Clason Speaker Series Spring 2025 – US Immigration Law Updates: What’s real, what’s noise, and what to expect?

From the new administration’s rhetoric, it seems that US immigration policy has done a 180 degree turn. That is true in some areas, and not in others. This talk will review the foundations of US immigration law, the changes in policy guidance from Biden to Trump. The presentation will also review the present state of play for employment-based, family-based and humanitarian immigration, and what to expect over the next few years.

Dan Berger is a Partner at Green & Spiegel, U.S., leading the Academic and Medical Immigration Team. He is an Academic Fellow at Cornell Law School, and an Honorary Fellow of the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys. He is on the Legal Advisory Board and the Board of Directors of the Presidents’ Alliance on Immigration & Higher Education, and on the Legal Advisory Council of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute. Dan also advises the Talent Mobility Fund on STEM immigration issues.

Dan has a particular focus on DACA and undocumented students, evaluating options for longer term status. He advises thedream.us (nation’s largest private scholarship fund with over 10,000 scholarships in ten years to Dreamers). Dan co-founded and helps lead an
innovative DACA clinic at Cornell focused on employment-based options, as described in this Boston Globe article. Last year, he helped lead a pilot program for President Biden’s waiver program for Dreamers to move into status through employer-sponsorship. Dan was
invited to the White House for the June 2024 announcement as recognition of his role in the process.

Dan developed his interest in immigration in college at Harvard, where he studied immigration history and taught English to adult refugees. He graduated from Cornell Law School and has practiced immigration law for over 25 years.

Lunch will be provided. All lectures open to students, alumni, the University community, and the general public. For more information, call 413-782-1432 or email Professor Barbara Reich at barbara.noah@law.wne.edu.