Activities help relate immigrant experience

by Kate Ashton

April 14, 2006 | Daily Herald | Provo, Utah

Dodging the debate of illegal and legal immigration, Utah County residents came together Thursday night to look beyond politics and discuss how immigration affects the community.

Community members, high school and college students and anyone with a question about immigration roamed the front foyer of the Provo City Library looking at various displays highlighting issues immigrants are dealing with on a day-to-day basis.

Organized with the help of BYU students and Independence High School students, Joan Dixon, director of the Center for Economic Self-Reliance at Brigham Young University, opened a forum for discussion without a confrontational setting a debate might have created.

Immigration is a multi-faceted problem, Dixon said, "it's not just about building a wall and asking for ID cards."

The interactive event featured games symbolizing the barriers immigrants feel in the health care industry, a paper-covered table for people to write down their thoughts, a timeline documenting the immigration history of Utah County and a room where residents could listen to immigrant's stories about moving to Provo.

Steve Pfost, a BYU student, said he spoke with a girl, as part of this project, who immigrated to the U.S. from Russia. The girl grew up in an abusive home and was finally taken into foster care in Russia. An American family adopted her and her four sisters and brought them to the United States.

Realizing there isn't a clear reason for why people choose to make the U.S. their next home, Pfost said he has learned two things through this project.

"People have immigrated for a million different reasons," he said, and this project, talking to people about their stories, has "had a humanizing affect."

Putting a face to a complex issue helps people relate.

Nimbe Garrido's views mirror that of Pfost's. As an immigrant from Mexico, the 27-year-old said gatherings such as this allow people to branch out and meet new people from different backgrounds.

"Sometimes the American people don't know about our stories," said Garrido, who immigrated to Utah to be with her mother.

Preparation for the event -- providing a forum for more than 50 people to come together and discuss immigration -- didn't happen in one afternoon. Dixon has been conducting a series of study groups, bringing a small community group together in two locations -- a Spanish and an English speaking session -- to briefly study the array of issues immigration discussions bring up.

Maria O'Brien, who attended Dixon's study sessions, said this event, a culmination of their discussions, is a positive thing for the community -- especially the involvement of younger students.

"It's good to see so many young people here," she said. "There's hope with the young people."

Throughout the evening, people meandered from one discussion group to the next, and passionate responses began slowly releasing in a non-confrontational matter. Congressional candidate John Jacob said he came to learn about immigration through public discussion, but said he felt the event was one-sided -- pro illegal immigration.

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