Teach-In: Immigration

We're pleased to announce that the next teach-in at Politics and Prose will address the urgent issue of immigration. How do we honor our history as a nation of immigrants while also ensuring security in a dangerous and uncertain world? What are the legal, political, economic and social costs to the Trump Administration's plans to build a wall along the Mexican border and restrict arrivals from majority-Muslim countries? How do we protect the rights of immigrants already in our country and strengthen our pluralistic values and traditions? The speakers are Scott Michelman, Nithya Nathan-Pineau and Faiza Patel.

Much as teach-ins provided a foundation for education and tools for action during the civil rights and anti-war movements of the 1960s, we hope that the store's teach-ins this year will offer the same opportunity for our community as we collectively navigate uncharted and uncertain political terrain. We are grateful that some of our nation's leading experts are willing to lend their time and talents to guide these discussions. We hope you will be able to participate as well.

Scott Michelman is the senior staff attorney at the ACLU of the District of Columbia. His docket as an impact litigator has spanned a range of civil liberties issues, including immigrants' rights, and he has been quoted in national media outlets including NPR, the New York Times and the Washington Post. Mr. Michelman also teaches Civil Rights Litigation at Harvard Law School and Constitutional Law at American University Washington College of Law. Nithya Nathan-Pineau manages the Detained Immigrant Children’s Program at the Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights Coalition, which provides legal services to detained children in the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement. Previously, she was a staff attorney at the South Texas Pro Bono Asylum Project, and also worked at the Tahirih Justice Center in Virginia. Faiza Patel is the Co-Director of the Brennan Center’s Liberty and National Security Program. A frequent media commentator on national security and counterterrorism issues, she has testified before Congress opposing dragnet surveillance of Muslims. Ms. Patel was senior policy officer at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague.

Founded by Carla Cohen and Barbara Meade in 1984, Politics & Prose Bookstore is Washington, D.C.'s premier independent bookstore and cultural hub, a gathering place for people interested in reading and discussing books. Politics & Prose offers superior service, unusual book choices, and a haven for book lovers in the store and online. Visit them on the web at

Produced by Michael A. Kowaleski