What We Do
Progressives for Immigration Reform is a non-profit organization seeking to educate the public on the unintended consequences of mass migration.
PFIR concurs with the US Commission on Immigration Reform that “it is both a right and a responsibility of a democratic society to manage immigration so that it serves the national interest.”
It is the position of PFIR that immigration policy should consider the effects of policy on population size, population growth, skill composition of the labor force, the working conditions and wages of both immigrants and native born workers, domestic water and energy supplies, open space and preservation of biodiversity, and the emission of greenhouse gases from the United States.
PFIR favors policies towards developing countries to lessen the “push” factors of poverty and unemployment that drive emigration.
Who We Are
Board of Directors
William N. Ryerson, President and Chair
William Ryerson is the Founder and President of Population Media Center. He has a 37-year history of working in the field of reproductive health, including two decades of experience adapting the Sabido methodology for behavior change communications to various cultural settings worldwide. Mr. Ryerson has also worked to design research measuring the effects of such projects in a number of countries. One such project led to a series of publications regarding a serialized radio drama in Tanzania and its effects on HIV/AIDS avoidance and family planning use. He also serves as President of the Population Institute, which works in partnership with Population Media Center.
Mr. Ryerson received a B.A. in Biology (Magna Cum Laude) from Amherst College and an M.Phil. in Biology from Yale University (with specialization in Ecology and Evolution). Before founding Population Media Center, he served as Director of the Population Institute’s Youth and Student Division, Development Director of Planned Parenthood Southeastern Pennsylvania, Associate Director of Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, and Executive Vice President of Population Communications International. As a graduate student, he was Founder and first Chairperson of the Yale Chapter of Zero Population Growth (ZPG). He also served on the Executive Committee of ZPG, as Eastern Vice President and Secretary of the national organization. Mr. Ryerson is listed in several editions of Who’s Who in the World, Who’s Who in America and Who’s Who in the East. In 2006, he was awarded the Nafis Sadik Prize for Courage from the Rotarian Action Group on Population and Development.
Frank Morris, Vice President
Dr. Frank Morris retired from the University of Texas at Dallas as a visiting professor in the School of Social Sciences. In 1995 Dr. Morris retired as the Dean of Graduate Studies and Research at Morgan State University in Baltimore Md. Through Congressional testimony he helped Morgan and eight other historically black graduate schools gain access to graduate support from Title III of the federal Higher Education Act. His previous academic positions were as the Associate Dean of the Graduate School of Public Affairs at the University of Maryland at College Park; visiting professor in the O’Connor Chair at his alma mater Colgate University; and Associate Professor of Political Science and Urban Affairs at Northwestern University.
His non academic experience includes Executive Director of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation; Senior Foreign Service Officer for the Agency for International Development in the US State Department; Chief of Planning and Policy Analysis for the federal war on poverty agency; and Special Assistant to the Director of the National Institute for Education while serving as a national Educational Policy Fellow.
He received his A.B. with high honors from Colgate; a Masters in Public Administration (MPA) from the Maxwell School of Syracuse University; he completed all requirements for the Masters in International Affairs from Georgetown University before transferring to complete his doctorate in Political Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His areas of expertise include international management and development policy analysis with specialization in immigration, poverty, environmental and educational policies which have differential impact upon African Americans and other low income Americans. Dr. Morris has testified many times before the US Congress. His honors and awards include 3 awards from different NAACP local chapters throughout the US; the Superior Honor Award from the US Department of State; a selection in 1975 as a father of the year by the Chicago Defender newspaper. He is listed as a history maker at www.thehistorymakers.com under educators.
Dr. Morris is a trustee of Huston Tillotson University; is Chairman of the Board of DASA (the Diversity Alliance for a Sustainable America); serves on the Board of Directors for the Center for Immigration Studies and the 911 Families for a Secure America. He was President of the Council of Historically Black Graduate Schools; served on the NAACP National Educational Advisory Board; and the Education Testing Service GRE Advisory Committee. He serves on the AARP National Policy Council.
