UCF Immigration Forum to Feature Senator Martinez, Mexican Undersecretary

By Chad Binette Sept. 29, 2006

Photo: Courtesy of U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez

U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., will be one of the speakers at the Lou Frey Institute for Politics and Government symposium on immigration.

Full Photo

From tightening security on the U.S.-Mexican border to allowing illegal immigrants already in the United States to become guest workers, many issues surrounding immigration have divided political, business and religious leaders and local activists for years.

On Monday, Oct. 9, U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., and a high-level Mexican official who oversees immigration issues will participate in a daylong symposium at the University of Central Florida that will explore those issues and pose questions about whether enough common ground can be found to develop effective solutions.

Martinez and Undersecretary Gerónimo Gutiérrez of the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs will be joined by syndicated newspaper columnists Cal Thomas and Bob Beckel at the symposium hosted by the Lou Frey Institute for Politics and Government.

The symposium, which is free and open to the public, will be in the Pegasus Ballroom of the Student Union. The morning session will begin at 9:30 a.m., and the evening session featuring Thomas and Beckel will start at 7 p.m.

“U.S. Immigration Policy: Open Borders or Closed Doors?” will be held at a time when President Bush and the U.S. Congress are trying to resolve their differences on proposed immigration policies while communities such as Avon Park, Fla., debate whether to enact their own local ordinances about immigration.

“Immigration is an issue I dealt with when I was in Congress in the 1970s; it’s not new, but unfortunately there’s no consensus in the country or the Congress,” said Lou Frey, founder of the Lou Frey Institute and a Republican congressman who represented Central Florida from 1969 to 1979. “The intelligent, compassionate discussion of this issue by people with various backgrounds and viewpoints may help in finding a consensus.”

Martinez, who arrived in the United States as a Cuban refugee at age 15, will participate on a panel about the personal perspectives of immigration at 10:30 a.m. He will be joined by former U.S. Rep. Romano L. Mazzoli, a Democrat from Lexington, Ky., whose father emigrated from Italy to the United States.

In 1986, Mazzoli sponsored the Simpson-Mazzoli bill, a key piece of immigration policy legislation that called for increased security along the Mexican border, a temporary worker program for agricultural workers and a legalization option for some undocumented immigrants.

Gutiérrez will give the symposium’s morning keynote address at 11:30 a.m. Bishop Thomas Wenski of the Catholic Diocese of Orlando will speak on a panel at 2:30 p.m. on the practical aspects of immigration policy. He will be joined by David Harris, a former intelligence official with the Canadian government.

The symposium will begin at 9:30 a.m. with a panel on congressional views of immigration featuring U.S. Reps. Tom Feeney, R-Oviedo, and Ric Keller, R-Orlando. They will be joined by Chester Glover, an aide to U.S. Rep. Corinne Brown, D-Jacksonville.

The Lou Frey Institute for Politics and Government, which was founded in 2002, is a nonpartisan organization that promotes civic education for students and other Central Florida residents.

Students from several area schools will attend the symposium, and more than 1,000 students from schools around the state are expected to watch portions of the symposium on a live Internet broadcast.

In addition to the Lou Frey Institute, sponsors of the symposium include the UCF Global Perspectives Office; Fifth Third Bank; Lowndes, Drosdick, Doster, Kantor and Reed; the Orlando Sentinel; and the Global Connections Foundation. 

For more information and a full symposium schedule, go to www.loufrey.org .

Schedule of symposium speakers:

9:30 a.m. “Immigration Policy: Views from the Congress.” Panelists: U.S. Reps. Tom Feeney, R-Oviedo, and Ric Keller, R-Orlando, and Chester Glover, an aide to U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown, D-Jacksonville.

10:30 a.m. “A Personal Perspective: From Both Sides of the Aisle.” Panelists: U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., and former U.S. Rep. Romano L. Mazzoli, D-Ky. (1971-1995).

11:30 a.m. “Daytime Keynote Address” by Gerónimo Gutiérrez, undersecretary for North America, Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

1:30 p.m. “Historical Perspectives on Immigration.” Panelists: Noah Pickus, associate director of Duke University’s Kenan Institute of Ethics, and Dennis Clare, an immigration attorney from Lexington, Ky.

2:30 p.m. “The Practical Aspects of Immigration Policy.” Panelists: Bishop Thomas Wenski of the Catholic Diocese of Orlando, and David Harris, a former Canadian intelligence official who now directs Insignis Strategic Research in Ottawa.

7 p.m. “Immigration Policy: Is There Any Common Ground?” Keynote addresses by Cal Thomas and Bob Beckel, syndicated columnists with USA Today.

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