Armand Derfner has been practicing civil rights law for over 54 years, and he is no stranger to America’s immigration issues. Born in France to Polish Jews who had already fled their homeland in Hitler’s early days, his family was forced to flee again as Nazis invaded France and the Vichy government proved incapable of protecting its more vulnerable citizens. This time, their adopted homeland would be United States, immigrating at a time when the Statue of Liberty’s welcome mat often seemed far more like a No Trespassing sign. In his talk, Mr. Derfner, a longtime human rights lawyer, will discuss the tumultuous and very mixed history of immigration in the United States, from the mostly open doors of the early days to years of Isolationism to today’s refugee crises, border walls, and growing xenophobia.