Visiting Scholar Joséphine Goube, presents a talk offering a comparative legal analysis of immigration policy developments in the United States and the European Union asking whether two jurisdictions with vastly different institutions and public narratives are converging on a functionally equivalent model of control?
Is current immigration restrictionism in the West a rupture or a revelation?
A talk by Visiting Scholar Josephine Goube
Tuesday, April 14, 2026
12:30 PM to 1:45 PM
WJW 101
This presentation offers a comparative legal analysis of immigration policy developments in the United States and the European Union, asking whether two jurisdictions with vastly different institutions and public narratives are converging on a functionally equivalent model of control. The central argument: the gap between rights-based legal language and enforcement practice may tell us more about the structural limits of liberal frameworks than about any particular political moment.
Open to all. Discussion strongly encouraged.
Joséphine Goube is a Visiting Scholar at Columbia Law School and a recognized leader at the intersection of migration, technology, and human rights. She is the Founder & President of Sistech, a European nonprofit supporting the economic inclusion of refugee women through training & career pathways in the tech sector, operating in France, Italy, & Greece.
Joséphine has served as CEO of Techfugees, where she helped shape tech-driven solutions for displaced communities and advised institutions including the European Commission & Norwegian Refugee Council on migration innovation and policy reform. Her advocacy around startup visas & skilled migration contributed to policy shifts across Europe.
At the Human Rights Institution, Columbia Law School, Joséphine is examining whether the US and EU are converging on a functional model of immigration control and if so, what does that convergence reveal about the structural limits of rights-based frameworks.