Co-sponsored by Mascoma Forward
WHEN: Doors open @ 5.30 p.m. and all are invited to a potluck @ 6 p.m. Just bring a dish. If you can’t, come anyway. The program will start at 6.30 p.m.
WHERE: Upper Valley Senior Center of Lebanon, 10 Campbell St,
Please join us to learn more about immigrants’ struggles and issues nationally and here in NH. Our five panelists include experts, educators and activists. We will learn about national immigration policies and our broken system, hear from leaders and activists in NH working for immigrants in the areas of legal rights, legislation and advocacy, and hear stories of first hand experiences being an immigrant. We will also learn about what actions we all can take to make a positive impact in the lives of immigrants.
Panelists:
Evangeline Monroe is a retired foreign service officer whose first tour of duty was as a visa officer. She took a systematic look at immigration in 2005 when mass demonstrations protested (failed) legislative attempts to convert immigration misdemeanors into felonies. She has taught immigration at Osher at Dartmouth seven times. The first course was called, “Immigration- Melting Pot or Boiling Cauldron?” Ms. Monroe will describe why our immigration system is broken, the impediments to fixing it, the importance of assimilation, and the benefits to the country of immigration.
Eva Castillo, is Executive Director of NH Alliance of Immigrants & Refugees (NHAIR). NHAIR is the only immigrant rights organization in NH and is involved with advocacy, legislation, inclusion, and equity. Ms. Castillo is a native of Venezuela, former police commissioner in Manchester, NH and has a long history of involvement with U.S. immigration issues. Ms. Castillo will share stories of immigrants without documents here in NH raising families and paying taxes that are suddenly apprehended for deportation.
Asma Elhuni is Lead Organizer for United Valley Interfaith Project (UVIP). UVIP is comprised of 15 faith communities of the Buddhist, Jewish, and Christian traditions in our local area that work together with the broader community on issues of social justice. Ms. Elhuni will discuss what it is like to grow up as a brown, Muslim female wearing a hijab in America. She became a naturalized citizen 25 years ago and will discuss how immigrant discrimination is not new and is not limited to immigrants without documents.
Kate Semple Barta is the Director of and Attorney for The Welcoming All Nationalities Network of the Upper Valley, “WANN”. WANN provides immigration legal assistance in humanitarian immigration cases. WANN’s clients are residents of Vermont and New Hampshire, primarily from the Upper Valley, and most are survivors of domestic violence or persecution. Ms. Barta will speak about the challenges of navigating the US immigration system and the work of WANN in the Upper Valley.
Rod Wendt is Executive Director of the United Valley Interfaith Project (UVIP). Mr. Wendt will discuss how UVIP has partnered with other organizations across New Hampshire to push back hard against the immigration policies and practices of the current administration. He will share concrete actions that we all can take to engage in the immigrant justice work being done by United Valley Interfaith Project, and partners including Granite State Organizing Project, American Friends Service Committee, NH Alliance of Immigrants and Refugees.