January 25, 2012 — John Morton, director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, will speak Feb. 6 at the University of Virginia School of Law.

In his talk, "Defining the Face of Immigration Enforcement," Morton, a 1994 Law School alumnus, will address the Obama administration\'s efforts to refocus immigration enforcement amidst the ongoing national debate over illegal immigration. He will speak at 5 p.m. in the Law School\'s Caplin Pavilion.

Morton will outline his agency\'s major reforms and initiatives over the past three years, including prosecutorial discretion, detention reform, worksite enforcement and the Secure Communities program, under which the FBI automatically sends fingerprints of arrested individuals to be checked against Immigration and Customs Enforcement\'s databases.

He will also discuss his career in public service and reflect on the challenges of leading one of the nation\'s largest law enforcement agencies.

Prior to his appointment as director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in 2009, Morton spent 15 years at the Department of Justice, where he held a number of positions, including assistant U.S. attorney, counsel to the deputy attorney general and acting deputy assistant attorney general of the criminal division.

During his tenure at Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Morton has focused the agency\'s investigative efforts on border crimes, export controls, intellectual property enforcement and child exploitation. He also has attempted to concentrate the agency\'s enforcement efforts on the removal of criminal offenders, recent border violators, those who ignore orders of removal and those who fraudulently obtain immigration status.

The Student Legal Forum and the Immigration Law Program are sponsoring the event, which is free and open to the public. Parking will be available in Law School lots.

Morton\'s lecture will be followed by a reception.