Enrique Morones comes to talk immigration, importance
Not only does Hispanic Heritage Month celebrate and showcase culture through dancing, food and fun, it also provides the chance to highlight some of the pressing issues in the Latino/Hispanic community.
Humanitarian and activist Enrique Morones is coming Wednesday night to talk in Baker University Center Theater about pressing matters in immigration today and why young people should be concerned and informed.
Almost 30 years ago, Morones founded Border Angels, a non-profit organization that attempts to stop the deaths caused by traveling across the border through the extremes of the Imperial Valley desert and the San Diego mountains.
“It’s a guarantee the majority of this audience I’m coming to talk with is not Native American. Back then, there was no legal or illegal in this country,” Morones said. “There’s a great saying, ‘Before we were us, we were them,’ and several generations ago, we all came from somewhere besides America.”
With President Barack Obama’s announcements earlier this month to push immigration reform back until after the midterm election, Winsome Chunnu-Brayda, associate director of the Multicultural Center, said this talk couldn’t be more timely.
Obama has been trying to get immigration on his domestic policy for a long time, said Chunnu-Brayda. And now the public is learning about these thousands of children coming over and the way in which they are kept. The students should be educated with these issues concerning domestic policy.
“Our theme for this year corresponds with this idea, for the legacy of history Hispanics uphold is far reaching,” Chunnu-Brayda said. “This debate on immigration and our unknown outcome is and will become a part of our history in which we will look back on. We’re living it.”
Morones said he stresses that this shouldn’t just be a concern with states that are situated close to the border. Many of these immigrants aren’t staying in San Diego, but are coming to states like Ohio for work.
“Hispanics are the fastest growing community in America right now. People need to realize that and embrace the change,” Morones said. “If these were Canadians trying to come over to the border, this wouldn’t be happening. Families are fed up with the violence. Love overcomes hate, and we need to show the world that these just can’t be words but action.”
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