On May 10, there was an open-forum held in regarding the controversial immigration bill that has caused much a stir among immigrants, especially those of Latin descent.

The forum was held in room 2306, between 2 to 4 p.m., and was hosted by Dr. Masao Suzuki, professor of Economics. Ironically, the large room did not coincide with the amount of guests that were in attendance, amounting to no more than twelve people at one time. However, the small presence in the room did not denote the importance of the meeting in which Dr. Suzuki’s presentation covered a wide array of aspects, including HR 4377.

“The bill that was passed last fall would basically criminalize the undocumented in this country,” said Suzuki. “Another aspect of the bill is a proposal to increase border security by extending a fence along the Mexican border, or wall, about 700 miles. My own personal opinion is that that’s not going to stop undocumented immigration, it would either make immigrants from Mexico even more likely to just stay here. Once they do manage to get in, and I think you’ll find that you may end up with more immigration from other countries.”

Throughout his presentation, Dr. Suzuki offered his insight upon numerous subtopics about immigration, such as health care, education, jobs, social security, and population. After he was done, Dr. Suzuki allowed for the attendees to ask questions and provide their opinions upon the matter.

“Students should try and become more informed about what immigration is, the different bills in Congress, and to educate themselves on the big issues, which are legalization v. criminalization, and the border security and guest worker program,” Suzuki said, referring to what students’ stance should be on the issue. “I would urge students to not use the protest to take a day off from school. If you’re going to take the day off from school, you should go to one of the events and learn about it.”