Berkeley Forum Tonight to Focus on Immigration Reform

By Bay City News Service

A community forum on immigration in Berkeley tonight, Thursday, will feature fourth graders, including a boy who wasn't allowed to return from a visit to Mexico, three Latino elected officials and a labor leader.

Organizers said this year's Cesar Chavez Commemoration is focused on immigration and President Obama's proposal for comprehensive immigration reform. They said the issue is particularly important now because thousands of people and families are being deported every year.

Among those who will participate in the event is 9-year-old Rodrigo Guzman, a fourth grader at Jefferson Elementary School in Berkeley who has lived in the city since he was two but wasn't allowed to return to the U.S. in January after his family had visited Mexico over the holidays.

Rodrigo's family was told by federal authorities that they couldn't return to the U.S. because the parents' visas had expired, according to Berkeley City Councilman Kriss Worthington. The family was told that they couldn't re-apply for a visa for five years and they were sent back to the Mexico City area, Worthington said.

Rodrigo won't be at the forum tonight but he will participate via Skype.

The Berkeley City Council voted unanimously at a meeting three weeks ago to approve a resolution that calls on President Obama, U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, and U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., to support the return of Rodrigo and his family. Rodrigo also participated in that meeting via Skype.

His fellow elementary school students will raise funds at tonight's event so they can travel to Washington, D.C., to lobby officials to work on Rodrigo's case and for immigration reform.

The Latino elected officials who will speak at the meeting are Alejandro Soto Vigil of the Berkeley Rent Board, City Councilman Jesse Arreguin and school board member Beatriz Leyva-Cutler.

Also speaking will be Maria Echaveste, a former White House deputy chief of staff on federal immigration policy reform.

In addition, there will be food and live music.

The event is co-sponsored by the Alameda County Central Labor Council and the Bay Area Hispanic Institute for Advancement.

It will start at 7 p.m. and will be held at the Berkeley Adult School at 1701 San Pablo Ave. in Berkeley.

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