March 22, 2006 — Immigrant family dynamics. The school eadiness of immigrant children. Human rights abuses. These are among the topics to be discussed at a two-day, interdisciplinary conference that is bringing together leading scholars on immigration.

“Welcome to America: Immigration, Families and the Law,” sponsored by the Center for Children, Families and the Law; the University of Virginia School of Law; the College of Arts & Sciences; and the Virginia Journal of Social Policy and the Law, will feature six keynote speakers from different areas of specialization and a panel discussion with five practitioners.

Paper sessions will focus on immigration law and issues that can have a profound impact on immigrants’ experience in the United States. Keynote speakers will address such topics as immigrant family dynamics, the school readiness of immigrant children and human rights abuses. Featured speakers include Hiroshi Motomura, Kenan Distinguished Professor of Law and associate dean for Faculty Affairs at the University of North Carolina School of Law, and Randy Capps, senior research associate on immigration studies for the Urban Institute's Center on Labor, Human Services and Population. Other guests include distinguished law researchers, leaders of nonprofit organizations and law school professors.

Registration for the conference is free to U.Va. faculty, staff and students and is $50 for others. The multidisciplinary Center for Children, Families and the Law was created to focus and coordinate efforts to address pressing family problems.

For more information on the conference, please contact Victoria Carter, Administrative Manager, or visit.