Immigrant Ohio 2018 focuses on undocumented immigrants 

Undocumented immigrants are a common topic in the news these days. Bowling Green State University will address some of the issues during the third annual Immigrant Ohio symposium, from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Nov. 13 in 228 Bowen-Thompson Student Union.

“Living in the Shadows: Undocumented Lives and Labor” is the theme this year for the event, which is free and open to the public.

“Migrant Workers in Ohio: A Brief History” starts the morning session at 9:30 a.m. Presenters include Luis Moreno, a lecturer in BGSU’s Department of Ethnic Studies; Maria Goeser of Jobs and Family Services, Ohio; and Michelle Sweetser and Megan Goins-Diouof of the BGSU Center for Archival Collections.

The panelists for the 10:45 a.m. session, “Ohio’s Economy and Migrant Workers," are Jack Irvin, Ohio Farm Bureau Federation; Sandy Munley, Ohio Landscapers Assoc.; Janet Quaintance (Sandusky County) and Mary DeWittt (Wood County), both of Ohio Means Jobs, Jobs and Family Services.

The afternoon sessions focus on community perspectives, legal perspectives and local and national perspectives “After the ICE Raids.” The 1 p.m. session focusing on community perspectives features Francisco Carillo, pastoral associate from St. Paul’s Catholic Church; Natalia Alonso, a Fremont-area teen who started  Los Niños de Corsos, a grassroots campaign to help children of workers arrested in the ICE raid at Corso’s Flower and Garden Center in Castalia; Jimmy Rodriquez of Willard, Ohio, whose father was one of the individuals detained after the Corso’s ICE raid; and Victor Leandry, executive director of El Centro of Lorain, Ohio.

The legal perspectives “After the ICE Raids” begins at 2 p.m. Panelists include Lynn Tramonte, founder and director of Ohio Immigrant Alliance; Theresa Miller, a representative from U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur’s office (Ohio’s 9th District); and Eugenio Mollo, managing attorney for the agricultural worker and immigrant rights practice group with Advocates for Basic Legal Equality Inc. (ABLE).  

As part of the local and national perspectives, Linda Lander and Amanda Schackow will present “Solidarity at Work: The La Conexion Solidarity Committee" at 3 p.m. Carmen Alvarez, a lecturer in BGSU's Department of World Languages and Cultures, and Michaela Django Walsh, an assistant professor in BGSU's ethnic studies department, are also part of the 3 p.m. panel, discussing “Questioning U.S.-born Latino Citizenship” and “En/forced Exile and Migrant Be-longing in President Trump’s America.”  

The final session for the day will be an introduction to the Migrant Quilt Project. Jody Ipsen, founder of the project, will present “Dispatches from the Desert and the Immigrant Equation” at 4 p.m., followed by curator Peggy Hazard, who will address “The Migrant Quilt Project History and Practice.”

At 5:15, participants are invited to the official opening reception of the Migrant Quilt Project at Jerome Library, where the exhibition will be on display through Dec. 7 in the Ray and Pat Browne Popular Culture Library and the Center for Archival Collections.  

Symposium sponsors include the Department of Ethnic Studies, School of Cultural and Critical Studies, Stoddard O'Neill Fund, College of Arts and Sciences, Jerome Library, Family and Consumer Sciences, AAUW and World Languages and Cultures.   

Guests with disabilities are requested to indicate if they need special services, assistance or appropriate modifications to fully participate in this event by contacting Accessibility Services at access@bgsu.edu or 419-372-8495 prior to the event.