Tag: Rinku Sen

After the Crossing: US Immigration Policy

Tomorrow at 7pm in Heller School, there will be a very interesting debate about US immigration policy. The event, hosted by Heller’s Immigration Working Group, will include Steven Camarota of the Center for Immigration Studies and Rinku Sen, Executive Director of The Applied Research Center.

Fairly innocuos organizations, right? Wrong.

According to a report by the Southern Poverty Law Center (if you are interested in reading the report, email me), the Center for Immigration Studies was founded by a white supremacist named John Tanton, who also founded NumbersUSA and Federation for American Immigration Reform, in order to crank out reports and statistics that blame immigration and immigrants for America’s problems. Tanton is not just another a right-wing nutcase like Rush Limbaugh or Newt Gingrich.  This guy has been associating himself with Holocaust deniers and members of the KKK for a long time. CIS calls itself independent but it is not. It is a think tank of the nativist lobby in the US.

Should Steven Camarota and others from groups like the CIS be allowed to come speak at Brandeis? Yes. Should they be allowed to leave without being forced to explain their words and writings? No.

Rest assured, Camarota will come here tomorrow night not about to say anything even slightly racist, because he knows his audience. He’s coming in the hope that he will be able to make the extremist, nativist point of view sound knowledgable and intellectual. Luckily, as Brandeis students, we know better than to accept his bullshit.

Come to this debate of US immigration policy, tomorrow, Wednesday night at 7pm in Heller School’s Zinner Forum, but first do your research so you can ask Camarota to explain his xenophobic and racist writings, and make him rethink his anti-immigrant stance.

Immigration, orthodoxy and homosexuality

Full Disclosure: As part of Heller School’s Immigration Working Group, I helped organize one of Wednesday’s events.

Tuesday:

As usual, we have the Sex and Sexuality Symposium, Brandeis Labor Coalition, Students for a Sensible Drug Policy and Democracy for America weekly meetings, as well as Brandeis Open Mic Series.

Wednesday:

One of many events this month in the Disabilities Series of March Events, at 6:30pm Dr. Ticchi of Legal Sea Foods will speak about the social and professional treatment of people with disabilities.

At 7pm in Heller will be, After the Crossing: Implications of Alternative Policy Responses to Illegal Immigration, a debate between Steven Camarota of the Center for Immigration Studies and Rinku Sen of the Applied Research Center, moderated by Paul Solman of WGBH.

From 9-12, Students Organized Against Racism will hold their Second Annual Racism Arts Project in Chums.

AHORA!, MLK and Friends, Student Global AIDS Campaign, and Students for Environmental Action weekly meetings.

Thursday:

At 3pm, Affecting the Political: An Assessment of the ‘Emotional Turn’ in the Study of Social Movements will happen in Pearlman Lounge.

At 7pm the Democratic State Committee will hold a Platform Committee Hearing in Waltham at 119 School St.

There will be a special Radical Film Night this week, at 8pm, when Brandeis Labor Coalition will present Made in L.A., a film about worker’s fighting for their rights in the garment sweatshops of Los Angeles.

Also, Student Peace Action, Triskelion and Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance meetings.

Friday:

At noon, Peace Vigil, outside of Usdan.

At 8:30, the first of four events this weekend called, A Unique Perspective on Judaism and Homosexuality: A weekend with Rabbi Steven Greenberg. At this one, Rabbi Greenberg will share his personal life story of being the first openly gay Orthodox rabbi.

Saturday:

Rabbi Greenberg’s second event, at 1:30, will be a colloquium on homosexuality in religious tradition with Rabbi Greenberg, Father Walter Cuenin (Catholic chaplain) and Professor James Mandrell (of WGS).

Later in the afternoon at 4:30pm, you will have the opportunity to study with Rabbi Greenberg to see his perspective on what Jewish texts have to say about homosexuality.

Finally, at 8:30pm, Rabbi Greenberg will screen the movie Trembling Before G-d, a film about Judaism and homosexuality, which features Rabbi Greenberg. The film screening will be followed by an open discussion.

PACHANGA!