(NAME-MCE) Immigration Conference May 22-23 Eugene OR

[Anselmo Villanueva]

U of O Immigration Conference May 22-23    Eugene OR

Session on myths and facts to kick off UO's immigration conference

The Latino experience in Oregon is the focus of two-day event, May
22-23, at the Knight Law Center

EUGENE, Ore. -- (May 14, 2008) -- A conference on immigration in
Oregon will begin with a community forum focusing on "Myths and Facts
about Immigration: Gender, Youth and Family Perspectives" at 7 p.m.
Thursday, May 22, at the University of Oregon.

The issues covered during the opening session and those that follow on
Friday, May 23, will cover the Latino immigrant experience in the
state, where 10 percent of the population is Latin American, with most
immigrants arriving, primarily from Mexico, in the last two decades.

"We want to highlight the talents and contributions of Latino
immigrant youth and families, such as trilingual young people who
speak an indigenous language of Mexico, such as Mixtec, as well as
Spanish and English," said Lynn Stephen director of the Gender,
Family, and Immigration Project of the UO's Center for the Study of
Women in Society (CSWS). "We also will discuss the high success rate
of first- and second-generation Latino immigrant youth, and the kinds
of successful alliance building Latinos are doing with other groups of
people in cities such as Woodburn as a way of combating inaccurate
stereotypes about Latino immigrants."

Stephen, an organizer of the CSWS-sponsored event, wrote "Transborder
Lives: Indigenous Oaxacans in Mexico, California, and Oregon," a book
published last year.

Latinos account for 16.8 percent of Oregon students enrolled in public
schools in the current school year. At the current growth rate, the
Oregon Department of Education projects that 28 percent of student
enrollment in the state will be Latino by 2020.

The Conference on Gender, Families and Latino Immigration in Oregon
will be held in the Knight Law Center, 1515 Agate St. Information
about public parking is available on the Web
(http://csws.uoregon.edu/Immigration/Parking.htm), by email
(csws at uoregon.edu) or by phone (541-346-5015). Both days of the event
are free and open to the public. More than 30 community leaders and
advocates for immigrants' rights will participate in the conference.

The conference-opening forum, which will set the tone for two days,
will be led by four speakers: Santiago Ventura of the Oregon Law
Center in Woodburn; Patricia Cortez of Juventud FACETA, an immigrant
youth group in Eugene; Odilia Romero of the Frente Indígena de
Organizaciones Binacionales (Indigenous Front of Binational
Organizations) with offices in Oaxaca, Juxtlahuaca, and Tijuana,
Mexico, as well as in Los Angeles and Fresno, Calif.; and Edward
Olivos, a UO professor of teacher education who specializes in
bilingual education and bicultural parent involvement. Olivos also is
the author of the book "The Power of Parents: A Critical Perspective
of Bicultural Parent Involvement in Public Schools" published in 2006.

The keynote presentation at 5 p.m., Friday, May 23, will feature a
discussion on "Lessons on Gender and Family Issues Among Immigrant
Populations in Oregon and California" by Patricia Zavella, professor
and chair of Latin American and Latino Studies at the University of
California, Santa Cruz, and Guadalupe Quinn of the Lane County office
of CAUSA, a statewide grassroots immigrant rights coalition based in
Salem, Ore.

Friday's sessions -- beginning at 9 a.m. -- will cover the following
topics: Building Alliances for Immigration Rights; Youth and
Education; Challenges for Immigrant Men and Women; Labor (exploring
wages and working conditions of Latino immigrants); Indigenous
Immigrant Women's Organizing and Leadership; Negotiating Family
Dynamics; Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Issues in
Immigrant Communities; and Services for Immigrant Families. The
conference will close with a reception and cultural event, which
begins at 6:30 p.m.

The full schedule is available in English
(http://csws.uoregon.edu/Immigration/program.htm) and Spanish
(http://csws.uoregon.edu/Immigration/program_Spanish.htm).

Media Contact: Jim Barlow, director of science and research
communications, 541-346-3481, jebarlow at uoregon.edu

Source: Lynn Stephen, director of the Center for the Study of Women in
Society, 541-346-5168, stephenl at uoregon.edu

Links: CSWS Home Page: http://csws.uoregon.edu/; Conference Web site:
Gender, Families and Immigration in the Northwest Project:
http://wnw.uoregon.edu/immigration.shtml; listing of participating
organizations: http://csws.uoregon.edu/Immigration/participating%20orgs.htm;
conference program in English:
http://csws.uoregon.edu/Immigration/program.htm, in Spanish:
http://csws.uoregon.edu/Immigration/program_Spanish.htm