N.C. discussion series focuses on immigration

We here at the Institute for Southern Studies are among the co-sponsors of a discussion series on immigration taking place in Chapel Hill, N.C. This Sunday brings the series' second session, focusing on economics and immigration. It will aim to address the hard questions of why are immigrants here, are they depressing wages, and are they taking jobs from non-immigrants?

The event begins at 4 p.m. at UNC's FedEx Global Education Center with a showing of the documentary "Morristown: in the Air and Sun." Filmed over an eight-year period in the mountains of east Tennessee and in Mexico, it features immigrants speaking about their lives and work. The film will be followed by a discussion facilitated by Dani Martinez-Moore with the N.C. Justice Center, another series co-sponsor.

The other sponsors are the Chapel Hill Institute for Cultural and Language Education, UNC-Chapel Hill's Institute for the Studies of the Americas, the ACLU of North Carolina, Orange County Latino Issues Committee, Chapel Hill/Carrboro CITCA, El Centro Latino, El Pueblo, N.C. Council of Churches, Radio Pa'lante, Student Action With Farmworkers, and the UNC School of Law Immigration/Human Rights Policy Clinic.

(ADDENDUM: Folks interested in attending this discussion might also be interested in another conference taking place at UNC-Chapel Hill this Sunday and Monday. Titled "Beyond the Sunbelt: Southern Economic Development in a Global Context," it will focus on the globalization of the southern United States.)