MICHELE
WUCKER
Executive Director
Expertise:
Argentina; Citizenship; Dominican Republic;
Economic Development; Economic Impact of Immigration Policy;
Haiti; Immigration and Immigrant Civic Participation;
Immigration and National Security; International Debt Crisis;
Noncitizen Voting Rights; Migrant Worker Remittances;
Globalization, Overseas Voting Rights; Latin American Economies,
Politics, and Culture; Transnational Civil Society
Michele
Wucker,
Senior Fellow and
Executive Director,
is the recipient of a 2007 Guggenheim Fellowship for her work on
changing views of citizenship, exclusion, and belonging. She is
the author of
LOCKOUT:
Why America Keeps Getting Immigration Wrong When Our Prosperity
Depends on Getting It Right (Public Affairs 2006/paperback
2007; a Washington Post Book World "Best Nonfiction of 2006"
Selection) and Why
The Cocks Fight: Dominicans, Haitians and the Struggle For Hispaniola
(FSG/Hill & Wang, 1999).
She
is
co-founder of WPI's Immigrant
Voting Project and of WPI's Citizenship
and Security Program, and a research fellow at the Immigration
Policy Center.
Ms. Wucker lectures frequently about
immigration, cross-cultural conflict and conciliation, and Caribbean
politics.
She is an advisor to Batey Relief Alliance and the
Dominican Republic
Education and Mentoring (DREAM) Project.
Formerly Latin America bureau chief for International
Financing Review, she has written for many U.S. and Latin American
publications including The American Prospect, America
Economia, The Guardian, Newsday, The New York Times, Texas
Observer, Valor Economico,
Tikkun, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and
World
Policy Journal. Ms. Wucker appears frequently on MSNBC as a
commentator on immigration, and has been a source for major U.S.
and international media including The New York Times, The Boston
Globe, Reuters, CNN, CNBC, National Public Radio and Public
Radio International. She is a graduate of Rice University
and of Columbia University's School of International and Public
Affairs.
Education:
MA, Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs
BA, Rice University (French and policy studies)
Languages:
Spanish (fluent)
French, Portuguese, Haitian Kreyol (advanced conversational)
German (reading)
Contact:
wucker(at)worldpolicy.org
http://www.wucker.com
BOOKS

Lockout: Why America Keeps Getting Immigration Wrong When our
Prosperity Depends on Getting It Right
Public Affairs,
2007
"A
forcefully argued and informative book...both correct and
important" –Washington Post Book World A Book World
“Best Nonfiction of 2006” Selection

Why the Cocks Fight: Dominicans, Haitians and the Struggle for
Hispaniola Hill and Wang,
2000
VIDEO & AUDIO
"Migration and Interdependence," comments
from September 9-10, 2007 Interdependence Day Summit, Mexico City.
Video. On
"economics and civil society" from the same conference -
Video.
October 4, 2007.Panelist at Wake
Forest Immigration Conference "Immigration:
Recasting
the Debate" Audio/video
available
HERE
June 27, 2007. Book talk at Harry W.
Schwartz Bookshop in Milwaukee, WI.
Video.
April 27, 2007. Keynote Address,
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
webcast.
November 21, 2006. Discussing her
book,
Lockout. on KUCI, Irvine, CA.
Audio
SELECTED ARTICLES
"Latin
America's Resilient Housing Market," Daily Times
(Pakistan), February 13, 2008.
"A
Mexican Steinbeck's Work Resurfaces" The Texas Observer,
November 2, 2007.
2007 Seville Atlantic Conference
Report "Migration
and Migrant Integration in the Atlantic Region"
Chicago Council on Global Affairs, October 2007.
"Security
Threats and Immigration Policy" A review of
Immigration and National Security by Christopher Rudolph.
Internationale Politik.
Summer 2007
"A
Safe Haven in New Haven" The New York Times. April 15,
2007. As Washington
tussles over the fate of the nation’s estimated 12 million
undocumented immigrants, municipal governments are taking sides
-cracking down or opening their arms. City councils can’t change the
federal government’s failed immigration policies, but they can
choose whether to offset or intensify the damage.
"Borderline
Pandering."
CommentIsFree.com April 11, 2007.
George Bush and John McCain used to support sensible immigration
reform. So why are they now pandering to a vocal minority of
immigration hardliners?
"Wanted
But Not Welcome" The Texas Observer. March 23,
2007. Three new books bring different interpretations to the
nation's struggle with immigration.
"Family
Second"
The New York Times.
February 28, 2007: It
makes no sense that roughly as many green cards are available to
adult siblings and adult children of citizens - with no regard for
their job abilities - as for skilled workers-- or that adult
relatives often are in line ahead of spouses and minor children.
"Fixing
the Border --Without A Wall" World Policy Journal.
Winter 2006-07: With strong momentum for change, a mandate for
bipartisan cooperation, and a brief window of opportunity before the
2008 presidential elections, the time is now to address these
questions. To create an orderly, sustainable flow of immigration,
Congress would do well to embrace issues that received little
attention over the past year, yet will be crucial to the success of
any reform project: how to decide whom to let in, how to fix a
deeply flawed immigration bureaucracy, and how coordination with
sending countries might help to ease migration pressure.
