In the “Age of Trump,” many local governments, schools, healthcare providers, religious institutions, courthouses, legal institutions, landlords, and business owners are trying to implement measures to protect immigrants from deportation when they are pursuing their legal rights or accessing basic needs. Our goal in this hackathon is to develop model protective policies for these communities: What types of protective strategies can these different institutions employ? What are the legal limits on how far those policies can go? How would protective strategies affect the community as a whole? How might the federal government pushback? We will facilitate small group discussions with lawyers from both the private and public sectors who specialize in a range of legal fields to answer these questions. This hackathon will draw each participant’s individual expertise to develop a collective blueprint for local communities interested in providing sanctuary spaces and other immigrant protections.
We invite HLS alumni to participate in the Ideas in Action Hackathon and to bring their own expertise, perspectives, and experience to bear as we look at these timely legal issues anew. We welcome the participation of both alumni with specific subject matter expertise and alumni with a general interest in the topic area.