The annual Dorothy Day Lecture Series was launched in 2013 by the Emmanuel College Class of 1971 to honor liberal arts as the foundation and inspiration for meaningful social action. The goal of the lecture series is to encourage ongoing engagement with issues of social justice among students, alumni and the general public. The Dorothy Day Lecture Series features speakers who are role models for contributing to positive social change. The series is named for Dorothy Day, a courageous 20th-century woman of faith who dedicated her life to the struggle for economic and social justice. Read more about the history of the lecture series.
The 13th Annual Dorothy Day Lecture Presents:
Immigration in the Age of ICE
REGISTER TODAY
Sunday, March 29, 2026
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in cities across the country, deportations, parents deported without their U.S. citizen children, and other Department of Homeland Security (DHS) actions have raised serious questions about how due process protections are applied for citizens and non-citizens alike, along with broader concerns about public safety and basic human rights. Since 2025, immigration policy and practice have affected neighborhoods, businesses, churches, schools, and public safety systems. They have demanded new and evolving roles for city and state governments, and for the nonprofit organizations committed to protecting and integrating immigrants into our communities.
The 2026 Dorothy Day Lecture will examine what has changed, what is at stake, and what the future may hold for the fundamental process that has built U.S. democracy. A panel of practitioners representing the public and private sectors from the Greater Boston area will discuss the changing legal and social landscape; describe how institutions and communities are responding; and explore the ethical responsibilities involved in protecting community safety and individual rights.
Ricardo M. Jimenez Solis is a staff attorney at the Northeast Justice Center in Lynn, where he represents detained and non-detained immigrants in removal proceedings and habeas petitions challenging unlawful detention. A graduate of Emmanuel College and Harvard Law School, Ricardo practiced at the Immigration and Refugee Advocacy and the Crimmigration Clinics at Harvard Law School. A recipient of the prestigious Skadden Fellowship. which prepares lawyers for a career in public interest law, he has extensive experience in immigration, constitutional, and administrative law. Ricardo immigrated with his family to East Boston from El Salvador at age 16 and began his journey to learn English and become a lawyer who continues to serve the immigrants among us. Ricardo is recognized for his empathy, perseverance, dedication and commitment to immigrant advocacy. He says that the strength and resilience of his clients are a source of inspiration to him.
Marjean A. Perhot is the Vice President for Refugee and Immigrant Services, Catholic Charities Boston. She oversees a social enterprise, Community Interpreter Services, along with the adult education, immigration legal, refugee resettlement and workforce development programs. Marjean has been a passionate protector of immigrants and refugees for more than 30 years. A graduate of St. Mary’s College in Notre Dame, IN (Anthropology and Foreign Policy), she served as an intern with a Croatian American lobbyist during the Balkan wars. Her year of service with the Marist Volunteer Program brought her to Boston and began her journey to realize her calling and passion to aid and advocate for those who left or fled their homelands. A granddaughter of a Croatian immigrant and coal miner, her empathy for those displaced and treated as strangers has only grown. Marjean was selected to participate in the inaugural Rising Executives Certificate program through Catholic Charities USA and University of San Diego School of Leadership and Education Sciences. Marjean is a nationally recognized voice for refugee and immigration issues.
Monique Tú Nguyen is the Executive Director of the Mayor's Office for Immigrant Advancement and leads the department to advance stability, economic empowerment, civic ownership, and social integration for immigrants in Boston. She is committed to advocating for immigrants in Boston and building community to further equity and belonging. Director Nguyen has extensive experience in community-driven leadership and economic and racial justice. Before this appointment, she served as Executive Director of Matahari Women Workers’ Center for 10 years, advancing the rights and protections for domestic workers, women, immigrants, and their families. She’s also been recognized for her leadership of the MassUndocuFund, a million-dollar COVID-19 cash relief fund for immigrant workers, and for spearheading the successful passage of the Massachusetts Domestic Workers Bill of Rights in 2014. Director Nguyen is from Vancouver, Canada, and is the proud daughter of a Vietnam War refugee. She speaks English, Vietnamese, and is learning Spanish. She loves cooking, dancing, hiking, dreaming, and scheming about community building.
Jonathan Kuttab, JD, and Dr. Shaul Arieli (April 27, 2025)
The Dorothy Day Committee is proud to present: "On the Path to Justice and Enduring Peace Between Palestinians and Israelis" featuring Jonathan Kuttab, JD, Executive Director of Friends of Sabeel North America (FOSNA), and lecture respondent Dr. Shaul Arieli, Teaching Fellow at the Herzliya Interdisciplinary Center and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and research fellow at the Truman Institute for Peace.
