FRANCO-AMERICAN LEGAL SEMINAR 2008
This year the University of Maine School of Law (Portland, Maine) – Faculté de Droit et des Sciences Économiques (Le Mans, France) Legal Seminar will take place in the United between March 29 and April 6. This year’s subject is “Immigrants and Refugees: Admission, Status, Assimilation.” Eight American law students and three professors will participate along with eight French law students and three professors.
The Seminar will begin in Washington, D.C. , where the group will visit the United States Supreme Court, the Solicitor General’s Office in the Department of Justice, and the Capitol, to meet with officials and staffers to discuss legal questions pertaining to immigrants and refugees. The group will then travel to Portland, where French and American law students will present papers on specific aspects of the subject and engage in discussion comparing American and French problems and approaches to their resolution. Students will make presentations on the following topics:
- History of immigration and its regulation in France and the United States
- Entry of immigrants into France and the United States: present law and controversies
- Entry of refugees into France and the United States: international obligations and domestic law
- Administrative structures and procedures for dealing with immigrants and refugees in France and the United States
- Equal protection (United States) vs. Égalité (France): legal treatment based on nationality
- Affirmative action (United States) vs. Discrimination positive (France): immigrants and refugees in the workplace
- Separation of church (United States) vs. Laîcité (France): immigrants and refugees in the schools
- Removal (deportation): standards and procedures in the United States and France
The French group will also visit the Maine State Capitol in Augusta. There will be a gala farewell dinner for the entire group and other students and faculty members who helped with the visit at the Roma Restaurant on Friday, April 4.
French Law Program Newsletter and photo gallery.