He continues to serve his local church as a deacon or trustee. He was chairman of the Domestic Mission Board of the United Church of Christ (UCC) and served (UCC) Local Church National Ministries. Dr. Morris personally uncovered the national church misallocation of millions of dollars of a Daniel Hand Trust fund for the education of southern blacks and forced more than 5 million dollars to be restored. He has been married to Winston Baker for more than 49 years. They have 4 children, and seven wonderful grandchildren. They live in DeSoto Texas.
Kevin Lynn, Treasurer
Kevin Lynn is a political activist and former delegate and member of the Executive Board to the California Democratic Party representing the 46th Assembly District which includes the Downtown Core, Little Tokyo, China Town, Boyle Heights and parts of East and South Los Angeles. He is the immediate past president of the Pasadena Chapter of Democracy for America, one of the most potent political activist groups in the San Gabriel Valley, and member of the DFA National Advisory Board. In the early 1990’s he was volunteer organizer for Ross Perot’s 1992 presidential campaign and later staffer to United We Stand America, Perot’s follow-on political action organization.
Kevin’s goal is to elect fiscally responsible and socially progressive leaders to office. To that end he is currently forming an umbrella organization called the Center for Progressive Urban Politics to assist political organizations with turning red districts blue and forcing our elected officials confront the difficult problems affecting the state of California. Kevin grew up on a small farm in Quakertown, Pennsylvania, is a former Army officer and currently works as a tax consultant. His hobbies are reading history, skiing, backpacking, political activism and yoga. He is a graduate of Kemper Military College.
Vernon M. Briggs Jr., Board Member
Dr. Vernon M. Briggs Jr. is Emeritus Professor of Labor Economics at the New York State School of Labor and Industrial Relations at Cornell University located in Ithaca, New York. He received his B.S. degree in economics from the University of Maryland and his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in economics from Michigan State University. Before coming to Cornell in 1978, he taught at the University of Texas at Austin for 14 years.
Dr. Briggs specializes in the area of human resource economics and public policy. The subject of immigration policy and its effects on American workers has been a frequent subject of his research. In addition to numerous articles on the topic, he has authored (or co-authored) 15 books on the issue, Most recently publishing Immigration and American Unionism (2001) and Mass Immigration and the National Interest: Policy Directions for the New Century (2003).
He was a member of the National Council on Employment Policy from 1977-1987 and Chairman of the Council from 1985-1987. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Corporation for Public and Private Ventures from 1978-1984 and of the Center for Immigration Studies since 1987.
Dr. Briggs has also served on the editorial boards of The Journal of Human Resources from 1971-1981; The Industrial and Labor Relations Review from 1981-1994; The Texas Business Review from 1982-1983; The Journal of Economic Issues from 1983-1985, and People and Place since 1997.
Leah Durant, Executive Director
Leah Durant is the Executive Director of Progressives for Immigration Reform, a 501(c)(3) organization which seeks to examine the unintended consequences of U.S. immigration policies and strives to enhance the working conditions of people worldwide. Prior to her tenure at Progressives, Ms. Durant served as an Attorney with the Civil Division of United States Department of Justice. Ms. Durant’s experience spans several years of involvement with population and sustainable living initiatives and examining the global impacts of U.S. population growth. Ms. Durant holds a B.A. Degree from the University of Maryland, College Park, and a J.D. from the University of Maryland School of Law.
Board of Advisors
Philip Cafaro
Philip J. Cafaro is an Associate Professor of Philosophy and Undergraduate Studies Coordinator at the Colorado State University. He specializes in environmental ethics and ethical theory, and he teaches, among other courses, Environmental Ethics, one of the Environmental Affairs core courses. Phil’s Ph.D. dissertation (Boston University, 1997) was entitled “Thoreau’s Vision of a Good Life in Nature: Towards an Environmental Virtue Ethics.” Together with the noted biologist Richard Primack, Phil Cafaro wrote the article on Environmental Ethics for the Encyclopedia of Biodiversity (Harcourt Brace 2000). He has been published in numerous scholarly journals. Professor Cafaro has served as a Park Ranger for the National Park Service in the Pacific Northwest and has lobbied Congress and several state legislatures as a representative of the Sierra Club and the Wilderness Society.
