Forum to spotlight Lugar's immigration bill

Staff members of Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., are organizing a forum to discuss the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act on Tuesday in Evansville.

The forum, which starts at 6 p.m. and will be followed by a Spanish-only discussion of the act, will educate Hoosiers on the benefits and implications of the immigration act, according to a June 30 press release from Lugar’s office.

It is co-sponsored by the Catholic Diocese of Evansville, Hospitality and Outreach for Latin Americans, the Juan Diego Center, Nativity Catholic Church and the Southwest Indiana College Access Network.

The act is a piece of legislation designed to offer the children of illegal immigrants the opportunity to work toward citizenship, provided they meet certain requirements. The act provides conditional legal status to students who are working toward a degree in higher education or enrolled in the armed services, and it grants full citizenship after meeting requirements such as completing the degree or finishing two years of service in the military.  

Stephanie Roberts, executive director of Hospitality and Outreach for Latin Americans, said her organization encourages people to educate themselves on the issues of the act.

“Our principal goal, as an organization, is to educate ... Latinos and non-Latinos about what is going on in our community and what is available for them,” Roberts said. “This is a bill that, whether you think it is good or bad, it is inarguable that it will have a huge impact once passed.”

Roberts said education is one of the primary areas where Hospitality and Outreach for Latin Americans focuses its resources. Her organization believes that educating people helps them solve many of their other problems.

Paul Leingang, communications director for the Diocese of Evansville, expressed the diocese’s support for the forum as being an extension of Catholic belief with regards to education.

“The Catholic Church in its teaching has consistently and continuously supported the notion that every person has basic human rights,” Roberts said. “Education is among those basic human rights that belong to a person because of a person’s dignity as a son or daughter of God, not necessarily as a citizen or a documented person.”

Lugar and Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., introduced this version of the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act to the Senate on March 26.

According to Lugar’s Web site, he introduced the bill to encourage young immigrants to continue their education and earn a degree or serve in the armed services.

He said he believes that passage of the bill will encourage some of the 30 percent of Hispanic high school dropouts to stay in school.

Maria Quiroz-Southwood, communications director for the Indiana Latino Institute, said her organization supports the act because it connects young Latinos with something that they value but struggle to obtain.

“A lot of the benefits that would come from the DREAM Act would lift barriers that we see all the time within the education of Latino students,” Quiroz-Southwood said. “All of the benefits that a student would get with the DREAM Act would definitely support the American dream.”