
Dear Colleagues:
Greetings, and I hope that you and yours are healthy and safe – and can stay that way.
As part of being careful to stay safe, the “Friday Lunch,” a CWRU tradition since 1989, continues on Zoom. We work to present experts from campus and sometimes beyond to discuss important issues for the university, local community, nation or the international stage.
This Week’s Program
Immigration was President Trump’s signature policy issue. There were some issues on which he had major policy successes, such as judicial appointments and tax cuts, but was a typical modern Republican. There were other issues on which his positions were somewhat unusual for his party, such as his criticisms of free trade and of high prices for pharmaceuticals, but he didn’t accomplish much. Harsh opposition to immigration, however, was a central part of his political rhetoric (beginning with his 2015 announcement as a candidate, and its reference to Mexican rapists) that was turned into over 400 executive policy initiatives. Many were rejected by the courts or misfired in other ways, and the overall effect of his policies on illegal immigration may not have been large. But his policies dramatically reduced the number of legal immigrants (especially refugees) and his “zero tolerance” approach at a minimum was associated with major increases in apprehensions at the southwest border and harsh consequences in the form of family separation.
Immigration is not President Biden’s dominant policy concern. “Build Back Better” involves a long list of initiatives from spending on infrastructure to providing more support for raising children and better access to healthcare. But undoing Trump’s policies, and fixing longstanding problems, have still been a priority. Biden and congressional Democratic leaders have pursued major initiatives including a path for citizenship for 11 million current residents – so major that the Senate Parliamentarian has said they do not fit the restrictions of reconciliation legislation. And he has taken a series of steps to undo many of Trump’s executive actions.
In spite of any intentions, however, Biden is being accused of emulating Trump’s policies in major ways. Record numbers of unaccompanied migrant children arriving from Central America and 30,000 Haitians seeking entry in Del Rio, Texas have led to Biden administration actions that look somewhat like President Trump’s and charges that Biden has an “incoherent immigration policy.”
We are faced, then, with President Biden having halted construction of the border wall, significantly raised the quota for refugees, proposed major legislation to improve prospects for immigrants already in the country and sought to revive the DACA program – and being charged with not doing enough for immigrants.
What, then, should we make of the Biden administration’s immigration policies? Aleksandar Cuic oversees the litigation practice at the immigration law firm of Robert Brown, LLC, and directs the immigration clinic of our School of Law. He joins us to share his practitioner perspective on the Biden administration’s effects so far.
Signing In
This semester’s discussions will begin at 12:30 p.m., the usual time. The meeting will be set up as from Noon to 2:00 p.m., so people are not all signing in at the same time and to allow for the discussion to run a bit long. Each week we will send out this newsletter with information about the topic. It will also include a link to register (for free) for the discussion. Every Monday the same information will be posted on our website: fridaylunch.case.edu.
If you register, you will automatically receive from the Zoom system the link to join the meeting. This week’s link for registration is:
https://cwru.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJEsdeCrqjkoHtKEEwbQLPx1z3AKYIsBYPR_
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Please e-mail padg@case.edu if you have questions about how the Zoom version of the Friday Lunch will work or any other suggestions. Or call at 216 368-2426 and we’ll try to get back to you. We are very pleased to be partnering this semester with the Siegal Lifelong Learning Program to share information about the discussions.
Best wishes for safety and security for you and yours,
Joe White
Luxenberg Family Professor of Public Policy and Director, Center for Policy Studies
About Our Guest
Aleksandar Cuic received his Juris Doctorate from the Cleveland Marshall School of Law and is admitted to practice law in the State of Ohio. He also received a Masters in Business Administration from the Cleveland State University College of Business. Aleksandar Cuic is a partner at the Brown Immigration Law firm and oversees the firm’s litigation practice, focusing largely on removal/deportation defense matters and general litigation. He is also well-versed in the firm’s family-based immigration practice, which includes preparation of immigrant visas, consular processing and naturalization and citizenship matters. His background in legal ethics is a trademark of both his practice style and is a value that is prized by the firm.
He is associated with the American Immigration Lawyers Association, the Federal Bar Association, the American Bar Association and several other Bar Associations. He was also named in Super Lawyers® in 2010-2011, 2013 and 2015-2017. He has also been named The Best Lawyers in America© 2016-2017.
Schedule of Friday Lunch Upcoming Topics and Speakers:
October 29: Continuity and Change in the Opioid Epidemic. With Lee Hoffer, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Anthropology and Professor of Psychiatry.
November 5: Redeveloping Buckeye/Woodhill. With Taryn Gress, MSSA, Strategic Director, and Debbie Wilber, Assistant Director, National Initiative on Mixed-Income Communities.
November 12: Can India Survive as a Secular Democracy? With Ananya DasGupta, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of History.
November 19: Hospital Boom and Busts. With J.B. Silvers, Ph.D., Associate Dean of Finance and Professor of Banking and Finance.
December 3: President Biden’s Trade Policy: Continuity and Change. With Juscelino Colares, J.D., Schott-van den Eynden Professor of Business Law. |