Lawrence Harrison
Lawrence Harrison is the Director of the Cultural Change Institute at the Fletcher School at Tufts University. He is the author of Underdevelopment is a State of Mind, Who Prospers?, The Pan-American Dream, and The Central Liberal Truth, and co-editor (1) with Samuel Huntington, of Culture Matters, (2) with Jerome Kagan of Developing Cultures: Essays on Cultural Change, and (3) with Peter Berger, Developing Cultures: Case Studies. Between 1965 and 1981, he directed USAID missions in the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Haiti, and Nicaragua. Harrison was associated with Harvard University’s Weatherhead Center for International Affairs for eight years during the period 1981-2001. His articles have appeared in The New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, Atlantic Monthly, Foreign Policy, and The National Interest, among other publications.
Mr. Harrison has served as a Visiting scholar at the Center for International Affairs, Harvard University (1981-83, 1988-1990,1994-96,1998-2000), Instituto Centroamericano de Administración de Empresas (1997-1998), and Center for International Studies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1996-1997); Vice President for International Development, National Cooperative Business Association (1984-1988); Consultant to USAID for several projects/programs in Latin America and Asia; Director, USAID Missions to Costa Rica, Guatemala (for Central American region), Nicaragua, and Haiti, Deputy Director, Dominican Republic (1969-81).
Leon Kolankiewicz
Leon Kolankiewicz is a practicing environmental scientist, wildlife ecologist, and natural resources planner whose career spans more than 25 years, multiple states, and three countries. Leon holds a Bachelor of Science Degree from Virginia Tech University in Forestry and Wildlife Management and an M.S. Degree from the University of British Columbia (Vancouver, Canada) in Environmental Planning and Natural Resources Management. Leon’s professional career includes stints with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Marine Fisheries Service, Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, University of Washington, University of New Mexico, and Orange County (California) Environmental Management Agency. He also served as Vice-President and Network Coordinator of Carrying Capacity Network, a Washington, DC-based population advocacy organization, and as a Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV) in Central America, promoting conservation of tropical rainforests and wildlife. While a PCV in Honduras, Leon co-led scientific and fact-finding expeditions into Pico Bonito National Park and the Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve. He helped delineate the park boundaries and edited the first-ever operative management plan of Parque Nacional Pico Bonito. In 1989 he married a Honduran immigrant whom he met during his Peace Corps service. They have two sons.
Leon has written more than 100 popular articles and technical reports, and contributed to numerous comprehensive conservation plans (for U.S. national wildlife refuges), environmental impact statements, and environmental assessments. He has authored the following books: Where Salmon Come to Die: An Autumn on Alaska’s Raincoast (Pruett, 1993), and Bright River, Dark Dreams – Tragedy on the Río Plátano (Biodiversity First, 2009), as well as other book-length monographs on population, immigration, and the environment. He has been interviewed many times on radio and TV, including NPR’s “The Morning Edition,” Public Radio International’s “The World”, and PBS’s “To the Contrary.” He has been quoted in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Time magazine, and many other newspapers and magazines. He is a Senior Writing Fellow and Member of the Board of Advisors of Californians for Population Stabilization.
