1/29/2009: Interview with Blake Pendergrass, Organizer, FRESC

On Thursday, February 12, 2009, DU’s Strategic Issues Panel on Immigration heard from business and labor representatives.

Blake Pendergrass, an organizer with FRESC (formerly the Front Range Economic Strategy Center) reminded the panel that immigration happens on a global scale, and whereas money is allowed to flow freely across borders, people are not allowed to follow.

The labor and immigrant rights movements have been closely aligned since the 1880s. Unions, he said, must organize the most vulnerable workers to raise standards for all workers.

He advocated rational visa requirements which could be set by the Department of Labor annually to better meet the needs of employers and employees.

He also mentioned that unions generally oppose a guest worker program that limits worker rights and fails to provide immigrants a path to citizenship.

Attend a Strategic Issues Panel on Immigration Meeting

Members of the public are encouraged to attend Immigration Issues Panel meetings. However, you must rsvp.

Generally, three speakers present at each meeting. The meetings start promptly at 8am and end at noon.

The speakers are presenting to our panel members who will be seated around the conference table. Typically, anyone not on the panel is asked to observe and refrain from participating in the discussion.

Parking: It is recommended you avoid street parking since it’s typically limited to one hour. Click here for a map of public parking around campus. DU is also accessible via the lightrail and bus routes (for more information contact RTD).

1/29/2009: Interview with Colorado Commissioner of Agriculture John Stulp

John Stulp, Colorado’s Commissioner of Agriculture, addressed the panel on the impact of immigration on the agricultural community. There is a tremendous need for seasonal workers, he said, in Colorado and other states. Colorado needs an estimated 9,000 seasonal workers annually. As fewer Americans work in the agricultural business, agribusiness reliance on migrant workers and foreign workers increases. Working with the Department of Labor, the Colorado Department of Agriculture developed a pilot program to bring seasonal workers to Colorado to try to meet the needs of farmers. The program was inspired by a similar program in Canada. The idea is to bring transparency to the agents that bring seasonal foreign workers to the state, to expedite visa paperwork, and to hold agents accountable for foreign workers to return to their home country after the season, thus relieving the local systems of the costs associated with a new population.

Watch John Stulp's presentation here.

Watch Jim Griesemer, Director of the University of Denver's Strategic Issues Panel on Immigration, interview Commissioner Stulp here.

1/29/2009: Interview with Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce President & CEO, Joe Blake

President and CEO of Denver’s Metro Chamber of Commerce Joe Blake discussed why immigration is so vital to the businesses in Colorado. Our panel, he said, has a historic opportunity to talk about the issue. In a robust economy, immigration drives the economy. Now that the economy has all but collapsed in many sectors, the panel has an opportunity to examine and discuss the topic in a helpful way.

Watch Joe Blake's presentation to the Immigration issues Panel here.

Watch Joe Blake's Interview here.

1/29/09 Speaker: Colorado Governor Bill Ritter, Jr.

On Thursday, January 29, 2009, Gov. Bill Ritter addressed the DU Immigration Issues Panel. (Click on the picture above to watch his presentation.)

Colorado Governor Bill Ritter describes the complexity of the issue of immigration. The topic is multi-layered with overlapping effects on our economy, health care system, education system and social policy. He applauds the University of Denver for tackling the issue from an academic perspective. “It’s so easy for people to speak ill of illegal immigrants,” said the Governor, “without really understanding all these difficult and complicated layers.” He addresses the need for a reasoned approach to immigration and expresses looking forward to our panel’s recommendations to the state and country.

Watch Jim Griesemer, Director of DU's Strategic Issues Program, interview Governor Ritter here.

1/8/2009: Interview with Immigration Attorney Ann Allott

"Our legal immigration system at this moment is broken," says immigration attorney Ann Allott. The visa numbers have remained virtually the same since 1952. There are not enough visas issued every year to meet the demand for people to legally come to the U.S. For example, of the 1 million visas issued every year, 250,000 are employment-based. However, let’s say an architect is issued a work visa, his wife and children are also issued visas from the work-based pool. One step toward a meaningful solution to the inadequacies of the present system, Ann believes, would be to have a Presidentially-appointed board to determine the visa numbers on a yearly basis.

Click image to watch video

1/8/2009: Interview with U.S. Attorney Troy Eid

U.S. Attorney Troy Eid stresses the distinction of the types of people who are here in the U.S. illegally. Although they entered the U.S. illegally, the majority of the people working and living in the U.S. illegally are law-abiding. Given the economics of our country, people working here illegally will be here, like it or not. What we need to do from a security and law enforcement viewpoint is identify the people who are here. Identifying people should include a background check which will help ensure that criminals are kept out of the U.S.

Click image to watch video