Tag: immigration

Interview with Quebec Immigration Minister Yolande James

Posted on by Michele

Immigrant Policy in Québec:  Successes and Lessons Learned

Video of my discussion with Yolande James, Minister of Cultural Communities, Government of Quebec, at the World Policy Institute April 7, 2010.

Canada has long taken pride in its reputation for successfully welcoming immigrants. Nevertheless, like other immigrant destinations, it has faced challenges like combating racism, matching immigrants’ skills with appropriate jobs, and ensuring that immigrants have the language skills they need. Under a bilateral agreement with the Canadian federal government, Québec is able to make its own policies on the immigrants it selects, and to design and implement its own policies on integration and diversity -that is, “immigrant” policies, and not just “immigration” policies.

Québec’s Minister of Immigration and Cultural Communities Yolande James, the daughter of Canadian citizens who emigrated from St. Lucia and St. Vincent, spoke with WPI Executive Director Michele Wucker about Québec’s successes and the lessons that it has learned.  Minister James also spoke about how Québec has used immigration policies to support Haiti following the January 12 earthquake.

U.S. and European Perspectives on Immigration

Posted on by Michele

The American Council on Germany, the German Marshall Fund of the United States, the World Policy Institute and Demos present
“U.S. and European Perspectives on Immigration: A Problem or an Opportunity?”

a discussion and luncheon featuring

Delancey Gustin, Immigration and Integration Program, The German Marshall Fund of the United States
and
Michele Wucker, Executive Director, World Policy Institute


This event comes on the heels of the release of Transatlantic Trends: Immigration, which compares transatlantic as well as cross-country opinion on immigration and integration issues. Some of the topics included in this year’s survey are: public perception of immigrants’ labor market impacts and effects on wages, the effect of the economic crisis on attitudes toward immigration, and preferences for temporary vs. permanent labor migration programs. The survey also gauges opinion on a legalization program for illegal immigrants and asks respondents to rate their governments’ current job of immigration management.

When:
Wednesday, January 27
12:15 – 2 PM

Where:
Demos
220 Fifth Avenue (between 26th and 27th streets)
Fifth Floor conference room
New York, New York

RSVP: This lunch and event are free and open to the public, but advance registration is required to reserve a seat and help us minimize waste when ordering.  RSVP by e-mailing events@worldpolicy.org or calling 212.481.5005 option 2.

Jezebel.com -citizenship and women’s rights

Posted on by Michele

Latoya Peterson interviewed me on Jezebel.com yesterday. Here’s the link:

Does The Struggle For Women’s Rights Extend To Citizenship?

Interview excerpt: “The largest issues facing women around the world are in many ways the same as the ones facing men: basic questions of human security and having a voice in solving problems that affect you. Literacy, education, jobs, and health are all part of this, of course, but they all come down to the question of whether women have the rights to pursue those things, and a way to influence the governments, organizations, companies, and people who affect whether and how women get what we need. In so many parts of the world —including in wealthy countries like the United States— women have a harder time meeting some of those needs than men do, but it’s important not to see this as a women-versus-men issue. The places where women have the least rights also tend to be the places where men have the least rights. If we’re all going to move forward together, we need to be sure that men also support the idea that improving women’s rights leaves men better off too. It’s “win-win” not “zero-sum.” I just saw this great new Turkish movie, “Bliss,” about a man charged with carrying out an honor killing of his cousin. During the course of the movie, he comes to the realization that the horrible infractions of her rights don’t leave either one of them better off.”

I met Latoya in the 2008 Progressive Women’s Voices program at the Women’s Media Center. She’s smart, young, and going places, and writes about the intersection between race and pop culture. Check out her website, www.racialicious.com.

Who Gets A Voice?: Immigrants and Civic Engagement

Posted on by Michele

Title: Who Gets A Voice?: Immigrants and Civic Engagement
Location: New York City
Link out: Click here
Description: I’ll be moderating a public debate Tuesday evening, June 30, hosted by the World Policy Institute and Demos with panelists Maria Teresa Petersen of Voto Latino; Tamar Jacoby, Immigration Works USA; Gara Lamarche, Atlantic Philanthropies; and Hiroshi Motomura, UCLA and Author of Americans in Waiting. For more details and to register, follow the link.
Start Time: 6:00
Date: 2009-06-30
End Time: 8:30