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IRAQ EXPERTS at MIGRATION POLICY INSTITUTE
March 18, 2003

Washington, DC (March 18, 2003) – Migration Policy Institute (MPI), Washington, DC’s leading think-tank dedicated to studying the movement of people worldwide, offers experts on conflict in Iraq. MPI experts can speak to:
· Refugee and internally displaced peoples (IDPs)
· Humanitarian crisis and humanitarian law
· International law and international legal obligations during conflict
· Iraqi Americans/Iraqis in the United States
· Impact on US civil liberties, domestic security and immigration law

MPI experts include:

Kathleen Newland, Co-Director and co-founder

Newland provides leadership for MPI’s focus on worldwide migration. With more than 20 years of experience, she is an expert on refugee protection, international humanitarian response, migration management and internally displaced people (IDPs). Before founding MPI, Newland was a Senior Associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where she co-directed the International Migration Policy Program. She has worked as an advisor and consultant to various international organizations, including the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). She is a graduate of Harvard University and the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University.

Newland can tell you about: The impact of conflict in Iraq on refugees and internally displaced people, as well as the humanitarian crisis resulting from conflict in Iraq


Monette Zard, Policy Analyst

As a Policy Analyst, Zard supports MPI’s programming on refugee protection and international humanitarian response. Zard began her career as the Senior Coordinator of the International Refugee Program of the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, where she focused on refugee protection in East and West Africa. She has consulted with Human Rights Watch, the UNHCR and Amnesty International. Zard has a law degree from Cambridge University and an MA in International Relations from Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies. She is fluent in Arabic.

Zard can tell you about: Human rights obligations during conflict in Iraq, the exclusion of war criminals and human rights abusers from refugee protection, and the application of International Law during conflict

T. Alexander Aleinikoff, Senior Policy Analyst

With over 20 years of experience in the immigration policy field, Aleinikoff is an MPI Senior Policy Analyst focusing on refugee protection, international migration, citizenship, and domestic immigration policy. He also is Professor of Law, with a focus on constitutional and immigration law, at Georgetown University. He is a former General Counsel and Executive Associate Commissioner for Programs of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). He holds a JD from Yale University and a BA from Swarthmore College.

Aleinikoff can tell you about: The impact of conflict in Iraq on international law and domestic immigration laws


Brian K. Ray, Policy Analyst

Ray has worked on immigration issues for 10 years before joining MPI as a Policy Analyst. He currently leads MPI’s work on immigrant settlement, integration and public policy in North American cities. Prior to joining MPI, Ray worked for the Canadian government as a Senior Analyst with the Metropolis Project and the Strategic Planning, Policy and Research Division of Citizenship and Immigration. He received his PhD in Geography from Queen's University, Kingston, in Canada. He is fluent in French.

Ray can tell you about: Iraqi Americans living and/or resettled in the United States

Doris Meissner, Senior Fellow

Meissner is MPI’s Senior Fellow, spearheading projects on national security and immigration and conducting policy research on international migration and development, and immigration policymaking in an era of globalization. She is the former commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Meissner has also held posts in the Justice Department and with the Carnegie Endowment. She is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin, where she earned both a BA and an MA degree.

Meissner can tell you about: The impact of conflict in Iraq on US immigration and domestic security policy

Muzaffar Chishti Senior Policy Analyst

Chishti is an MPI Senior Policy Analyst based at New York University (NYU) School of Law. His expertise lies in labor and immigration law, civil liberties, and immigration integration. He is the founder and former director of the Immigration Project of the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE). He was educated at St. Stephen’s College in Delhi; School, of Law, University of Delhi; Cornell Law School; and the Columbia School of International Affairs. He is fluent in Hindi and Urdu.

Chishti can tell you about: The impact of conflict in Iraq on US immigration and domestic security policy


Elizabeth Grieco Data Manager, Migration Information Source

Grieco, a former Statistician/Demographer with the U.S. Census Bureau, leads data collection and analysis for MPI’s Migration Information Source. A former Fulbright scholar, Grieco has analysed migration in relation to second generation, gender issues and race and ethnicity. She received her PhD in Sociology and Demography from Florida State University. She also holds an MA in Anthropology from the University of Kansas and a BA in Anthropology from the University of Cincinnati.

Grieco can tell you about: Specific Iraqi populations in the United States