Cover Sheet

Shannon Smith
Story slug: Border, Forum
Article Title: On Campus Border Crisis Forum Draws Concerned Crowd
Budget Line: University of Texas hosted forum on crisis at the Mexican border
educates students and Austin citizens alike.
Contacts:
Marlene Guerrero Chavez marlene.gchavez@gmail.com
Key speaker, email interview pre-forum, in person interview post-forum
Denise Gilman dgilman@law.utexas.edu
Key speaker, and interview post-forum
Kenneth Koym koymkg@gmail.com
Audience member
Jerry Patterson 512.463.5256
Texas land commissioner, key speaker at forum
Dianna Tavera dtavera@austinirc.org
Representative of Austin Immigrant Rights Coalition (interview)
Invisible Sources:
http://austinirc.org
Contact for Dianna Tavera, and background on the organizations goals and
accomplishments
http://www.humanityisborderless.org
Contact for Marlene Guerrero Chavez and background on her organizations
work
Follow-up Stories:
1. A deeper look into the work Denise Gilman is doing legally representing
mothers and children currently detained at Karnes
2. A feature story on a detainee at Karnes, what it is like within detention
center, why did they leave their homeland, etc.
3. An economic piece on Governor Rick Perrys decision to send 1,000 national
guards to the border (costing 12 million dollars a month), where else this
money would be better spent etc.





On Campus Border Crisis Forum Draws Concerned Crowd
By Shannon Smith
Nayely, Jorge and Jose although the names of these children are different, their
stories are the same. All three had escaped their violence-ridden homelands in Central
America and fled to the United States in hopes of a more secure life. But once they
arrived, they were not welcomed with open arms. They were humiliated by border police,
detained in cruel conditions, and stripped of their legal rights as immigrants.
Unfortunately, these three children are not the only victims of such mistreatment- they
are part of a much larger statistic. Since October 2013, 60,000 unaccompanied children
have crossed the Mexican-American border, a boundary merely four hours from Austin.
Hosted by the Latin American Studies and Collections of the University of Texas,
the forum aimed to bring clarity and resources to citizens on the controversy at the
border, specifically the treatment of unaccompanied immigrant children. According to the
fire marshal, roughly 215 attendants, both young and old, native Spanish speakers and
English speakers alike, were drawn to the discussion.
Jerry Patterson, Texas land commissioner, was quick to remind the audience that
the United States is no stranger to controversy, but rather is shocked by the impact of this
specific conflict. The last event causing this much controversy was the Vietnam War,
Patterson urged. However, although presently controversial, Patterson was also clear to
state that this problem is anything but new. The main problem today is that politicians
are not serving you well, everyone is too concerned with who said what, rather than what
is being said in the first place.
Co-director of the immigration clinic in the UT Law School, Denise Gilman
highlighted the legal failures of the US in handling these unaccompanied children. She
explained that the government is trying to expedite their cases and send them back to
their homelands immediately. Their cries for help are ignored. Sixty percent of these
children have valid claims for asylum, they just need the opportunity to present
themselves, and the expedited process just is not giving them that opportunity, Gilman
clarified.
Humanity is borderless, so why is our government acting on the contrary?
questioned Marlene Guerrero Chavez, founding member of the Human Rights Coalition
of South Texas. Coming from a generation of immigrants, Chavez has extra cause to be
passionate about. Her mother was forced to leave Mexico due to extreme poverty, and
once in the United States, she faced great immigrant abuse. Unable to speak the language,
frozen with ignorance and fear, Chavez recognizes the difficulties these immigrants face.
And according to Chavez there is no foreseen end in sight for this struggle, until there is
an international level of collaboration, there will not be a solution for this crisis in the
next 10 years.
One passionate audience member, Kenneth Koym, also voiced his opinion on the
need for an international consortium of higher-level education institutions. Koym had
spent time in the Peace Corps in the 1960s in addition to living 13 years in Guadalajara,
Mexico. He is no stranger to the problems, both economic and social, that force people
out of their home countries and in search of a better life. The establishment of a
consortium would encourage the cooperation of many countries and the need for change
internationally, explained Koym.
Also in the audience were representatives from a myriad of local organizations,
all with different focuses ranging from pro bono legal representation of immigrants to
humanitarian aid in detention centers, but with a common goal of advocating for the
victims of the border crisis. Dianna Tavera, with the Austin Immigrant Rights Coalition,
explained their goal to train immigrants to organize themselves and be conscious of the
need for sensible immigrant rights. There are no such thing as immigrant rights, only
human rights, argued Tavera.