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In this new Aspen Ideas format, all attendees gather each morning to kick off the day by exploring a current issue of deep complexity. For decades, American policy regarding those who reach our borders has been the subject of intense political disagreement, reflecting economic realities and cultural divides. What would a policy look like that meets both our labor and se...
Debating immigration is a perennial favorite in presidential elections, perhaps never more so than in 2016, when border walls and banning Muslims push the boundaries of what proposals are considered acceptable to American voters. The artists on this panel vary in their mediums and perspectives, but they all contend with the immigrant experience. Guided by Eric Liu, we have...
While Congress looks less and less likely to take on any meaningful move on comprehensive immigration reform, hundreds of thousands of people live in limbo every day. Many of them face daily trials, ranging from inconveniences to crippling uncertainty to, in some communities, hatred and outright danger. What’s it like to be at the mercy of our immigration system today?
Many Americans hold dear our identity as a “nation of immigrants” and the “land of opportunity.” But our immigration processes are convoluted, backlogged, and choked with would-be Americans desperate for a better life — while roughly 70 percent of US voters are opposed to increasing legal immigration levels. How should we decide who can come? Could our system be more respo...
The Aspen Challenge presents three high school teams from Louisville and one team from Dallas who developed innovative solutions to issues that have chronically impacted their communities. See these young change-makers take to the stage to prove that entrepreneurial community solutions can be created at any age. Learn how Justin F. Kimball and Central High School Magnet Ca...
Javier Zamora’s migration journey took him from El Salvador to the United States by foot at age nine, while Jamie Ford’s great-grandfather emigrated from China to Nevada to mine. Both authors reflect on the ways in which migration has shaped them, unpacking what it means to be American and exploring the meaning of home.
As the threat of terrorist attacks collides with Europe’s worst migration crisis since WWII, anti-migration sentiments are at an all-time high. With the world closing its doors, the number of migrants is only set to increase. Experts predict upwards of 500 million people will be uprooted as a result of climate change—almost half of them from Sub-Saharan Africa. Invariable...
What’s the state of this historically fraught relationship? Do today’s politics and rhetoric around the Middle East, immigration, and national security constitute a unifying force, or a divisive one? Are we entering a time of particular challenge, or one of opportunity?
Whether it's their views on immigration, gun laws, or climate change, young people today are changing the face of politics. Are millennials and post-millennials becoming more progressive, or will they "grow into" conservative views? How might they change the Democratic 2020 primary? And how has their support for Trump changed since 2016? Kristen Soltis Anderson, Republican...
This talk rethinks refugees as a potential economic benefit to the societies that host them, rather than simply passive victims of war and tyranny. Taking the audience on a research journey across continents, Alexander Betts, professor of forced migration and director of the Refugee Studies Centre at Oxford University, shows how refugees’ skills, talents, and aspirations c...
What does it mean to be American, and how is that story best told and understood? New York Times columnist David Brooks sits down with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and undocumented immigrant Jose Antonio Vargas to discuss citizenship without certainty, ahead of the publication of Vargas's memoir, Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen. Brooks and Vargas will e...
Journalists Michele Norris, Jose Antonio Vargas, and Amar Bakshi have all worked to create global megaphones for sharing experiences and stories that too often go unnoticed. Norris’s Race Card Project, Vargas’s #EmergingUS, and Bakshi’s Portals provide egalitarian podiums where the most difficult conversations around race, immigration, religion, and identity can happen. No...
With nearly 40 million people, the innovation powerhouse of Silicon Valley, and the sixth-largest economy in the world (larger than France’s, Italy’s, and India’s), California is a force to be reckoned with. And it’s got bones to pick with Washington, on issues from environmental protections and health care to immigration enforcement and drug policy. What are the legal and...
Oscar-winning filmmaker John Ridley (12 Years a Slave, All Is by My Side) is known for his uncompromising and thought-provoking work examining some of society’s most pressing issues: immigration, sex trafficking, slavery, and race relations, among others. Ridley is joined by frequent collaborator, Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning actress Felicity Huffman, in conversation abo...
Migration stories are in the news, but they’re not new. In the 19th century, manifest destiny inspired millions of settlers to move westward across the American continent. What are the forces that will uproot Americans in the 21st century? Join Parag Khanna, the author of “MOVE: The Forces Uprooting Us,” for a fascinating look at the deep trends influencing the future of h...
Midterms are often seen as the first nationwide referendum on a first-term president. Donald Trump’s ratings have ranged from low to medium-low, but a “blue wave” of victories is far from guaranteed this fall. Where Democrats strive for inclusiveness with regard to race, gender, and immigration status, critics see “identity politics,” and successfully fending off that crit...
President Trump’s sudden threat of US tariffs on Mexican imports escalates his immigration fight with Mexico, injecting potential chaos into economies on both sides of the border. Trump hopes tariffs will pressure Mexico into stepped up efforts to contain illegal border crossings, but how are such threats received in Mexico? Has Mexico in fact conceded to the “safe third...
As the second largest minority group in the country, Latinos represent 19% of the population and play a significant economic, social, and cultural role. They also face disproportionate health challenges, including high rates of diabetes, obesity, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease. The absence of adequate health insurance, lack of timely access to care, language barr...
As the historic presidency of Barack Obama comes to a close, we consider how the future will view his leadership. Will economic recovery and health care victories at home be overshadowed by what many see as his failure to intervene meaningfully in conflicts abroad? Critics on the left wish the president had gone further to address climate change, immigration reform, and ra...
With Congress mired in partisan gridlock and presidents of both parties relying on the growing use of federal executive power, states are playing an increasingly important role on issues ranging from climate change, immigration, and banking regulation, to health care, data privacy, and the opioid crisis. State attorneys general are leading the charge, alternately teaming u...