Executive director of the National Immigration Law Center (NILC), Marielena Hincapié is one of the nation’s leading voices on immigration policy and social justice. Part of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s Better Tomorrow Speaker Series, her public address “From Resistance to Resilience: A New Vision for Immigration and Justice,” will be held on Friday, April 26, 7 p.m. in UH Mānoa’s Architecture Auditorium.
A tenacious opponent of the Trump administration’s policy on family separation and refugee refusal, Hincapié will be speaking on both national opposition to immigration exclusion, as well as the progress made on immigrant protection at the state and municipal level—with Hawaiʻi leading the way.
The event is free and open to the public. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. On-campus parking is available for $6.
More on Marielena Hincapié
Under Hincapié’s leadership, the NILC has emerged as a major force for progressive immigration reform. Combining litigation, advocacy, communications and alliance-building, the NILC led the legal challenges to Trump’s Muslim ban and to the termination of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. Hincapié is now leading a 50-state campaign for local immigrant protection and inclusion.
Although the Trump era has been marked by harsh measures to build barriers, increase detention and deportation, turn away asylum speakers, and, most controversially, to separate children from parents, Hincapié contends that there is surprising room for optimism. In her first public address in Hawaiʻi, she will outline a bold proposal for the path forward, including what communities, states and the nation can do to draft a blueprint for a more just and inclusive country.
Hincapié’s talk is presented by UH Mānoa’s College of Social Sciences, Better Tomorrow Speaker Series, Scholars Strategy Network and the Hawaiʻi Community Foundation.
Additional sponsors include the Department of Geography and Environment, Department of Sociology, UH Foundation, and the William S. Richardson School of Law. The Hawaiʻi ACLU has also provided support.
