students 'lobby' for firsthand look at immigration policy reform

On Thursday, March 23, Rachel Adler, chair of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, accompanied three sociology majors in her Ethnicity, Race, and Nation course on a sojourn to Washington, DC, where they participated in the American Immigration Lawyers Association’s “lobby day” on Capitol Hill.

First-year student Johanna Calle and sophomore students Johanna Soto and Angel Hernández met with staffers for Senators Frank Lautenberg, Robert Menendez and Arlin Specter as well as other representatives from southern New Jersey to discuss comprehensive immigration reform. This issue has been a hot topic of recent media debate.

“The students who went to Washington were able to get a firsthand look at how the legislative branch of government works,” said Adler. “Furthermore, they found out that they could actually participate in their own government.”

The students, all from immigrant backgrounds, reported that they had an amazing and unforgettable experience on Capitol Hill. But most important, it was extremely informative.

"The fact that I know what comprehensive immigration reform means is a result of this trip," said Calle. "I cannot tell you how truly amazing this experience was for someone who absolutely loves activism and policy reform."

Spending nearly the entire day in appointments with Congressional and Senate staffers, the students not only had the opportunity to learn the nuances of the proposed bills, but they also had the chance to vocalize their own personal opinions on the subject of immigration reform.

"We made it a point to give the staffers a civilian view of the magnitude of the immigration issue in our communities," said Calle. "We are all students from New Jersey and we had stories about how immigration has affected our lives."

Hernández shared one such story. When he was 16 years old, he worked at McDonald’s. It was there he had the opportunity to work with many undocumented citizens. He reports that he still remembers an 18-year-old female coworker who pulled him aside and said, ‘You have the world at your fingertips! You will go to college and make something of yourself. Me, I’ll probably still be here.’ Recently, he returned to that same McDonald’s and the employee was still there.

"I can’t understand why anyone would want such injustices to continue," Hernández said.

Calle remarked, “This whole issue impacts how our society works—the social classes, poverty, discrimination…This trip not only educated me about how we can apply what we learned in the classroom, but also reiterated to me that this is what I want to do for the rest of my life, and that I made a good choice when it came to my major.”

Adler’s hope for the future is to include an advocacy piece to all of her courses.

"Not only would I like to take more students to Washington, but I envision developing an advocacy clinic where we can train students how to advocate for social change," said Adler. "There are so many topics in anthropology and sociology that can be extended to advocacy. It is a brave step to take in the ivory tower world of academe, but based on the liberal learning goals of the College, it is obviously something that TCNJ embraces. I feel fortunate to be a part of this courageous endeavor."

The group was invited to attend by AILA organizer Ryan Stark Lilienthal, an immigration attorney in Princeton. The trip was made possible by the support of the dean of the School of Culture and Society, the director of Liberal Learning, the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, and AILA.