Thank you for attending our immigration panel and discussion!
View the full recording of our event by clicking on the video below, and scroll down for resources to stay engaged.
With a focus on the experience of Haitian immigrants in our region, speakers addressed the recent changes in immigration policy followed by the new executive orders.
The conversation began with a policy briefing from Adriel D. Orozco, senior policy counsel, American Immigration Council.
Followed by a panel conversation and Q&A with:
- – Moderator, Felix Germain, PhD, vice chair of the Department of Africana Studies & an associate professor at the University of Pittsburgh
- – Darlène Dubuisson, PhD, anthropologist and author of Reclaiming Haiti’s Futures: Returned Intellectuals, Placemaking, and Radical Imagination
- – Chris Rivas, storyteller, author of Brown Enough, creator and performer of The Real James Bond… Was Dominican
- – Adrian N. Roe, J.D., attorney and former Federal Immigration Judge
- – Ivonne Smith-Tapia, director of Immigrant & Refugee Services at JFCS
Resources:
Our partners at JFCS have provided guidance for refugees, SIVs, or/and green card holders on how to respond if approached by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Engage:
- – Read the Post Gazette’s coverage of our event
- – Read Darlène Dubuisson’s book Reclaiming Haiti’s Futures: Returned Intellectuals, Placemaking, and Radical Imagination
- – Read Christopher Rivas’s book, Brown Enough
- – Interested in supporting our immigrant neighbors? Attend Casa San Jose’s Know Your Rights training in English, on February 25. To sign up, and for the address call Eddie with Casa San José at 412-540-9250
Stay connected:
- Follow American Immigration Council, LACC, City Theatre, DNAWORKS, and Jewish Family & Community Services, for updates on their upcoming events and resources.
Read more about our speakers:
Moderator: Felix Germain, PhD, is the vice chair of the Department of Africana Studies & an associate professor at the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Germain’s research focuses on Black migrations and race relations in France and the United States, as well as contemporary socio-political issues in Haiti and the French Caribbean. He explores topics such as race relations, colonization, decolonization, postcolonial migration and labor relations, and black social movements and gender relations in Africa and the African Diaspora. His first book, Decolonizing the Republic: African and Caribbean Migrants in Postwar Paris (1946-1974), examines the formation of the African Diaspora in France during a period that French historians call “the glorious thirty”. It chronicles the evolution of Paris from a space fertile for black literacy and artistic production to a city where Caribbean and African labor migrants lived in quasi “exile,” often protesting for better working and living conditions.
Darlène Dubuisson, PhD, is an anthropologist and author of Reclaiming Haiti’s Futures: Returned Intellectuals, Placemaking, and Radical Imagination. Dubuisson is also a Assistant Professor at the University of Pittsburgh, and received her Ph.D. from Columbia University in October 2020. Her research interests and teaching span political and legal anthropology, activist and engaged anthropology, Black feminist anthropology, Black intellectual histories, migration, transnational studies, and speculative fiction and visual culture. Her work weaves analyses of Black radicalism, feminism, social and political movements, imagination, migration and diaspora, and crises and futures. Her primary geographic focus is the Caribbean and Latin America.
Adriel D. Orozco is a Senior Policy Counsel at the American Immigration Council. Adriel is responsible for advancing the Council’s strategic goals by providing analysis and research on immigration policy issues, including those related to government accountability and efforts to improve the quality of due process in the immigration system. Prior to the Council, Adriel practiced immigration law and represented low-income immigrants at all stages of the immigration process. Adriel holds a J.D. from the University of New Mexico School of Law and a B.A. in politics and economics from Brandeis University.
Christopher Rivas is a storyteller, podcast host, author of Brown Enough and You’re a Good Swimmer, creator and performer of The Real James.. was Dominican and a Rothschild Impact Fellow. Rivas uses storytelling to “disrupt what is with the possibility of what can be. It’s not really about answers, it’s about asking bigger questions, like the vital role stories play in our lives and work.”
Catch Chris Rivas in The Real James Bond …was Dominican. Now playing at City Theatre until February 16. Click here to learn more!
Adrian N. Roe’s major areas of practice are immigration, criminal defense, and civil litigation. Adrian is licensed to practice law before state courts in Florida and Pennsylvania. He is admitted to practice before various federal courts including the U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.
Ivonne Smith-Tapia is the director of Immigrant & Refugee Services at JFCS. Smith-Tapia holds master’s degrees in Cultural Anthropology and Social Work with a certificate in Human Services Management. Ivonne worked more than a decade with the Colombian government, international NGOs and think tanks promoting community development, education, human rights, and leadership in diverse rural and urban communities in Colombia.
This event was presented in partnership with City Theatre Company, DNAWORKS, the Latin American Cultural Center (LACC), and our team at the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh.
