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Immigration Study

Immigration Study Resources

The League of Women Voters US has put together an comprehensive group of resources on immigration. Instead of compiling our own, please visit LWVUS Immigration Resources.

Immigration Study Meeting

Saturday, November 17, 2007 at 10:30am

Join the 2007 League of Women Voters of Philadelphia Immigration Study

It isn't often that the National League embarks on a study to create a new national position on an important issue. When such a study is undertaken, as a big city League, it is important that we be included, and fortunately, the National League has invited local Leagues to participate in a national study of immigration policies. Since immigration is such a hot topic in Philadelphia, the Philadelphia League encourages our members to participate in this examination of United States’ immigration policies.

The decision to study the issue of immigration was made by the National League at the 2006 LWVUS Convention. If at least sixty local Leagues take part in this study and answer the consensus questions formulated by LWVUS, the organization can then present a national position on immigration. All Leagues are asked to finish their studies by the beginning of 2008.

Briefing papers on immigration have been prepared for local Leagues and can be found in the National Voter’s June and October Issues. The first two papers are in the June 2007 issue of the National Voter, and the third and fourth papers are in the October 2007 National Voter. You can also read these briefing papers on the website of the League of Women Voters of the United States at www.lwv.org . The National Voter archives are found in the “Library” Section.

The next step for us, locally, is to have a meeting with experts on immigration in the Philadelphia region on, Saturday, October 27th, at 10:00AM at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. The meeting will be held at Silverman Hall, which is at 34th and Sansom. (Enter on Sansom Street, directly across from LaTerrasse restaurant.) Following this presentation, everyone is invited to join fellow League members for lunch (self-pay) at the White Dog Café. The Café is just across the street from Silverman Hall.

After the October presentation there will be a follow-up meeting. At that time, we will discuss and then answer the consensus questions formulated by the national League. Consensus involves coming to nearly complete agreement on answers to the questions the national League has posed. We will discuss these questions until we are satisfied that we have come to an agreement or otherwise decide that we cannot come to a consensus on a particular question. Agreement in this case has to be more than just a bare majority vote to be considered consensus. We will then submit our responses to the questions to national League, where a position will be formulated, after considering all responses of the participating local Leagues.

This kind of consideration of issues is key to all the final policy positions taken, whether it be at the local, state, or national level. Immigration policy is basically a federal responsibility, which is why the study is being done by the national League. This is an invaluable opportunity to participate in the national dialogue about a very current topic. Do become a part of this interesting process. We need your participation.

Please let us know if you will join in the study by e-mailing or calling Kay McKenna at kayomck@aol.com or 215-474-7660. The deadline to register for the October 27 th meeting and optional lunch is Wednesday, October 24 th. In order to be admitted on the 27 th, we must have the names for all attendees by the 24 th. We look forward to being part of this valuable study.