Your browser is ancient!
Upgrade to a different browser to experience this site.

Skip to main content

Democracy and Debate / Understanding the Issues

Crisis at the Border Teach-Out

Faculty Experts

University of Michigan

American media have extensively covered controversy surrounding the Trump Administration’s implementation of a “zero tolerance” immigration policy detaining migrant families seeking asylum in the United States, and separated children from their families. The issue has triggered an intense torrent of media attention, social media activity, and heated conversations in both public and private spaces.

How do we make sense of this? The situation is rapidly evolving and raises larger questions around law, order, morality, and how these intersect with international crises in Latin America and around the world. How do we define our own internal debates and productively engage others to address the situation?

This Teach-Out will help you focus on key dimensions central to this issue, providing context on the policy, legal, and health implications of the family separation and detainment policies - and what the new Executive Order may mean for the future. It will also provide you with tools to have conversations around difficult, emotionally-charged topics like this, in order to help you productively engage with family and community members who may see this situation from a different perspective.

Join the conversation surrounding key questions in the immigration debate, including:

What’s happening now?
What’s the purpose of the zero-tolerance policy? Is this a new policy?
What’s the impact of separating and detaining immigrant families?
What are the moral dimensions of this issue?
What’s being done to resolve this issue, and what could be done?

View all details