Immigration Miscellanea

First, I'm headed to Baton Rouge tomorrow with a group of colleagues to testify in the State Senate on HB 25, which is the bill requiring law enforcement officials to verify immigration status upon arrest. I've never testified in front of a Legislative Committee before, so it should be interesting. I'll probably be around the State Legislature most of the day as the bill proposed by Tim Burns on renting to undocumented migrants is also scheduled for debate on the House Floor in the afternoon. I'm excited about this.

Second, and more importantly, I'm pleased to announce that the Stone Center for Latin American Studies at Tulane University, LatiNola, Common Good, and Tulane's Center for Public Service are teaming up to host an "Educational Forum on Immigration" on THURSDAY, MAY 29, from 7-9pm at 102 Jones Hall on Tulane University's campus.

This Forum is designed specifically to educate and inform about, as well as discuss, the subject of migration as it affects our communities, the City of New Orleans, and the State of Louisiana and how the recent legislative initiatives moving through the state legislature concerning immigration fit into this subject. The Forum will consist of a panel of academic specialists on migration, immigration attorneys, community representatives, and some local state legislators. The Panelists will be invited to give up to a 10 minute presentation on the topic and we'll follow these presentations with time for Q&A from the audience. Please mark your calendars and plan to attend. But also note that this is intended as a civil dialogue and an informational/educational event. It will not be a free-for-all soapbox for demagoguing the issue.

Confirmed panelists include:
Professor Marc Rosenblum, Associate Professor of Political Science from UNO who specializes on immigration policy;
Hiroko Kusada, an Immigration Lawyer from the Loyola Law Clinic;
District 96 State House Rep. Juan LaFonta;
Martin Gutierrez, Director of the Hispanic Apostolate of the Archdiocese of New Orleans.

Other invited, but as-yet-unconfirmed panelists include:
Professor Elizabeth Fussell, a demographer and migration specialist formerly of Tulane but currently at Washington State University;
District 2 State Sen. Ann Duplessis;
District 10 State Sen. Danny Martiny.

District 35 State House Rep. Brett Geymann, author of many of the legislative bills under consideration, was invited to participate as a panelist, but has said that he is unable to do so. District 94 State House Rep. Nick Lorusso was also invited and also declined the invitation to participate.

Lucas Diaz of Puentes/LatiNola and I will be moderating the forum.

It promises to be an informative and interesting event. Everyone is welcome. NOLA bloggers, please spread the word and show up if you can.