Kade Crockford (April 28, 2024)
Director of the Technology for Liberty Program at the ACLU of Massachusetts, Kade is a passionate and engaging speaker on issues at the intersection of technology and civil liberties. Kade led the ACLU of Massachusetts “Press Pause on Face Surveillance” campaign, which has thus far won the passage of a Massachusetts’ state law regulating police use of facial recognition, and eight municipal bans on government use of face surveillance technology, including in Massachusetts’ four largest cities.
Amy Goodman (April 23, 2023)
New York Times best-selling author and host and executive producer of Democracy Now!, an award-winning independent national news program airing daily on over 1,500 public television and radio stations worldwide. Goodman has co-authored six New York Times bestsellers. Her latest book, Democracy Now!: Twenty Years Covering the Movements Changing America, looks back over the past two decades of Democracy Now! and the powerful movements and charismatic leaders who are re-shaping our world.
Pam Wilmot (April 24, 2022)
Director of the National Popular Vote Initiative and Former Vice President of State Operations for Common Cause. Wilmot is a widely recognized expert on the Electoral College, campaign finance, ethics, elections, and transparency laws; and is also Director of the National Popular Vote Initiative at Common Cause. She has been a long-time advocate for open and accountable goverment and election reform since 2002.
Patrick Radden Keefe (April 28, 2021)
Staff writer at The New Yorker and the New York Times best-selling author of Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty and Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland. Say Nothing received the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction, and was selected as one of the ten best books of 2019 by the New York Times Book Review, the Washington Post, Chicago Tribune and the Wall Street Journal. Keefe’s work has been recognized with a Guggenheim Fellowship, the National Magazine Award for Feature Writing and the Orwell Prize for Political Writing. His latest book London Falling: A Teen's Fatal Plunge Into the London Underworld was published in 2025.
Heather McGhee (October 7, 2020)
Political commentator, writer, and public policy expert on economic and social policy, particularly issues related to inequality, racism, and economic justice. McGhee is the author of the New York Times best-selling book The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together and debuted The Sum of Us Podcast in July of 2022 which expands on her book.
Robert Ellsberg (April 28, 2019)
Editor of Dorothy Day’s letters and diaries. Author, publisher and social commentator, Ellsberg is a member of the Archdiocese of New York’s Historical Commission to advance Dorothy Day’s case for sainthood.
Razia Jan (April 22, 2018)
Advocate for women and girls in her native Afghanistan. Through her Razia's Ray of Hope Foundation, Jan established a girls' secondary school and the first private women's community college in Afghanistan. Her advocacy has been profiled in the documentary What Tomorrow Brings, which portrays how her school is transforming the lives of Afghan girls. Jan sadly passed away on July 20th, 2025 due to congestive heart failure.
Diane Nash (April 23, 2017)
Founding member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee who organized some of the most important civil-rights campaigns of the 20th century. Nash spent a lifetime on the front lines of the nonviolent movement for civil rights and social justice. An activist and strategist for freedom rides and lunch counter sit-ins, a founder of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, and associate of Martin Luther King, Jr., Nash was arrested multiple times for her commitment to racial justice. She was instrumental in crafting the 1965 Voting Rights Act. She is a recipient of the 2022 Presidential Medal of Freedom. She continues to mentor youth on nonviolent resistance and democratic engagement.
Tracie McMillan (April 24, 2016)
Author of The American Way of Eating: Undercover at Walmart, Applebee’s, Farm Fields and the Dinner Table, a New York Times bestseller. Blending investigative and undercover reporting with intimate storytelling, McMillan’s work has been acclaimed by institutions ranging from the James Beard Foundation, Books for a Better Life and the International Association of Culinary Professionals to the James Aronson Award for Social Justice Journalism, the Sidney Hillman Foundation and Investigative Reporters and Editors.
Reverend Liz Walker (April 26, 2015)
An ordained minister, community activist, documentary film producer and co-founder of the humanitarian organization My Sister’s Keeper, which focuses on economic and educational initiatives for Sudanese women and girls. Walker entered this work after 21 years as Boston’s first African American television news anchor on WBZ TV. Her book No One Left Alone was published in 2025.
Sister Simone Campbell, SSS (April 14, 2014)
Member of the Sisters of Social Service, Board member of the National Catholic Reporter, and former Executive Director of NETWORK, a Catholic social justice organization. Campbell is also a prominent advocate for economic justice, immigration reform, and healthcare policy. She published her book Hunger for Hope in 2020 and was also a recipient of the 2022 Presidential Medal of Freedom.