Immigration History Research Center

10/29/2026

Join us for a keynote lecture with Professor Carl Bon Tempo (SUNY-Albany) titled "Hungarian Refugees and the United States: Legacies and Lessons"

The keynote address will be delivered on Thursday, November 19 at 4:30 pm. Register: https://z.umn.edu/BONTEMPO

10/29/2026

Our October newsletter is now available at

Email from Immigration History Research Center Learn what's new at the IHRC   New from the IHRC Updated The Immigration History Research Center launched an updated

10/22/2026

Join us for a screening of Harsh Legacy, a documentary marking the 30th anniversary of IIRIRA—the 1996 law that dramatically expanded immigration enforcement and deportation. The film traces the law’s history and lasting impact, connecting its legacy to today’s era of mass deportation and immigration detention. Through interviews with policy experts who crafted the law and legal experts who have navigated its complexities, Harsh Legacy invites us to reckon with how policies enacted three decades ago continue to shape immigrant lives today.

Harsh Legacy's creators, Phyllis Coven, Fellow at Harvard's Advanced Leadership Institute and Yael Schacher, historian of immigration law and Director for the Americas and Europe at Refugees International, will introduce the documentary.

The screening will be followed by a discussion about the law's impact on Minnesota featuring:

* Nadia Anguiano, Associate Clinical Professor of Law; Director, Federal Immigration Litigation Clinic, Binger Center for New Americans, University of Minnesota Law School
* Linus Chan, Professor of Clinical Law; Director, Detainee Rights Clinic, Binger Center for New Americans, University of Minnesota Law School
* Jennifer Stohl Powell, Executive Director, Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota
* Mia Weinland, JD/MPP Candidate, University of Minnesota Law School

There will be a reception following the screening and discussion.

RSVP: z.umn.edu/HarshLegacy

This event is sponsored by the Binger Center for New Americans, the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, and the Immigration History Research Center at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities and the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota.

10/22/2026

Thanks to Inside Higher Ed reporter Olivia Sanchez for this great article on our updated .
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty/curriculum/2026/10/22/immigration-historians-compile-syllabus-faculty
Immigration and Ethnic History Society

Leaders at the University of Minnesota Immigration History Research Center say they want to put immigration enforcement policy debates into context and share accurate information with anyone who wants to learn more.

10/21/2026

What is our long history of deportation in the US?

The nation’s immigration history is a 500-year tale of human decision-making and economic development. It is also a history of mass deportation, dispossession, discrimination and xenophobia. Deportation has its roots in colonial-era practices of “warning out.” Precedents for deportation are also evident in antebellum schemes to remove emancipated slaves to a colony in Africa and the federal government’s forcible return of fugitives to their enslavers. Before the Civil War, state governments expelled “undesirable” foreigners, such as the Irish poor. Deportation expanded after the introduction of federal Chinese exclusion in the late 19th century, as US law concretized the sovereign right to expel unauthorized immigrants and concluded that such expulsion was an administrative matter rather than punishment for a crime. Immigrant detention began as an administrative matter as well: a temporary holding while deportations were processed or while an immigrant’s admissibility was determined. As with deportation, the inherently punitive nature of incarceration was minimized and obscured from the earliest days of this practice. Beginning in the 1980s, detention was radically expanded to deter migrants and asylum seekers, making immigrant incarceration a fundamental element of the US’s vast carceral system.

Want to know more? Check out weeks 12-15 of the syllabus.

The was created by immigration historians affiliated with the Immigration History Research Center and the Immigration and Ethnic History Society.

You can view at: https://immigrationsyllabus.lib.umn.edu/

10/20/2026

Join us for an IHRC Work-In-Progress workshop, featuring Francis Kwame Nyamekeh (PhD student, Philosophy Department) with a talk titled " Sovereignty, Economic Migration and the Limits of Justice" and Daniel Cueto-Villalobos (PhD candidate, Sociology Department) with a talk titled "The Long Reckoning: Progressive Religion, Reparations, and the Paradox of Racial Progress in “the State That Works.”

Date & Time: Monday, October 26, 2026 - 12:00 - 1:30 PM.
- Location: Social Sciences Building, Room 609.
- RSVP: https://z.umn.edu/ihrc-wip

10/15/2026

Join us for a screening of Harsh Legacy, a documentary marking the 30th anniversary of IIRIRA—the 1996 law that dramatically expanded immigration enforcement and deportation.

Featuring the film's creators, Phyllis Coven (Fellow at Harvard's Advanced Leadership Institute) and Yael Schacher (Historian of immigration law and Director for the Americas and Europe at Refugees International).

Date: Monday, November 9, 2026
Time: 4- 6 p.m. (film and discussion), followed by a reception
Location: UMN Law School, Mondale Hall Room 25, 229 19th Avenue S, Minneapolis, MN 55455
RSVP: https://z.umn.edu/HarshLegacy

The screening will be followed by a discussion about the law's impact on Minnesota featuring: Nadia Anguiano (Associate Clinical Professor of Law; Director, Federal Immigration Litigation Clinic, Binger Center for New Americans, University of Minnesota Law School), Linus Chan (Professor of Clinical Law; Director, Detainee Rights Clinic, Binger Center for New Americans, University of Minnesota Law School), Jennifer Stohl Powell (Executive Director, Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota) and Mia Weinland (JD/MPP Candidate, University of Minnesota Law School).

10/14/2026

Attention UMN graduate students, do you want to tour the Caverns?

IHRC invites you to a guided tour of the immigration History Research Center Archives (IHRCA). This is an exciting opportunity to learn about archival research and tour the caverns under the Andersen Library. This is an event designed for UMN graduate students that provides an introduction to and discussion of archival research and tour of the materials available at the IHRCA
Date: Friday, October 23, 2026
Time: 1:00 - 2:00 PM
Location: Elmer L. Andersen Library, Room 308
RSVP: HTTPS://Z.UMN.EDU/IHRC-TOUR

10/07/2026

IHRC Launches Updated

We are thrilled to launch an updated , a website and educational resource to help the general public understand the deep historical roots of today’s immigration debates.

The was created by immigration historians affiliated with the Immigration History Research Center and the Immigration and Ethnic History Society.

You can view at: https://immigrationsyllabus.lib.umn.edu/

10/02/2026

🎉 Congratulations to Dr. Elizabeth Ellis (Princeton University) on being named a 2026 MacArthur Fellow!
Known informally as a “genius” grant, the MacArthur Fellowship recognizes individuals who have demonstrated exceptional originality and dedication to their pursuits.

Dr. Ellis was recently a panelist on an IHRC webinar exploring the intersections of Indigenous and Immigration histories. You can watch the webinar here: https://z.umn.edu/ihrcweb-intersect

Congratulations, Dr. Ellis, on this well-deserved recognition! 🎉