New Mexico State Takes on Immigration Issue

The Las Cruces gathering promises up-to-date information on legislative proposals for addressing the US immigration crisis.

Courtesy: simplearts.com

(LAS CRUCES, N.M.) - As the immigration issue continues heating up and shaping US politics in the summer of 2010, New Mexico State University will once again play a role in the debate. Sponsored by the school’s International Relations Institute and Center for Latin American and Border Studies, a summer institute on immigration will take place on the Las Cruces campus during the month of July. The scheduled events include lectures, films, student presentations and sessions designed to come up with working solutions to an issue central to North America's future.

The kick-off event will happen at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, July 6, at New Mexico State's Anderson Hall Auditorium.

Addressing a timely issue, Arizona scholar Roxanne Doty, associate professor at Arizona State University, will deliver a public lecture titled “It Didn’t Start in Arizona and Of Course it’s About Race.” The author of a book on state laws related to immigration, Dr. Doty will examine Arizona’s SB 1070 controversy within the context of similar legislation sweeping the United States.

On Wednesday, July 7, the Institute will offer a public discussion on immigration and border policies from a comparative perspective, analyzing the experiences of Europe as well as the US-Mexico border. Once again scheduled for the Anderson Hall Auditorium at 7:00 p.m., the event will feature Dr. Carlos Gonzalez Herrera, founding director of El Colegio de Chihuahua; Emily Carey, Regional Center for Border Rights, American Civil Liberties Union; and Dr. Luis Alfonso Herrera Robles of the Autonomous University of Ciudad Juarez.

The series will culminate with three sessions on different aspects of immigration policy and reform including legalization, law enforcement and due process and future flows and root causes of migration. Scheduled to run from July 12 to 14, all the concluding events will being at 6:00 p.m. at the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum. The facilitators will include NMSU professors Neil Harvey and Alison Newby and Sarah Nolan of Comunidades de Accion y Fe.

In addition to dissecting the sociological, political and economic forces defining one of today’s most important public policy debates, the Las Cruces gathering promises up-to-date information on legislative proposals for addressing the US immigration crisis.

“We will particularly focus on the legalization of the currently undocumented, the impacts of border and interior enforcement, and policies that address future flows and the root causes of migration…,” event organizers said. “Our goal is to increase our own understanding of this important issue and contribute to the national debate in ways that promote the human rights and dignity of all people.”

For a complete list of events or more information, please e-mail Roberta Gran of the International Relations Institute: rgran@nmsu.edu

• Frontera NorteSur (FNS): on-line, U.S.-Mexico border news Center for Latin American and Border Studies
• New Mexico State University Las Cruces, New Mexico