How is the Biden administration handling some of the biggest challenges in the world of immigration?

WHC’s EmptyNesters invite you to join them on Zoom for a closer look at topics like unaccompanied children, Afghan refugees, Haitians congregating at our southern border, and more.

Immigration has been a touchstone of the U.S. political debate for decades, as policymakers have weighed economic, security, and humanitarian concerns. Congress has been unable to reach an agreement on comprehensive immigration reform, effectively moving some major policy decisions into the executive and judicial branches of government and fueling debate in the halls of state and municipal governments.Former President Donald Trump put the issues back at the center of public debate with his unprecedented efforts to curb immigration and reshape asylum policy. President Joe Biden pledged to reverse Trump’s actions and reform the system, but the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and a great influx of migrants have complicated his plans.

Judge Joan V. Churchill served as Immigration Judge for the United States Immigration Court here in Washington, DC from 1980 – 2005. She was just the third woman to become an immigration judge. Judge Churchill’s tenure included details in various parts of the country and five terms as a temporary member of the Board of Immigration Appeals, the administrative tribunal which hears appeals from decisions of the immigration judges. Most of her career has been in the field of immigration law. It included stints with the 1978 Interagency Task Force on Immigration Reform and the Select Commission on Immigration and Refugee Policy. Early in her career, she served as a naturalization examiner and then as a staff attorney for the Board of Immigration Appeals.

Active in many organizations, Judge Churchill served as the national president of the National Association of Women Judges, for the term 2012-2013. She earned her law degree at the Michigan Law School and her undergraduate degree at the University of Michigan as well.

Judge Churchill is a long-time member of WHC. She has 7 children and 7 grandchildren.