For the past several months, activists and other supporters of immigrants' rights have filled the streets of several U.S. cities to promote dialogue and call on legislators to produce a comprehensive immigration reform bill.
Today is Duke's day.
Sunday evening, Peter Lasch-interim director of the Latino/a Studies Initiative and visiting assistant professor of the practice of visual arts-urged members of the Duke community to join the National Work Stoppage and Mobilization in Support of Immigrants and Immigration Reform march.
Lasch said the goal of the march-or "walking discussion"-is to promote dialogue about the issue of immigrant legislation, and he invites supporters and non-supporters of immigrants alike to join the discourse.
Duke's march, which is part of a national event taking place in 60 cities, will begin at the Levine Science Research Center at 11:30 a.m. and conclude at 2:00 p.m., when the participants will go to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and join the mobilization effort there.
From UNC, the participants will then proceed to Siler City, where a state mobilization effort will be taking place at the town hall. Lasch said he expects several hundred participants to travel to Siler City, a place he described as "anti-immigrant."
"From [former President Bill] Clinton up until now, [politicians] have promised to deal with this issue, but it's completely unresolved," he said. "We shouldn't leave politics to politicians and law to lawyers."
President George W. Bush reinforced his anti-amnesty position on immigration reform during his weekly radio address Saturday.
"We must ensure that those who break our laws are not granted an automatic path to citizenship," he said. "Amnesty would also be unwise, because it would encourage others to break the law and create new waves of illegal immigration."
While Washington struggles to find an answer, local organizers are preparing themselves for what may lie ahead. Lasch said organizers hosted an "observer training" session Sunday in Chapel Hill to prepare activists for the potentially hostile environment in Siler City.
Lasch said the priority will be to protect recent immigrants from any potential danger.
Senior Brian Flores, who will be on hand in Siler City, said "I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous or scared." He said, however, that he is resolved to march anyway.
"No matter the circumstances, I owe it to my family and community to do what I can," Flores said. "To not do anything, considering my background, would be a sin."
Lasch noted that North Carolina is a "test ground for pro- and anti-immigrationists," as the state is home to one of the fastest-growing populations of immigrants from Central and South America.
Flores urged the Duke community to join the discussion because the University "could not function without immigrants."
"We can fool ourselves and pretend there are no undocumented immigrants, but we have eyes," Lasch said. "It doesn't help anyone to be blind."
Legislation for immigration reform is not an issue that divides easily along party lines; conservatives can often be pro-business and in support of the labor immigrants often provide, and liberals are split on the issue, Lasch said. Nevertheless, there are several pieces of legislation currently at the heart of immigration policy reform.
Two of the more controversial bills are the Kennedy-McCain bill and H.R.-4437-which the Senate shot down Friday.
The Kennedy-McCain bill, which is backed by a "core group" of organizers, aims to enhance border security and implement a program in which undocumented residents who have lived in the United States for at least five years would be able to obtain legal status, granted that they meet various requirements.
Lasch said that although many immigration supporters are pleased with the Kennedy-McCain proposal, others question the feasibility of implementing such an initiative.
"How would you enforce that? Will you separate families?" Lasch asked, citing two problems individuals often point out when discussing the bill.
The White House-backed H.R.-4437, which is largely opposed by immigration supporters, would make illegal immigration a felony and prosecute employers who hire illegal immigrants.
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