"Fences
and Smokescreens."
CommentIsFree.com. December 26, 2006.
It's been a watershed year for U.S. immigration reform.
"Farmers
Branch Folly: Local Immigration Laws Do More Harm than Good"
Huffingtonpost.com. November 28, 2006.
In the absence of badly-needed action to reform immigration laws to
make it easier for hard-working immigrants to come here legally so
that it is feasible to enforce workplace labor and immigration
violations, state and now local governments have been approving
increasingly draconian laws to punish illegal immigrants and those
who rent to or hire them.
"Election
Note to Wall-Builders: Don't Count On It"
Huffingtonpost.com. November 3, 2006.
If past experiences with tough-guy immigration policies are any
guide, it's clear that this kind of posturing may win very
short-term political benefits, if any at all.
The "Illegals Voting"
Hoax.
Huffingtonpost.com.
October 20, 2006. Election officials are hard-pressed to come up
with any evidence that widespread voting by non-citizens is a
serious problem.
Jaywalkers and the Border Fence.
Huffingtonpost.com.
October 7, 2006. The new law to build a
fence on the Mexican border reminds me of those barriers that Mayor
Rudy Giuliani put up in midtown Manhattan in 1998 to try to stop
people from jaywalking.
"Keep
Stirring the Melting Pot."
April 8, 2006.
Guardian
Unlimited Much more is at stake in the Senate immigration debate
than just the fate of the roughly 11 million unauthorized immigrants
in America.
"Defining
Citizenship"
Internationale Politik. Spring 2006.
"Diminishing Returns." An annotation on migrant worker remittances
(with Benjamin Pauker). Harper's. December 2005.
"Losing
Our Edge." A review of Richard Florida's The Flight of
the Creative Class. The Washington Post Bookworld,
June 19, 2005
Immigrant Voting Rights Receive More Attention. With Ron Hayduk.
Migration Information Source. November 1, 2004.
Storms Add to Misery in Caribbean Crisis.‚ Newsday, September
29, 2004.
Political
Power in the Perpetual Migration Machine. World Policy
Journal, Fall 2004.
Remittances:
the Perpetual Migration Machine. World Policy Journal,
Summer 2004.
Haiti
Is Not Alone in this Crisis. Washington Post Outlook,
March 7, 2004.
The
Cost of Corruption. Efforts to curb bribery boost economic
growth. Worth, June 2004.
The
Language of Money America stands to gain from integrating
the millions of Latino immigrants here. Worth, April
2004.
Distant
Neighbors. A Review of Opening Mexico, by Julia Preston
and Samuel Dillon. The New York Times Book Review, March
28, 2004.
Let
Legal Immigrants Vote in City. With Ron Hayduk. New
York Daily News. Allowing immigrants to vote in municipal
elections would only be fitting for the city that is home to the
Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. September 22, 2003.
Civics
Lessons from Immigrants. U.S. immigrants find ways to contribute
to society. The American Prospect, July 2003.
Argentina's
Need to Come Clean. Challenges for Argentina's new president.
The Washington Post, May 25, 2003.
Going
for Broke. A review of Republic of Debtorsand
A Free Nation Deep in Debt Washington Post Bookworld, January
19, 2003.
Searching
for Argentina's Silver Lining. The lessons of Argentina's
financial collapse. World Policy Journal, Winter 2002/2003.
Passing
the Buck: No Chapter 11 for Bankrupt Nations. Just over a
decade after the 1980s debt crisis found a medium-term fix, the
problem of international debt still makes headlines --highlighting
the alarming reality that the international approach to nations'
financial troubles is still jury-rigged. World Policy Journal,
Summer 2001.
MEDIA
Half-hour
interview on the radio show "Diálogo de dos Pueblos" was broadcast
December 16, 2007 and January 27, 2008, via Canal de Noticias (CdN)
in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
Appeared recently on MSNBC
(Sept. 23, 2007), Bloomberg Radio (Aug. 14), and Clear Channel Radio
(Sept. 24) to discuss current immigration policy and proposed reforms.
LECTURES & APPEARANCES
Michele spoke on a panel following a
special screening of
Beyond Borders, at the
Tribeca Film Festival,
May 1,
2008.
Michele spoke
about immigration policy to B'nai B'rith International's Global
Roundtable (March 13, 2008) and to Coro
Leadership's New York City Program members (March 12, 2008).
Michele spoke at the Seventh Annual International Women's Day Conference,
"Women in Politics: Changing the Face of Power," at the Daniel
Arts Center Bard College at Simon's Rock in Great Barrington,
Massachusetts. For more information:
www.simons-rock.edu.
Spoke about “Fortress
America: Tough Questions and Answers on Immigration” at the
Chicago Council on Global Affairs, Sept 5, 2007.
Bio
Summary
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