Immigration reform and national security policy will be discussed at Rice University

DATE: March 23, 2004
CONTACT: B.J. Almond
PHONE: (713) 348-6770
EMAIL: balmond@rice.edu

IMMIGRATION
REFORM AND NATIONAL SECURITY POLICY
WILL BE DISCUSSED AT RICE UNIVERSITY FORUM
SATURDAY MORNING
Program at Baker Institute was planned for journalists

The impact
of immigration reform and national security policy since Sept. 11 on
the Latino immigrant community will be analyzed during a panel discussion
hosted by Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy Saturday,
March 27. The forum, which will be held from 10 a.m. until noon in James
A. Baker III Hall, is open to the general public but geared toward journalists.

Panelists will
include Frank Sharry, executive director of the Washington-based National
Immigration Forum, and Barbara Hines, a clinical professor at the University
of Texas at Austin School of Law and director of the UT Law immigration
clinic. A representative from the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration
Services has been invited to participate as well. Vincente Arenas, news
anchor for KHOU-TV, will serve as panel moderator.

The attacks
of Sept. 11, 2001, prompted an unprecedented restructuring of federal
agencies and policy, but local and national media have given little
attention to "sweeping, life-altering changes in immigration policy,"
said Michelle Vignoli, a member of the National Association of Hispanic
Journalists, who is co-sponsoring the forum with the Open Society Institute.

"President
Bush’s recent statement of principles of immigration reform and
the consolidation of the Immigration and Naturalization Service into
the Department of Homeland Security have stirred up considerable discussion
around the issue," Vignoli said. "Our panel of immigration
experts will discuss these important changes and their impact on Latino
and other immigrant communities."

News media who
want to attend the program should R.S.V.P. to Juan DeLeon at 713-348-6781.

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