Cooper Johnson

Whether on the left or the right side of political opinion, most just want some form of resolution from the government, according to the organizers and opposers of last month’s Immigration Forum.

The Immigration Forum, held November 19 at UNR’s Joe Crowley Student Union consisted of Minuteman founder and controversial conservative, Jim Gilchrist, who thinks the borders should be more strictly enforced. The counter was Miguel Angel Acosta, an immigrant rights activist, member of Somos Un Pueblo Unido, the Co-Director of the Sante Fe Partnership for the Communities and Schools and a Principal Associate at the Center for Relational Learning.

The Forum was moderated by UNLV law student Trevor Hartzell.

ASUN’s Flipside Productions was responsible for putting on the event and Nicholas Blevins, a junior political science major and the Contemporary Issues Chair for Flipside, created the idea sometime back in May.

Blevins’ said that the purpose of the event was primarily to get conversation started in northern Nevada.

He is also pro-immigration and heavily supports the Dream Act, wherein illegal immigrants can be granted citizenship through various means. However, he wanted to ensure that there would be fair discussion from both sides.

“It’s really important to Nevada … and the entire nation,” he said. “It’s a policy issue and a human rights issue.”

Director of Student Activities Sandra Rodriguez, was asked by Blevins to assist him in ensuring that the event got done. Rodriguez was responsible for advising the student’s decisions.

“None of the people that we were working with believed that this issue would become as controversial as it did,” Rodriguez said.

She and the other event organizers thought that the controversy would be more about immigration than the people involved. Unfortunately, the Forum started a lot of debate among the community not only for its subject, but even more for its speakers.

Gilchrist has been a controversial speaker in past events and has claimed by his opposition to have used hate speech in his arguments.

During an event involving Gilchrist at Columbia University in late 2006, a group of students rushed the stage with signs, making national news.

“No one is ever illegal,” one student’s sign said, according to the New York Sun website.

Leissan Sadykova, a sophomore triple major in international affairs, economics and French as well as the Multi-Cultural / Diversity Club Commissioner, doesn’t personally agree with Gilchrist’s points of view. She is also an immigrant from Russia.

“I just don’t like violence,” she said in regards to some of Gilchrist and his Minutemen’s views. “The stuff he says about being an immigrant jut makes me mad.”

Sadykova, as the diversity commissioner, received many angry emails from various people who did not want Gilchrist to speak on campus. All of which she forwarded to Blevins.

“We received many letters expressing concerns or support for the event from community members,” said Director of Programming for ASUN Casey Stiteler, a junior political science major.

The Nevada ACLU, however, largely supported Gilchrist’s opportunity to speak on campus. This support helped solidify what the Forum was trying to accomplish, according to Stiteler.

“[Gilchrist] is very good at saying things that get people excited,” he said.

Stiteler is responsible for overseeing the rest of Flipside along with the budget and structure of events. He also escorted both Gilchrist and Acosta throughout the event and got to know the both of them well and thought they were both very friendly.

“Both individuals struck me as highly intelligent,” he said. “Neither was nearly as abrasive as they’ve been made out to be.”

Despite all of this controversy and the high amount of safety precautions that had been implemented for the event, the Forum occurred smoothly without a single problem or even a single argument.

“I think the Forum surprised people,” Stiteler said. “I think people showed up expecting a brawl, and that’s not what occurred.”

Gilchrist primarily discussed how the rules of law should be blind and that every person should be expected to follow them, while Acosta focused on the the importance of being an immigrant nation and allowing the equal treatment of everyone.

The two contrasting parties even began to agree with one another on many different topics. Both could agree on how the problem started and how it could be solved. Both were saying that the American government needed to reform the laws of immigration.

“It’s amazing that two people who are literally on either side of the fence can agree on so many topics,” Stiteler said.

Rodriguez said that a lot of American’s are confused about the subject of immigration, but they just want reform. She said that this was the side of the debate that she is one.

“When we set out to do this event, it was to address the fact that the system is broken,” she said.

The American government puts millions of dollars into a system that doesn’t, according to Rodriguez. There needs to be a way to fix the problem so that everybody is happy.

Watch a summary of the Immigration Forum: