Seminar at UMSL

Unfortunately I will be out of town for this.

Join Us on January 9, 2008
for an Applied Research Seminar:


Immigration and the Local Community

1:00 - 2:30 p.m.
in the JC Penney Building, Room 229
on the UM-St. Louis campus


The St. Louis region has experienced a dramatic rise in the number of immigrants in recent years, despite an uncertain and highly politicized federal policy environment. Each year, thousands of new residents arrive in the area, from every continent, in pursuit of the same opportunities for a new life that drew earlier settlers.

In the St. Louis region, immigration has brought increased job competition and demand for public services, placing real pressure on local communities. Efforts at comprehensive immigration policy reform have been unsuccessful at the federal level and substantive change seems unlikely for the foreseeable future, leaving local governments to address the issue. What is being done in the St. Louis community to address immigration in ways that are both constructive and reasonable? This panel draws together individuals from various constituencies across the region—planning, business, government, legal—to discuss where things stand at present and how communities might prepare for the nation’s more diverse future.

Join us on January 9, for a discussion of the issues. A panel of regional experts will offer their views and encourage rational conversation on the local implications of the federal immigration policy stalemate by addressing these and other related questions:

What are the most pressing immigration and settlement issues facing local communities and the newest residents who have chosen to live here?
What steps can--or should--local government take to promote the productive integration of immigrants into the work force and community life?
Panelists include:

Nikki Weinstein, Director of Policy and Community Engagement with FOCUS St. Louis, and a former staff member of the Family Resource Center and the St. Louis Neighborhood Network.

Richard T. Middleton, IV, Ph.D., J.D. candidate; Assistant Professor of political science at UMSL; volunteer with the Immigration Law Project unit of Legal Services of Eastern Missouri; member of the Editorial Board, Journal of Immigrant and Refugee Studies.

Jorge Riopedre, an officer of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Metro St. Louis and owner of CarisMedia, a St. Louis-based communications company specializing in the Hispanic market.

The seminar will be held in the JC Penney Conference Center on the UM-St. Louis campus, in Room 229, from 1:00-2:30 p.m., January 9. For information or directions, contact 314.516.5273, or email us at pprc@umsl.edu. To view a map, click here.

This event is free! Refreshments will be served.