Professors and New York City immigration activists crowded into the Sheraton Hotel on Thursday, January 3, to listen to six activist scholars discuss the responses of local governments and community groups to the flow of immigrants into the country. Presenters included:

• Raquel Aldana, William S. Boyd School of Law, University of Nevada, Law Vegas: Local Ordinances: Local Measures Criminalizing Immigrants and Those Who Associate With Them
• Steven Bender, University of Oregon School of Law: Localized Attacks on Undocumented Immigrants Grounded in Property Law
• Leticia Saucedo, William S. Boyd School of Law, University of Nevada, Las Vegas: A New “U”: Organizing Victims and Protecting Immigrant Workers
• Bill Hing, University of Davis School of Law: Recognizing the Human Side of Immigration: The San Francisco Identity Card Ordinance
• Ruben Garcia, California Western School of Law: The View from San Diego: Local Immigration Enforcement and Emergency Response
• Sameer M. Ashar, CUNY, Immigrant & Refugee Rights Clinic: Legal/Community Organizing in Response to Immigration Raids in New York

Fred Nguyen, Reporter for WBAI, Pacifica Radio, recorded the program, portions of which were broadcasted on the Sunday News and Wake Up Call. Links to the broadcasts are provided after the lead to the program segments.

Sunday News: Nearly two years ago millions took to the streets in United States cities to oppose anti-immigrant legislation in front of Congress. The protests effectively stopped federal immigration reform.

As the 2008 Presidential campaign heats up, the candidates have so far mostly been talking tough on immigration, in a political climate of widespread repression against the twelve million undocumented residents who are seeking legal status.

This past Thursday in Midtown Manhattan, the Society of American Law Teachers gathered a panel of academic experts from around the country to share their experience and views in a discussion entitled "Humanizing Immigration."

Click here to get to the website where the program is stored. Then choose file: Jan 17, 2008 450-1-20080117-HumanizingImmigration.mp3 3.3 MB, 3 min. 35 sec.

For a longer segment from the Cover Workshop, aired on Wake Up Call, featuring Raquel Aldana, Bill Hing, and Sameer Ashar, choose file: Jan 17, 2008 450-1-20080117-ImmigrationLaw-15minseg.mp3.

To listen to the entire Cover Workshop, choose file: Jan. 17, 2008 450-1-20080117-ImmigrationLaw-64kbps.mp3, 1 hour, 58 mins.