Roosevelt University’s American Dream Reconsidered Conference began the week of events with the panel “Navigating Immigration Issues in Chicago and Beyond in Today’s America,” a discussion providing an in-depth exploration of vital topics surrounding immigration. President Ali Malekzadeh delivered the opening remarks to a crowd of students, faculty and community members in the historic Ganz Hall on Roosevelt’s Chicago campus. The panel was moderated by Roosevelt Professor Priscilla Archibald, and featured Karina Ayala-Bermejo, Professor Angela S. García and Linda Rio. Ayala-Bermejo is the President and CEO of Instituto Del Progresso Latino, a nonprofit dedicated to “the fullest development of Latino immigrants and their families through education, training and employment.” Dr. García is an associate faculty member from the Sociology department at University of Chicago, as well as the author of Legal Passing: Navigating Undocumented Life and Local Immigration Law. Rio is an attorney and Access to Justice Consultant, most recently working with the Chicago Bar Foundation to spearhead pro bono legal assistance for southwestern border arriving migrants in Chicago.
The panel, titled “Navigating Immigration Issues in Chicago and Beyond in Today’s America,” delved into the key issues at the heart of the topic, including where our newly arrived migrant neighbors have come from, the response time from the city of Chicago and the rate at which migrants have been able to access resources. According to Ayala-Bermejo, the unpredictability of the number of people arriving initially impeded on the city’s ability to provide shelter, necessities and legal aid. Rio continued that thread by explaining how while it took months for the city to meet the needs of migrants and asylum seekers, state and federal workers as well as legal experts working pro bono were able to develop systems in a process often mired by bureaucracy. Both Ayala-Bermejo and Rio work with organizations that provide aid to new arrivals.
Each of the panelists shared how the entered the sphere of immigration. For Alaya-Bermejo, it was the story of her parents coming to this country from Mexico. Her father was a migrant farmer and inspired her to become a lawyer in the hopes that she and her brother could one day be able to “work their minds, and not just their hands.” Rio shared her experience of being a first-generation college student who realized early on that she wanted to provide legal services to people with less access to traditional resources. While Dr. García is also the child of an immigrant, she explained how as a college student, she worked as an English and Second Language teacher and befriended many of her students. The stories of her students and friends led her to pursue a career studying the sociological aspects of immigration.
As the conversation concluded, the panel reiterated the importance of fact-checking misinformation and encouraged all those in attendance to vote in the upcoming election. The American Dream Reconsidered Conference will continue throughout the week at Roosevelt University.
