Biography of Michele Wucker

Michele Wucker is author of Lockout: Why America Keeps Getting Immigration Wrong When Our Prosperity Depends on Getting It Right (PublicAffairs, May 2006) and Why the Cocks Fight: Dominicans, Haitians, and the Struggle for Hispaniola (Hill & Wang, 1999/2000). Ms. Wucker lectures frequently about immigration, international economics and business, and has written for and been interviewed by many of the world’s leading media. Formerly Latin America bureau chief for International Financing Review, she has written for many U.S. and international publications including The American Prospect, America Economia, Folha de Sao Paulo (Brazil), Guardian Unlimited (UK), Harper’s, Internationale Politik (Germany), Newsday, The New York Times Book Review, The Scotsman (UK), Valor Economico (Brazil), The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and World Policy Journal. Ms. Wucker has been a source for major U.S. and international media including The New York Times, Boston Globe, Reuters, CNN, CNBC, C-Span Book TV, ABC News, National Public Radio and Public Radio International. She is a graduate of Rice University and of Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs. As a senior fellow at the World Policy Institute at The New School, she specializes in Immigration and Immigrant Civic Participation; Noncitizen Voting Rights; Migrant Worker Remittances; Immigration and National Security; Economic Impact of Immigration Policy; Citizenship; Overseas Voting Rights; Latin American Economies, Politics, and Culture, especially Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Argentina; International Debt Crisis; and Globalization.

Recent Lecture Topics
-- From Cockfights to Carnival: The Role of Culture, Race and History in Caribbean Turmoil
-- Fixing America's Broken Immigration System
-- Fortress America's Barriers to Global Talent
-- Immigration and American Prosperity
-- Immigration and National Security Challenges in the United States
-- The Economic Impact of Immigration and Security Policies

Testimonials

"Michele Wucker's from-the-hip, conversational style is so refreshing in an age of a powerpoint slide per minute.  In most university seminars, we have to wait until the Q&A session for the talk to get interesting and the speaker to engage the audience.  Michele pulls the audience in from the outset with her command of the topic, comfortable delivery, and natural wit and charm."
--Jon Erickson, Associate Professor of Ecological Economics, Rubinstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont

“Members of our Forum enjoyed Michele Wucker’s talk on "Immigration and US Foreign Policy” very much.  They were impressed by her insightful and thought-provoking analysis of US immigration policy. She gave a very informative analysis of challenges faced by our immigration system.  This is a very difficult topic, and she did a great job of covering all sides of the debate.”
--Bahman Baktiari, University of Maine and President, Bangor Foreign Policy Forum

“Michele spoke at our opening celebration, to an audience of over 300 equally comprised of members who either only spoke Spanish or only spoke English. We had heard beforehand that she was a dynamic speaker, but even so we were impressed well beyond our expectations. Without notes, Michele spoke in both English and Spanish, holding the attention of the entire crowd as she switched effortlessly back and forth between languages. She effectively conveyed how important it was for people to work together to educate the next generation of Dominicans. Afterward, many members approached me inspired to join our cause because of the emotion that was stirred in them during Michele’s speech. The idea of education is simple, but the idea of action could not have been expressed any better; Michele managed to convince everyone in the room, myself included, that the dream of education is possible when everyone comes together.”
-Tricia Thorndike Suriel, Executive Director, The Dominican Republic Education and Mentoring (DREAM) Project