Search results matching tags 'immigration' and 'Round Rock Reads'

The Book

Sarah Samson — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 11:27:00 GMT

We had a great brown-bag discussion of The Devil's Highway last Saturday. Near the end of the event, we came up with a few questions for Mr. Urrea, the author, so I've been waiting to post until I heard back from him. Well, he hasn't responded yet, but I promise I will let you know when he does. This is what we decided to ask him:

Are you in touch with any of the survivors? How are they doing?
Why did you write The Devil's Highway?

Many of us attending the discussion shared with the group what a difficult read Devil's Highway was, painful to read about people suffering so much, going through the stages of heat exhaustion, and then many of them ultimately dying. It's grim. I appreciated that Urrea told the story as if he were a reporter, he did not over-emotionalize or over-identify with any one character, making the story more bearable for me to read. From the Border Patrol cop, to the immigrants from Veracruz, he gave us a picture of each individual; there were no "good" or "bad" guys, they were all people trying to do what they thought was the right thing for them to be doing.

One person at the discussion read an especially poignant quote from near the end of the book: (page 198, 199)

"Vargas watched as each coffin was carried from the plane to great tumult. One by one, they were laid inside the waiting hearses.....Later, she calculated that the dead men's flight alone had cost over sixty-eight thousand dollars.

'What if,' she asked, 'somebody had simply invested that amount in their villages to begin with?'

Something to think about.

Panel Wrap-up

Sarah Samson — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 22:09:00 GMT

The panel discussion on immigration Monday evening at City Hall was lively. A crowd of about 50 people were in attendance, and many stayed until the end to ask questions of the panelists.

Reverend Dr. William Sappenfield served as the moderator and each panelist got approximately two minutes to answer each of Dr. Sappenfield's six questions. Panelists included: Curtis Collier--President of US Border Watch, Terri English--Director of Immigration Counseling and Outreach Services, Leslie Helmcamp--Catholic Charities of Central Texas, Edna Yang--Political Asylum Project of Austin, and Larry Youngblood--Texas Border Volunteers. The six questions were:

By 2010, it is estimated that over 50% of people living in Texas will be non-Caucasian. Why do you think some Texans fear this demographic change?
How well does building a wall help with the border problem?
Do you think the immigration laws in the U.S. need to be reformed? Which reform is most urgently needed?
The Hutto Family Residential Facility in Taylor, Texas has received considerable publicity in recent months. In your opinion, how close does the facility come to fulfilling its intended purpose?
Should all government services be denied to undocumented workers, or just some? How should the U.S. decide which services are appropriate to offer to undocumented workers?
What do you think would happen if the U.S. was able to send all undocumented workers home tomorrow?

As you can imagine, the panelists had varying opinions on each question, but they were all civilized and respectful of one another. There were newspaper articles on the panel on the front page of the Round Rock Leader today, as well as the Daily Texan on Tuesday. The panel was videotaped, so if you would like to view the discussion from your computer, click here.

The events surrounding Round Rock Reads! will end this Saturday with a brown-bag book discussion of The Devil's Highway by Luis Alberto Urrea. The event is from 12-2 in Meeting Room B of the library. The library will provide dessert. Hope to see you all there!

Immigration Panel Discussion Monday night moved to Council Chambers

Sarah Samson — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 19:55:00 GMT

We've moved the Immigration Panel Discussion from the library to the Council Chambers in City Hall. The acoustics are better at this location, plus the disucssion will be videotaped and podcasted. If you can't make the discussion (Monday night, 7-9 PM), it will be broadcast live on Channel 10. Council Chambers are located at 221 E. Main Avenue, 1st floor.

I'm really looking forward to the panel! Rev. Dr. William Sappenfield will be moderating, and we will have 5 panelists present with members on both sides of the issue. The five panelists are: Curtis Collier--President of U.S. Border Watch, Terri English--Director of Immigration Counseling and Outreach Services, Leslie Helmcamp--Director of Catholic Charities of Central Texas Office of Immigrant Concerns, Edna Yang--General Counsel for Political Asylum Project of Austin, and Larry Youngblood--Texas Border Volunteers.

Beginning our Journey

Sarah Samson — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 21:58:00 GMT

Since I finished reading the book, I realize I really don't know a lot about the issue of immigration. This weekend, I set out to educate myself. For this post, I'll start with listing some good websites, links and facts about immigration. For my next post, I'll get into some resources and articles that will help us understand the different positions on the immigration debate.

First I started with a pop quiz from the Census Bureau's website to find out how ignorant I really am. I did lousy--five questions and I didn't get one right on my first guess. My score was 225. How did you all do?

So now it's Sunday night, and I'm a little more educated about the statistics. Here are some things I found out: there are approximately 11.5 to 12 million undocumented people currently living in the U.S., according to the PEW Hispanic Center. Most of these immigrants are from Mexico (56 percent), 22 percent are from other parts of Latin America, and the rest are mostly from South and East Asia. Immigrants in the USA sent $40 billion to their relatives and friends in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2005, according to the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB). You can read some more basic immigration statistics here.

At the end of The Devil's Highway, Mr. Urrea suggests some non-fiction books for further reading: Dead in Their Tracks by John Annerino, Down by the River by Charles Bowden, Coyotes by Ted Conover, Border by Lila Downs, Hard Line: Life and Death on the U.S.-Mexican Border by Ken Ellingwood. Most of these books are available at the Round Rock Library. I'm definitely going to check one out!

Hit the Road: The Devil's Highway

Sarah Samson — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 14:20:00 GMT

In May 2001, 26 men crossed the Mexican border into the desert of Southern Arizona and only 12 made it out alive.

Round Rock Reads! has begun!

On May 31, Mayor Nyle Maxwell announced the winning book for Round Rock's first community-wide book club.

The book is entitled The Devil's Highway by Luis Alberto Urrea. Pick up a copy at the Round Rock Public Library and read it during the month of June and join in the discussion.

We want to hear what you think!

In July, the library will host a panel discussion, a film documentary, and a book club discussion that will tie into the book and its themes.

I read The Devil's Highway in just a few days. The topic of human suffering is always tough. However, the struggle to endure hardship for the potential of a better life can be pretty inspiring. And, it's an issue that affects everyone. Whatever "side" you are on in the immigration debate, after reading this book, you can't help but care about these men and their plight. It's easy to forget sometimes that real people are involved in the news stories we hear on TV. This book offers a fresh perspective on a hot button issue.

During the next few weeks, I'll write posts about The Devil's Highway and I would love to hear your comments about the book. Did it inspire you? Did it make you think differently about the Immigration issue? How so?