The 31st Annual National Symposium on Family Issues, being held Oct. 23 - Oct. 24 virtually and in person in 233B HUB-Robeson Center, will focus on immigrant family research and the effects of public policies and practices on this demographic.
The first session, “How immigration admission and enforcement policy shapes family separation and migration strategies,” will be led by Vanessa Delgado, Claudia Masferrer and Julia Gelatt on Oct. 23 from 9 a.m. until noon.
This session aims to explore how immigration policies affect immigrant families’ lives, focusing on family relationships and revealing how certain privileges are granted to specific types of relationships.
The afternoon session will focus on immigrant family settlement, marriage, and family building in the context of exclusion, led by Sarah Rendon Garcia, Laura E. Enriquez and Asad L. Asad.
The session will provide valuable insights into the stressors and economic hardships associated with having unauthorized legal status. This session will also shed light on how immigrant families navigate these risks of detention and deportation.
The conference will wrap up with a morning session on Oct. 24 and will explore the longer-run impact of immigration policy on the U.S.-born children and grandchildren of immigrants.
Being led by Neeraj Kaushal, Jody Agius Vallejo and May Guo, the final session of the symposium will explore the consequence of immigration policies on the descendants of immigrants. Many noncitizens and unauthorized immigrants face financial hardships and are excluded from public programs and benefits, despite their integration within their U.S. communities.
According to organizer Jennifer Van Hook, Population Research Institute director, the goal of the Family Symposium is to “bring together experts and academics in the field to lead sessions aiming to deepen the understanding of how immigration laws shape family dynamics, influence settlement experiences and have long-term consequences on U.S.-born children of immigrants.”
Registration is required to attend in-person, virtually, and to view the recording of the symposium. Attendance is free and is open to the public.
The Symposium on Family Issues is sponsored annually by The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Penn State’s Population Research Institute and Social Science Research Institute.