Zoe Covey
Features Editor
On Monday, Nov. 12, the Organization of Latin American Students (OLAS) and Amnesty International C.O.W. chapter hosted an event in Lowry Center about the state of immigration policy and asylum seekers in the United States over the past several months.
Called the Family Separation Fireside Chat, the goal of the event “…was to provide a discussion-based talk from professors who have done research and know about the issue in order to spread awareness and educate the campus on family separation and the policies and controversy surrounding it, as well as ways that we can help individually,” said Dena Nashawati ’20, president of C.O.W. Amnesty International.
Evelyn Marin ’19, vice president of OLAS, explained why the event was important to host. “[With] the immigration issues going on today, and how media bias can sway people’s opinions when they don’t really know why immigrants or refugees are traveling thousands of miles to find safer places for their families in North America, it’s really important that people are informed with real answers, especially from professors,” Marin said.
Each club had one representative moderating the discussion — Nashawati for Amnesty International as well as Marin representing OLAS. The two of them asked questions to a panel of three professors: Dr. Alvaro Corral of the political science department, Dr. Pam Frese of sociology and anthropology and Dr. Brian Cope of the Spanish department. While none of the professors claimed to be experts on the topic, Nashawati said that these specific professors were chosen because of their fields of study and academic specializations.
“Dr. Corral [is] a political science professor who has taught classes on immigration policy, Dr. Frese … has done research focused on Latin America and Dr. Cope … teaches in the Spanish department,” Nashawati said.
The talk began with Marin and Nashawati largely focusing on the changes that have been made to immigration policy over the last year, and zeroed in further on the topic of family separation. Corral explained that this time last year, while Donald Trump was in office as the President of the United States, the promises that he had made during his presidential campaign about how he would address immigration had not yet come to fruition as official law. This year, however, concrete changes have been made in the form of increased family separation as well as a higher rate of denial of asylum applications.
Other questions addressed at the panel were the question of who or what reaps the benefits of family separation, how the official written policy differs from the reality of the situation, what the psychological effects of the separation on children and families will be, whether it is realistic that all families will be reunited and clarification on the caravan issue.
After the panel discussion was over, the audience members were encouraged to voice their questions and thoughts. One student asked where the professors saw the trajectory of immigration issues going and whether they thought it would increase. Another spoke to the extreme benefit that private prison corporations get from family separation.
The talk closed with the professors’ and moderators’ suggestions of how to help the people in these situations. Nashawati and Cope discussed the importance of donations to organizations already working to help, with Cope even passing out a sheet of paper with a list of reputable organizations on it. Marin stressed that many student organizations on campus are open to answering questions, because they all have different levels of knowledge about different topics. Frese encouraged students to educate themselves and to look for internships and volunteer opportunities that would put them in connection with immigrants who need help. All members of the panel agreed that the best way to help these people is to vote.
(Photo by Sarah Vandenbergen)