Richard Lamm
Richard D. Lamm is Co-Director of the Institute for Public Policy Studies at the University of Denver, and the former three-term Governor of Colorado, (1975-1987). He is both a lawyer (Berkeley, 1961) and a Certified Public Accountant. He joined the faculty of the University of Denver in 1969 and has, except for his years as Governor, been associated with the University ever since. Lamm has appeared on virtually every national news program, including Buchanan & Press (MSNBC), Larry King Live and Inside Politics (CNN), Today (NBC), Meet the Press (NBC), ABC’s Good Morning America, Lehrer NewsHour (PBS), and CBS’s Face the Nation. His editorials have appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, New York Times, Christian Science Monitor, Newsday, Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, and Chicago Tribune, as well as in a number of academic and medical journals. While Governor, Lamm wrote or co-authored six books: A California Conspiracy, with Arnold Grossman (St. Martin’s Press, 1988); Megatraumas: America in the Year 2000 (Houghton Mifflin Company, 1985), The Immigration Time Bomb: The Fragmenting of America, with Gary Imhoff (Dutton and Company, 1985), 1988, with Arnie Grossman (St. Martin’s Press, 1985), Pioneers & Politicians, with Duane A. Smith (Pruett Publishing Company, 1984) and The Angry West, with Michael McCarthy (Houghton Mifflin Company, 1982). His latest book is The Brave New World of Healthcare (Fulcrum Publishing, 2003).
Lamm has always been in the forefront of political change. As a first year legislator, he drafted and succeeded in passing the nation’s first liberalized abortion law. He was an early leader of the environmental movement, and was President of the First National Conference on Population and The Environment. Reacting to the high cost of campaigning, he walked the state in his campaign for Governor of Colorado. Lamm was elected to three terms as Colorado’s top elected official, and in serving as Governor from January 1975 and retiring in January 1987, he was the longest-serving Governor in Colorado’s history to that date. The Institute for Public Policy Studies at the University of Denver comprises the Public Affairs Program (Bachelor’s in Public Affairs), the Graduate Program in Public Policy (Master’s in Public Policy, MPP), and the Center for Public Policy and Contemporary Issues. In addition to directing the University of Denver’s academic policy programs, the Institute for Public Policy Studies contributes to the study and discussion of American society’s most critical issues through an active program of conferences, seminars, forums and publications.
Margaret Orchowski
Peggy (Margaret) Sands Orchowski Ph.D. is currently the Congressional Correspondent in Washington DC for the Hispanic Outlook on Higher Education magazine; she writes 3-4 features a month for the magazine covering Congressional, political and legislative affairs that affect Hispanics, particularly in higher education and immigration. She also writes a monthly column “UNCENSORED.” She was a reporter for the Associated Press in South America, the United Nations Press Corps in Geneva, Switzerland, and her hometown newspaper the Santa Barbara News Press where she wrote about bilingual education and the city’s diverse Hispanic community. In DC, she was employed at NPR’s Talk of the Nation (in 2001), and was an editor of the Georgetowner. In 2005-06, she also served as Bill/Analysis editor at the Congressional Quarterly.
Peggy earned her Bachelor’s Degree in journalism from UC Berkeley, her M.A. Degrees in urban affairs (Occidental College) and International Relations (Univ. of CA Santa Barbara) and a Ph.D. in international public & educational finance (UCSB). Her book “Immigration and the American Dream: Battling the Political Hype and Hysteria” was released by Rowman and Littlefield in June 2008. Peggy was married to an immigrant whom she met in Argentina. She speaks four languages. Peggy is an active member of the National Press Club and JAWS, a national woman’s journalists’ group. She also is an enthusiastic swimmer, biker, tennis player, golfer and violinist, performing with ensembles in DC, CA and in Europe.
David Pimentel
David Pimentel is a Professor of Ecology and Agricultural Sciences at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY. His Ph.D. is from Cornell University. His research spans the fields of population dynamics, ecological and economic aspects of pest control, biological control, biotechnology, sustainable agriculture, land and water conservation, and environmental policy. Professor Pimentel has published more than 570 scientific papers and 23 books and has served on many national and government committees including the National Academy of Sciences; President’s Science Advisory Council; the U.S Department of Agriculture; the U.S. Department of Energy; the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare; the Office of Technology Assessment of the U.S. Congress; and the U.S. State Department.
Contact Us
phone: 202-543-5325
fax: 202-543-5332
toll-free: 866-331-PFIR
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