Dialogue must precede change in immigration debate

Last week, UNC’s Students United for Immigrant Equality (SUIE) and Duke’s Students for Humane Borders partnered to host Immigration Awareness Week.

The events from March 12 to 18 aimed to raise awareness about Latino immigrants’ contributions to the state and the unfair policies catered to them.

Their discussions should be echoed throughout campus.

But whether poor publicity or a lack of interest from the majority of the student body was the reason, the low turnout for these talks lacked diversity.

Students shouldn’t be apathetic toward the happenings outside of their own racial communities.

Latinos account for 6.4 percent of the Chapel Hill population, and Carrboro has the highest Latino population in Orange County with 13.8 percent.

Immigrants are students, friends, family and neighbors, which means the student body should have serious conversations about the right to equal and fair treatment for Latino immigrants.

Ignoring events such as the talks during Immigration Awareness Week demonstrates serious ignorance to the problems people living within this population face in their day-to-day lives.

This country was founded by immigrants who came here in search of better life. Both they and the immigrants of today believed in the same values, namely liberty and equality. While times have drastically changed, those values have remained the same.

Events like the “Drop the ‘I’ word” campaign challenged the use of the word “illegal,” since its derogative connotation leads to the assumption that an immigrant has committed a crime.

Interestingly enough, not holding proper documents counts as a civil offense, not a crime.

The week continued with a candlelight vigil, silently speaking to the unfairness of the financial constraints placed on the shoulders of immigrants.

Currently, undocumented students can attend universities in the UNC system at the expense of out-of-state tuition and no federal or state aid, despite paying federal and state taxes like average citizens.

Vargas’ talk, along with other events, demonstrated the challenges that Latino immigrants — and others — face every day. It also discussed ways to change public attitudes on the issue of immigration.

Ending with a dinner to kickoff a scholarship for an undocumented immigrant graduating high school to pursue higher education, the week highlighted issues that directly or indirectly affect us all.

It’s upsetting to see such a low turnout and lack of diversity at an event that affects so many people in this area.

Some students at UNC are recent immigrants. Others belong to families who have lived in this country for generations.

Regardless, immigration needs to be more widely discussed on our campus. It’s an issue that has, at some point, affected us all.

It’s imperative that the UNC community educate themselves on these issues. Dialogue is one of the most important precedents to change.