Among the panelists are academics, a conservative journalist and a Dreamer.
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) has become a major immigration topic in recent months as President Donald Trump seeks to end the legal protections it provides for people who, as minors, were brought into the United States, or remained here, unlawfully. And as DACA heats up on the national stage, it's getting more attention close to home.
Texas Tech University's Literature, Social Justice and Environment (LSJE) program, part of the Department of English, with support from the Humanities Center, will host a roundtable discussion with four featured panelists entitled “Tensions Rising: DACA, Dreamers and the Face of America” at 7 p.m. April 18 in the English building, room 001.
“The fate of DACA, the lives of Dreamers and what the face of America will look like as we move further into the 21st century are among the most profoundly important questions facing this nation of immigrants today,” said Sara Spurgeon, a professor in the Department of English and LSJE program director. “This issue, with all its moral, legal and racial implications, will literally define the country we live in for generations to come. That is why it is both contentious and mandatory that all our voices be heard. The future is watching what we decide today.”
Featured panelists
Lee Bebout is an associate professor in the Arizona State University Institute for Humanities Research, affiliated with the School of Transborder Studies and the Program in American Studies. He is the author of “Whiteness on the Border: Mapping the U.S. Racial Imagination in Brown and White” (2016) and “Mythohistorical Interventions: The Chicano Movement and Its Legacies” (2011). Bebout has received national recognition and notoriety for his courses on race, ethnicity and whiteness in America.
Brandon Darby is the managing director for Breitbart Texas, a conservative news and opinion website. He is a strong proponent of the Tea Party and travels the United States as a public speaker, promoting conservative politics. Darby appeared in “Occupy Unmasked,” a 2012 documentary film that aimed to present evidence that the Occupy Wall Street movement is violent, and was organized with the purpose of destroying the American government. He is the subject of a 2012 documentary film, “Informant,” and is featured in the 2011 documentary film “Better This World.”
Jorge Ramírez is the Walter and Anne Huffman Professor of Law in the Texas Tech School of Law where he managed the international programs from 2000 to 2016 and served as associate dean for international programs from 2012 to 2016. Ramírez was elected as a Life Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation in 2017, one of the highest honors bestowed upon a member of the State Bar of Texas, and is a past recipient of the Chancellor's Council Distinguished Teaching Award.
Saba Nafees is a doctoral student in mathematical biology and was a Texas Tech University Innovation Fellow in 2017. Nafees is working to implement a business plan that won her team of Texas Tech students first place at the inaugural Tibetan Innovation Challenge. Nafees is a Dreamer and her interview, “I'm a ‘dreamer.' One day, I hope my country calls me an American,” appeared in the Washington Post.
The event is free and open to the public. Opening remarks will be presented by Texas Tech President Lawrence Schovanec.
