The Federal Court and the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Indiana Celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month with

The Changing Face of America: The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965

The United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana and the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Indiana are proud to celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month with a special event on Wednesday, May 7, 2025, at 2:00 pm. The hour-long program will be held in Courtroom 216 at the Birch Bayh Federal Building and United States Courthouse, 46 East Ohio Street, Indianapolis, Indiana.

2025 marks the 60th anniversary of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which heralded major changes in American immigration policy. Through a combination of presentation and panel conversation, three outstanding speakers will discuss the effects of the INA from historical, legal, and personal perspectives.

Dr. Melissa Borja is a core faculty member in the University of Michigan's Asian/Pacific Islander American Studies Program. She researches and teaches about religion, migration, race, ethnicity, and politics in the United States and the Pacific World, with special attention to how Asian American religious beliefs and practices have developed in the context of pluralism and the modern American state. Dr. Borja's book, Follow the New Way: American Refugee Resettlement Policy and Hmong Religious Change (Harvard University Press), draws on oral history and archival research to investigate the religious dimensions of American refugee policy. She earned a Ph.D. and M.Phil. in history from Columbia University, in addition to an M.A. in history from the University of Chicago and an AB in history from Harvard University.

Dr. Ellen Wu is an associate professor of history at Indiana University – Bloomington. Dr. Wu researches, teaches, and writes about race, migration, and belonging in United States history. Her first book, The Color of Success: Asian Americans and the Origins of the Model Minority (Princeton, 2014), tells of the astonishing makeover of Asians in the United States from the “yellow peril” to “model minorities” in the middle decades of the twentieth century. Dr. Wu is currently writing Overrepresented, forthcoming from Princeton University Press. This book places Asian Americans at the center of the history of racial justice to tell a new story about diversity, data, and democracy in the United States. She earned B.A. and B.S. degrees from Indiana University – Bloomington, an M.A. degree from University of California – Los Angeles, and a Ph.D. from University of Chicago.

Judge Lakshmi Reddy was elected to the Vigo Superior Court in 2014 and was reelected to the bench in 2020. A beneficiary of the INA of 1965, she was born in India and came to the United States with her parents when she was two years old. She graduated from Vanderbilt University in 1992 with a bachelor’s degree in biology, and in 1997, she earned her J.D. from the Indiana University McKinney School of Law. After serving as an associate at law firms in Indianapolis and Terre Haute, she founded Reddy Law Firm in 2009, practicing civil, commercial, family, and probate law until her appointment to the bench. She also served as a law clerk to Indiana Supreme Court Justice Frank Sullivan Jr.

Attendees are invited to enjoy light refreshments following the event. A virtual option is available for those who cannot attend in person. One hour of Continuing Legal Education credit is pending.

The event is free and open to the public, but pre-registration is required. Please register at https://www.signupgenius.com/go/INA60th#/ to reserve a space and indicate whether you will attend in person or virtually. Those attending virtually will receive the link upon registration, and again the day before the program with instructions on how to connect via Zoom.