Strategy Forum in Phoenix Addresses Challenges Faced by Immigrant Women

IWPR and Arizona State University (ASU) organized a forum, New Families, New Friends: A Strategy Forum for Organizations Working with Latina Immigrants, in Phoenix on April 16. The event was funded by the Ford Foundation and co-sponsored by ASU’s Center for the Study on Religion and Conflict, Department of Transborder Latina/o and Chicana/o Studies, School of Social and Family Dynamics, and Women and Gender Studies program. It brought together 71 advocates, clergy, policymakers, and scholars to discuss policies affecting Latina immigrants and strategize for ways to achieve policy change. The ultimate goals of the forum were to exchange information about key issues immigrant women face and the policies that exacerbate or address them, to create a space for networking among forum participants, and to gather recommendations to inform IWPR’s current and future research on immigration.

Lydia Guzman spoke on a panel entitled “Building Communities, Pursuing Justice: Strategies for Policy Change”

Dr. Cynthia Hess giving introductory remarks at “New Families, New Friends: A Strategy Forum for Organizations Working to Help Latina Immigrants” in Phoenix, Arizona, April 16, 2010.

The day began with a morning panel on “Latina Immigrants, Family, and Policy,” followed by a second panel on “Strategies for Policy Change.” During the lunch break, Representative Kyrsten Sinema from the Arizona State Legislature spoke about legislative developments affecting immigrant families. Her remarks focused on the recent passage of state legislation that requires police to check the legal status of immigrants they believe to be undocumented and allows citizens to sue police for failing to enforce immigration laws. Representative Sinema discussed the implications of this legislation for immigrant women, expressing concern that it will increase immigrant communities’ distrust of law enforcement officers and discourage women who experience violence in their homes or workplaces from contacting authorities.

Jennifer Allen, Executive Director of Border Action Network in Tucson, followed with a presentation on strategies for community organizing that directly challenge the agencies, policies, and practices that deny the inherent dignity of immigrant families. The forum ended with open discussion about possible ways to build on the momentum generated by the forum through coalition-building and future research.