June 2, 2011 – Washington, D.C. – The American Jewish Committee (AJC) will host a national summit on immigration, June 5-7. The gathering of more than 120 activists and policy experts from across the country will take place at the Fairmont Hotel in Washington, DC.

The summit will be a highpoint of the Bridging America Project, an AJC initiative, now in its second year, that trains and mobilizes leaders in strategic communities across the country. Local business leaders, labor union activists, government, law enforcement, and health care officials, faith leaders, and Latino and Jewish leaders have come together under AJC’s auspices to forge alliances to advocate for comprehensive immigration reform.

“Reinforced by President Obama’s recent reaffirmation that immigration reform is a top priority, we are convening a uniquely diverse group of stakeholders who can strengthen support locally and nationally,” said Ann Schaffer, director of AJC’s Belfer Center for American Pluralism and coordinator of the Bridging America Project. 

The summit will kick off Sunday evening with dinner addresses by Randel Johnson, senior vice president of Labor, Immigration and Employee Benefits at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce; Alejandro Mayorkas, director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services; Dr. Mathew Staver, dean of the Law School at Liberty University; and David Leopold, president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association

Other speakers during the three-day conference include Felicia Escobar, senior immigration policy advisor to the Domestic Policy Council at the White House; Daniel Griswold, director of the Center for Trade Policy Studies at the Cato Institute; Galen Carey, VP of Government Relations at the National Association of Evangelicals; Frank Sharry, founder and executive director of America’s Voice; Tamar Jacoby, president and CEO of ImmigrationWorks USA; Ari Noorani, executive director of the National Immigration Forum; and Angela M. Kelley, vice president of Immigration Policy and Advocacy at the Center for American Progress.

The AJC Immigration Summit is co-sponsored by the National Immigration Forum, Immigration Works USA, and Conservatives for Comprehensive Immigration Reform, and is funded by a generous grant from the Ford Foundation.