Rutgers Constitution Day Program Will Debate Immigration and Access to Higher Education

Rutgers University, Newark, will examine issues of immigration and the effect on access to higher education for undocumented students at its eighth annual Constitution Day Program on Sept. 19.   Specifically, the debate topic will be “Whether the newly minted “deferred action” for immigrants who would qualify for deportation relief under Executive Order should include a corresponding right to establish legal residency under state law in order to apply for financial aid and to pay in-state tuition.

The program, which is free and open to the public, takes place from 2:30 p.m. – 1 p.m. in the Rutgers Center for Law and Justice, 123 Washington St., Newark, in the Nathan Baker Trial Courtroom. The program will start with arguments pro and con presented by the Rutgers Newark collegiate debate team (which recently placed 25^th in the nation in forensic debate, beating Harvard and Cornell), followed by a respondents’ panel, including invited guests: Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll, Alex Shalom (ACLU), Jackie Vimo (New York Immigration Coalition), immigration law attorney Masiel Valentin, and Iván Espinoza-Madrigal (Lambda Legal). 

An audience Q & A will follow; Rutgers School of Law-Newark Vice Dean and Clinical Professor Ronald Chen, former New Jersey Public Advocate and ACLU Board member, will serve as moderator. (Program follows; bios available upon request.)

The first 100 attendees will receive a free copy of the U.S. Constitution in honor of the 225th anniversary of the document’s signing.

Constitution Day is an American federal observance that recognizes the completion of the drafting of the United States Constitution in 1787. The Constitution was adopted when New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify the document the following year. The federal law establishing Constitution Day was created in 2004; previously it was known as "Citizenship Day." 

 For more information on the Rutgers program: Carla Capizzi, 973/353-5263, or email: capizzi@rutgers.edu.

8TH ANNUAL CONSTITUTION DAY PROGRAM

WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 19, 2012, 2:30 p.m.

QUERY: whether the newly minted “deferred action” for immigrants who would qualify for deportation relief under Executive Order should include a corresponding right to establish legal residency under state law in order to apply for financial aid and to pay in-state tuition.

Opening                                             Marcia Brown, Vice Chancellor

                                                            Office of Student and Community Affairs

Welcome                                            Phil Yeagle, Interim Chancellor                                        

Moderator                                          Ron Chen, Professor of Law

Judge Frederick Lacey Scholar

Debate Presentation                          Rutgers Newark Collegiate Debate Team

Respondents Panel              

Audience Q & A