Experts address immigration reforms

Seton Hall's department of communication and the arts fa­cilitated a panel discussion, "Un­derstanding the U.S. Immigration Reform Debate," on Tuesday.

Each of the panelists brought a unique perspective on both state and national immigration and the expected impact it will continue to have throughout the debate.

The panel of experts included Mayor Chris Bollwage of Eliza­beth, Assemblyman Michael Pat­rick Carroll of Morris County, Director of the Fiscal Policy In­stitute's Immigration Research Initiative David Dyssegaard Kal­lick, and International Litigation Counsel Eric Blinderman of Pros­kauer Rose. The panel discussion was inspired by the release of the "Bipartisan Framework for Com­prehensive Immigration Reform" by sens. Charles Schumer, John McCain, Dick Durbin, Lindsey Graham, Robert Menedez, Marco Rubio, Michael Bennet and Jeff Flake. The "Group of Eight," as they are now being called, has been working since January to reform the nation's current immi­gration policies.

"The goal in a session like this is to provide all of you with what is called actionable information," moderator and former New York Times correspondent and Seton Hall Writer-in-Residence Antho­ny DePalma said. "The ideas, the concepts, the arguments that you need to have so that you as citi­zens can play a part in shaping the important debate."

The panel discussed the impact immigration reform would have on various facets of American so­ciety including: jobs, crime, social security, higher education, voting and the economy.

Assemblyman Michael Car­roll began the discussion with the most current ideas concerning the work of the Group of Eight.

"One of the things you learn, certainly within the legislature, is that the devil is always in the de­tails," Carroll said.

He outlined what the basic framework for the "four basic leg­islative pillars" the group is mov­ing on.

The pillars are centered on creating a "path to citizenship for unauthorized immigrants already here that is contingent upon secur­ing the border and combating visa overstays; improving our legal immigration system and attract­ing the world's best and brightest; strong employment verification; and admitting new workers and protecting workers' rights."

The moderator opened a Q&A session after each of the panelists gave his own perspectives about the impact immigration reform would have in the United States. Students and faculty were able to ask questions on the proposal and share comments that they had the issue.

Christopher Adams can be reached christopher.adams@stu­dent.shu.edu.