NEWS
Illegal Immigration Heats Up UNR Campus
Christina Pascucci
The Associated Students of the University of Nevada (ASUN) hosted a forum on immigration.
There was quite a bit of controversy. Not so much because of the topic itself but because of the panelist, founder of the Minuteman Project Jim Gilchrist. He was recently to speak at Harvard and the Ivy League canceled on him last minute because people were afraid that he would practice hate speech.
Their concerns were not isolated. Some UNR students had the same thoughts going into today's forum.
UNR student Edna Meza was talking to her friend about the panel and the Minutemen. “Are you talking about those hicks who kill people who are coming over the border?”
Edna's perception of the Minutemen is commonplace amongst students.
So much so that one student group hosted its own immigration forum as a form of protest.
UNR Professor and Director of Latino Resource Center Emma Sepulveda helped organize the alternate forum. “If UNR is going to invite somebody spreading hate speech we will stand up against that.”
Gilchrist says he is simply embracing his right to free speech.
“The Minutemen Project is a multi-ethnic, diverse group. We operate strictly within rule of law --in support of the law.”
As a young Latina whose family crossed the border from Mexico, immigration issues are important to this UNR freshman Edna Meza.
“My dad used to pick lettuce in Salinas, he built enough money to bring my mom and I over.”
So she wanted to hear for herself what Gilchrist had to say. And that's what forum leaders say it was all about.
“This is what a college experience is. You listen and learn from them and expand your horizons,” says the forum coordinator, Nicholas Blevins.
Panelists say the forum was intended to create a peaceful discussion of the controversy surrounding illegal immigration.
Immigration activist Miguel Angel Acosta says, “It’s the issue of whether you have the right to seek a better life...we can’t go back from that. We can’t say come in everybody, we still have space. It’s not like an elevator, but there has to be conversation on what’s humane and what works for all people.”
Acosta says illegal immigrants are not leeches on our government, like many of his opposers might argue.
“They pay taxes every time they buy something. Some estimate that as much as one fourth of social security is paid by immigrants who will never get that money back.”
For Minutemen Founder Jim Gilchrist, it's about following the law. “How fair is it for 300 million other Americans to know that the rule of law applies only to those foolish enough to obey it?”
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