El Paso Border Conference Agenda

November 28, 2007

Building a New Vision of the Border
November 29th and 30, 2007
Camino Real Hotel
El Paso Texas

Day 1
Thursday, November 29th, 2007
8:30am On site registration. Continental Breakfast will be served
10:00       Opening Remarks Task Force Co-chairs of the US/Mexico Task Force (Jose Rodriguez and Manny Ruiz)
10:10       Welcome by Mayor Cook of the City of El Paso
10:15       Statement by Congressman Silvestre Reyes (By Video Projection)
10:20       Setting Up the Mood of the Conference
10:30       Specific Objectives of the Conference and Agenda Overview (Fernando Garcia -BNHR, Jennifer Allen – BAN, Conference Moderators)
Morning Session: Setting the Context – Root Causes of Immigration and History of Border Policy)
11:00 Panel 1. Root Causes of Migration. This panel will be comprised of practitioners, historians and policy analysts that highlight the global and national policies and trends that contribute to the push-pull factors of migration to the United States.
Moderator:    Neil Harvey, New Mexico State University
Panelists: Oscar Chacon, Director of the National Alliance of Latin-American and Caribbean Communities (NALACC)
            Sister Kathleen Erickson, Sisters of Mercy
            Delle McCormick, Director of Borderlinks
            Erica Dahl-Bredine, Catholic Relief Services

12:00       Trailer on Migrant Deaths at the US/Mexico Border. Produce by John Carlos Frey (Gatekeeper Productions)
12:05       Break
12:30       Lunch
12:50          Key Note Presentation on History of Border and Immigration Policy (Professor Bill Hing, UC Davis California). Lunch Continues
1:15       Break
Afternoon Session:    What is the perception of the border from outside the border?
1:30       Panel 2. Journalist Perceptions of the US/Mexico Border. This panel will be comprised of local and national press that report on border issues. They will reflect on they key stories, themes, language, spokespeople and images that have dominated media coverage about the US-Mexico border.
Moderator:    Elhiu Dominguez, El Paso County Office

Panelists:       Louie Gillot, El Paso Times
         Patricia Giovine, EFE wire service
         Zoltan Csanyi, Univision El Paso
            Ted Robbins, NPR South West Correspondant
            Lorena Figueroa, Diario de El Paso

2:45 Panel 3: National Advocacy Groups Perception of the Border. This panel will be comprised of representatives from think tanks and organizations that are critical to the national policy debate on immigration and the border. Panelists will discuss the patterns, proposals, spokespeople, language and other aspects of the border policy debate with an emphasis on the disconnect between these trends and the participation of local border communities.
Moderator: Zoe Hammer

Panelists: Josh Bernstein, National Immigration Law Center
         Kerry Sherlock, Rights Working Group
         Angela Smith Dieng, Detention Watch Network
                  Jennifer Johnson, Latin America Working Group

4:00 Day Summary
6:30-9:00 Community Reception at Club Blu (Half block from Hotel)

Day 2

Friday November 29th, 2007
8:30 Continental Breakfast (Main Conference Room)

Morning Session: How do we transform current perception and create a new Border Policy Vision.

9:00 Panel 4. Presentation of the Guidelines for Alternative Border Enforcement Policies and Practices. Border Task Force members will give the context and message of the guidelines, highlighting the policy categories. Additionally, they will talk about the history and policy accomplishments of the Border Task Force.

Presentation on History and Background: Roundtable Discussion with Founding Members of the US/Mexico Border and Immigration Task Force:
Manny Ruiz, Santa Cruz County Arizona
Seth Polley, Episcopalian Vicar, Arizona Dioceses
Jose Rodriguez, El Paso County Attorney
Professor Zoe Hammer, Northern Arizona University
Raymond Michalowski, Regents Professor, Northern Arizona University
Susie Bird, City of El Paso Representative
Veronica Escobar, El Paso County Commissioner
Prof. Heyman, Chair of Anthropology Department UTEP
Chief Richard Wiles, El Paso Police Department

10:00 Break-out Sessions
Conference Participants will split into five different tracks to discuss the main themes and issues of the Border Policy Conference. Each track will begin with a roundtable discussion to frame the issues but more importantly, to review the border policy guidelines and to provide further recommendations. The groups will also work to shape vision, values, language and strategies to move forward a new border policy vision.

Session 1. Border Enforcement Accountability and Oversight. Moderated by Border Task Force Member El Paso City Representative Susie Byrd, Cochise County Supervisor Paul Newman and Tucson City Councilwoman Karin Uhlich.

Presenters:
• Border Network for Human Rights presentation on Immigration Law Enforcement Misconduct at the Border(A Case Study of Human Rights Violations at the Border)

Session 2. Border Operations, Fences-Walls, Border Deaths and Border Militarization. Moderated by Border Task Force Member Professor Joe Heyman, Mayor Ruben Segura, and Vicar Seth Polley

Presenters:
• Professor Tim Dunn, Salisbury University. Presentation on Border Militarization
• Jay Johnson, Border Ambassadors. Presentation on Fencing and Walls

Session 3. Ports of Entry and Border Economic Integration. Moderated by Border Task Force Member Santa Cruz County Supervisor Manny Ruiz and El Paso County Commissioner Veronica Escobar

Presenters:
• Senator Eliot Shapleigh, Texas State Representative
• Erin Ward, Director, US-Mexico Border Outreach and Project Coordination, New Mexico State University.

Session 4. National Security, Community Security & Local Law Enforcement/Immigration Enforcement. Moderated by Border Task Force Member El Paso County Attorney Jose Rodriguez and UTEP Professor Cristina Morales.

Presenters:
• Chief Richard Wiles, El Paso Police Department. Presentation on Local Law Enforcement and Federal Immigration Enforcement.
• Regents Professor Ray Michalowski, Department of Criminology, NAU.

Session 5. Detention, Deportation and Due Process. Moderated and Presented by Border Task Force Member DMRS Director Ileana Holguin, Sister Kathleen Erickson, Las Americas Ray Rojas and NAU Professor Zoe Hammer

12:00 Lunch-Caucus Meeting (Border Mayors Caucus, Law Enforcement Caucus, Community Groups Caucus, Academia Caucus, Religious Caucus, etc)

1:30 Break-out Sessions Continue… Strategies, Message, Tactics and Vision

3:30 Report Back and General Session Discussion

5:00 Closing