‘Real Conversation: Migration in Your Community’

Iowa Wesleyan University 2019 Manning Lecture will include an immigration forum this year featuring real conversation about migration in the community.

Joy Lapp, associate professor of religion at IW and Manning chair, began thinking about the 2019 Manning Lecture on May 9, 2018, after 32 employees at MPC Enterprises were arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

'I've worked with immigrants quite a bit,” Lapp said. 'Before I came (to IW), I was teaching English to refugees in Denver.”

'Real Conversation: Migration in Your Community” is on Sunday, April 7, at Iowa Wesleyan University (IW). It begins at 1:30 p.m. with the keynote speaker in the chapel. There will be a break and refreshments in the science building at 2:45 p.m. Attendees will get to choose two workshops to attend. The first session of workshops go from 3:15 to 4:15 p.m. The second session of workshops is from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m.

The lecture is free to the public, and everyone is welcome to attend.

Lapp said the lecture was titled 'Migration in Your Community” instead of 'immigration” because 'immigration is such a loaded term.”

Lapp's goal for the lecture is to potentially influence immigration law to fit the needs of employers in southeast Iowa.

'We need workers,” Lapp said, adding she wished more worker permits were available to people wanting to migrate here.

The Rev. Alexia Salvatierra will be the keynote speaker. She is a Lutheran pastor with over 35 years of experience in congregational and community organizing and legislative advocacy and is the author of 'Faith-Rooted Organizing: Mobilizing the Church in Service to the World.”

Salvatierra said that she will be speaking about the 'bigger picture” of immigration, and how it isn't necessarily a partisan issue but a human rights issue. She will address the ways churches across the U.S. have fought for a healthy immigration system and give updates from the border.

'This is not a partisan issue. It doesn't have to be a partisan issue. I really hope people come, and I'm not just speaking to the choir,” Salvatierra said.

Following the keynote speaker, there will be several workshops to choose from.

The Rev. Trey Hegar, pastor of First Presbyterian Church, will be talking about the church's committee Iowa Welcomes Immigrant Neighbors (Iowa WINS). Hegar will be sharing about how Iowa WINS operates, what drove them to organize and how they continue to work to assist immigrants affected by the May 9, 2018, ICE raid.

'In the history of the world, we are living in the midst of one of the biggest migratory periods ever,” Hegar said. 'This isn't just a southern (U.S.) border issue. It's happening in Africa and Europe and South America.”

Hegar said he will share some of the steps Iowa WINS took in the first 72 hours following the raid, and what they did in the first couple of weeks to track people down and reconnect families. Finally, he will talk about the ongoing assistance they are giving to families including rent and utilities assistance and their food pantry.

'Community Voices: The Impact of Migration in Mt. Pleasant,” will be a panel featuring Kristi Ray, executive director of the Mt. Pleasant Area Chamber Alliance; Michelle Rosell, with Henry County Health Center; John Henriksen, superintendent of the Mt. Pleasant Community School District; and a representative from Iowa Compact on Immigration.

The 'Community Voices” workshop will be a chance for residents to hear how migration affects health care, businesses and schools in their town. Hegar said Henriksen will have a chance to address the challenges of teaching a diverse student body such as needing English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers. Rosell will be speaking about how global migration affects the hospital and how they need additional services such as translators and what happens when someone is uninsured. Finally, Ray will talk about the need for employees in southeast Iowa, and how many companies still have jobs that are going unfilled, Hegar said.

'Immigration 101: Understanding Immigration Law” will be led by Ann Naffier, immigration lawyer with Iowa Justice For Our Neighbors (Iowa JFON). It will cover the basics of immigration law in the U.S., including family reunification, asylum, and humanitarian programs like Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and temporary protected status.

Mike Heaton, vice president for university advancement at IW, and IW students in this semester's ethics class will be leading a workshop called 'Child Trafficking and Migration: How to Help.” The workshop will focus on how migration makes children more vulnerable to human trafficking. Heaton served as the regional managing director for UNICEF USA before joining the faculty at IW.

Diego Chuyma, pastor at Salem Friends Church, will be speaking about stories of migration with Nick Salazar, with the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and IW students who are refugees from South Sudan and Tibet. Chuyma grew up in La Paz, Bolivia, and moved to Iowa in January 2019.

Hegar said the lecture is a conversation.

'We're not trying to say, ‘Hey, this is all good.' There are going to be some things that are negative about (migration). There are some real financial costs, and we want to be very upfront and honest and that's part of the conversation too.”

Hegar's hope is that people walk away more educated about migration, and can begin working as a community toward solutions.

'We want it to be a real conversation,” Hegar said. 'It's not ‘Hurrah for my side.' It's what's next.”

'We hope this isn't just for people who are pro- or anti-immigration,” Hegar continued. 'This is a real conversation about the effects of migration on our community.”

The Clifford and Maxine Manning annual speaker series brings a speaker in religion to IW every year. The series is made possible through an endowment by the Mannings. Lectures are free and open to the public.