Immigration, Borders & Human Dignity: Immigration Policy as Lived Experience


Apr 01
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
University of Richmond, Zoom gathering

Immigration policy has always shaped lives, but right now its impact on students, families, and workplaces feels more immediate than ever. As we open a new monthly theme, Immigration, Borders & Human Dignity, Intersections will explore immigration as lived experience: what it means for the 12% of University of Richmond students who come from abroad, for the more than 70% of recent UR graduates who have engaged internationally through study abroad, and for all of us who work alongside, hire, teach, or care for people navigating an increasingly complex and uncertain immigration landscape. Join us for a grounded, personal, and wide-ranging conversation facilitated by UR CAPS Psychologist, Jay Manalo, PhD, LCP, NCC.

Meeting Details

What Will Be Explored

  • How current immigration policy is shaping the daily lives and futures of international students, including questions of visa status, stability, and belonging
  • The intersection of immigration status and the hiring process, and what employers and colleagues need to understand about the barriers and vulnerabilities workers may face
  • The experiences of college students navigating immigration policy, including the resources available to support them, and what those experiences reveal about equity and human dignity
  • How our own personal and family histories with immigration inform the way we understand and respond to policy

What Attendees Will Gain

  • A deeper appreciation for how immigration policy translates into real, lived consequences for students, colleagues, and communities
  • Insight into how visa status affects educational and employment opportunities, and what that means for human dignity and economic mobility
  • Awareness of resources related to immigration policy, particularly as they apply to college students and campus communities 

Reflection Questions

We invite you to sit with one or more of these questions before Wednesday, or simply bring them to the conversation:

  1. What have been your lived experiences with immigration, in your own family, with people you know, or with students in your life?
  2. What have been your experiences at the intersection of immigration and education, as a student, educator, or colleague?
  3. What have been your experiences with immigration and hiring, as an employer, a colleague, or someone navigating the process yourself?
  4. How has your own background or family history shaped the way you think and feel about immigration policy?
  5. When you think about the international students and colleagues in your life, what do you wish more people understood about their experiences?
  6. What does human dignity require of us, as individuals, institutions, and a society, when it comes to how we treat people navigating immigration?

Please email Dr. Keith W. McIntosh at cio@richmond.edu, for more information about Intersections and to receive the pre-discussion materials and extensive resources for this session.