ENGAGE SUNDAY – ASYLUM AND THE CHANGING FACE OF MIGRATION
Presented by Kat Griffith.
This presentation – “Asylum and the Changing Face of Migration” — has four parts:
- Part 1, a brief “data dump”, shows migration across the southern border and resources devoted to border security since 1990. This Customs and Border Protection data challenges much of the current public narrative.
- Part 2 focuses on individual asylum seekers Kat Griffith has known and worked with, their stories putting a human face on the numbers and the conditions in some major sending countries, as well as some of their experiences with ICE.
- Part 3 gives an overview of immigration since 2023, including executive orders under both Presidents Biden and Trump and their impacts.
- Part 4 addresses the incentives and realities that drive migrant decision-making, and explores how we might create a better national conversation about immigration.
Bio: Kat Griffith has given versions of this presentation to a wide variety of audiences, including churches, retired educators, college classes, various civic and political organizations, Ripon College’s Center for Politics and the People, WisconsinEye, and the national office and Immigration Working Group of the League of Women Voters. Her background includes a number of years living and working in Latin America, many years as a Spanish-English interpreter for immigrants and asylum seekers, and a background in public policy, economics, and communications. She has been active on immigration policy since the 1980s, is currently a Fond du Lac County Board Supervisor, and is committed to bipartisanship and respectful dialogue across political differences.
