The Department of Sociology will host “Exploring the Reality of Migrant Families and Human Rights Conference” from 8:15 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday in Student Union Room 1.102 on the Edinburg campus.
The conference is open to the public and will feature a performance by Kalpulli Ayolopaktzin Aztec dancers.
Jose M. Villarreal, a lecturer in the department, said the conference will be about expanding the students’, faculty and the community’s knowledge of the issues of migration.
“We want to … provide a more objective look on migration to counter the conservative media and hyper-ization of the so-called migrant crisis … and go into more detail of some of the factors that are involved in the forced migration of people from the south,” Villarreal said.
The lecturer said the idea for the topic comes from his educational background about migration, being a South Texas native and teaching at the university.
“Some students have relatives in Mexico. I have also taught Dreamers … DACA students,” Villarreal said, referring to people who were brought illegally into the U.S. at a young age and the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that “allowed children to temporarily remain in the country and obtain work permits,” according to the Associated Press.
He said there needs to be more clarity and information “to counter the fear that the conservative media is producing.”
Villarreal said he held a similar conference in 2019 and two guest speakers, Sister Norma Pimentel from the Diocese of Brownsville and Eddie Canales from South Texas Human Rights Center, will be returning.
One of the guest speakers, Carlos E. Flores, an attorney and filmmaker, said his talk will focus on creating new space for communities and how they can do so through creative expression.
Flores said he will speak about the issue of how to get beyond the “us versus them” narrative when talking about organizing communities.
“Part of what I think is important is that we focus on cultivating artists … cultivating small business owners … and cultivating environmentalists in those communities,” he said. “So that collectively each … within those communities can have a higher understanding of what are the issues that they face.”
Flores said the goal of this collective effort of communities will transform into finding new priorities and directions that they want to see themselves grow and evolve into.
He said this will help move past issues that plague communities, such as access to health care and education, and limited access to resources.
Another guest speaker, Denisse Molina, humanitarian outreach coordinator with the Beyond Borders Project at the Texas Civil Rights Project, said her talk will focus on what the Texas Civil Rights Project does and will give a presentation titled, “Legal Resistance to Border Militarization.”
“It is a presentation to give a picture and image of what is happening in our communities in the borderlands in regards to border militarization,” Molina said. “And … the federal, state and local government’s role … and the effects that has had in our communities.”
She said it is important for students to know about the struggles migrant families face because it also affects communities in the border region.
“If you live here, if you have grown up here, immigration is going to be part of your life, your history, your family’s history,” she said.
She said it is important for people to understand the new and current issues of families.
Villarreal encourages students and faculty of the university to promote the conference as it has “great potential, to create a better world and better understanding among the community.”
