Ruth Ellen Wasem of the Congressional Research Service to Speak on U.S. Immigration Law on March 2

Ruth Ellen Wasem, legislative specialist with the Congressional Research Service at the Library of Congress will speak on reforming immigration law on March 2 at 12:15 p.m. in SRH 3.124.

According to Wasem, there is a broad-based consensus that the U.S. immigration system is broken but the consensus erodes as soon as the options to reform the system are offered. In her talk titled “Policies for a World In Motion: Prospects and Options for Reforming U.S. Immigration Law”, Wasem will address this multi-tiered debate that involves a range of issues, including border security, criminal aliens, worksite enforcement, employment eligibility verification, future flows of permanent immigrants, guest workers, recruitment and retention of high-skilled immigrants, legalization of unauthorized aliens, noncitizen eligibility for federal benefits, birthright citizenship and the role of state and local law enforcement in enforcing immigration laws.

Wasem will teach a course on immigration policy for the LBJ School in Washington, DC as part of the School’s Washington Program during summer 2012.

More on Ruth Ellen Wasem:

Ruth Ellen Wasem is a legislative specialist with the Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress, where she has written in the areas of adolescent pregnancy, asylum, citizenship, homelessness, immigration, and social services. Since 2000, she has led the team of policy analysts, attorneys, librarians and research assistants who work in immigration. Her most recent publications have focused on comprehensive immigration reform, employment-based immigration, immigrant diversity, numerical limits on immigration, and access of noncitizens to federal benefits.