Twenty years ago, fewer than 20 percent of the people crossing the border illegally were women. Today, women make up 50 percent, or 14 million, of the US foreign-born population. Of those, an estimated 58 percent are legal immigrants and as many as 42 percent are unauthorized migrants to the United States. Unlike their male counterparts, immigrant women are often caught in a double bind and suffer abuse and violence crossing the borders and on the job. They also tend to receive inadequate and low wages, have higher family caretaking demands, and reproductive health care needs. This panel of policy experts, advocates, and practitioners will focus on strategies for incorporating the needs of immigrant women and families in immigration policy at the local, state, and federal levels.

Discussants:
Irasema Garza, President, Legal Momentum (Moderator)
Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas, Deputy Director, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health
Rinku Sen, Executive Director, Applied Research Center
Olga Vives, Executive Vice President, National Organization for Women
Miriam Yeung, Executive Director, National Asian Pacific Women's Forum

Register on online at http://wagner.nyu.edu/events