Saint Peter’s College Will Host Conference

SAINT PETER’S COLLEGE WILL HOST CONFERENCE
ON IMMIGRATION AND AMERICAN POLITICS

9TH Annual Guarini Center for International and Public Affairs
Conference Will Bring Five Experts to Campus on April 3

March 06, 2003– Jersey City, NJ – The Ninth Annual Saint Peter’s College Guarini Center for International and Public Affairs Spring Conference will examine America’s changing demographics and its influence on the nation’s political system on Thursday, April 3 beginning at 9 a.m.. This free event, which includes complimentary breakfast and lunch, is open to the public and features five of the nation’s leading experts on immigration and US politics. The “Immigration and American Politics” conference will be held in the Pavonia Room on the College’s Jersey City campus. Reservations are being accepted at 201-915-9022.

Steven Camarota, Director of Research at the Center for Immigration Studies, will be the event’s featured speaker. The Washington, DC-based immigration expert has testified before Congress numerous times and his articles have appeared in both academic journals and the popular press including Social Science Quarterly, The Public Interest, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, and National Review. He has also appeared on CNN, MSNBC, Fox News Channel, NBC Nightly News, ABC World News Tonight, the McLaughlin Group, Washington Journal and National Public Radio.

The program begins, following a 9 a.m. breakfast, with a panel discussion on “Immigration and Domestic Security” with Philip Peters, Vice President of the Lexington Institute, and Dr. Jane Junn, Associate Political Science Professor at Rutgers University. Peters, prior to joining the Arlington, VA-based Lexington Institute in 1999, served for six years as a State Department appointee of Presidents Reagan and Bush. Dr. Junn is an expert in immigrant political participation and elections in the U.S.

The second panel will address “Immigration, Policy Implications and American Politics” with Daniel Griswold, Associate Director of Cato Institute’s Center for Trade Policy Studies in Washington, DC, and Dr. Rodolfo de la Garza, Political Science Professor at Columbia University. Griswold is a widely quoted expert on current trade and immigration issues. Dr. de la Garza has authored numerous books and articles on ethnic politics, with particular emphasis on Latino public opinion and electoral involvement.

“Census 2000 revealed that our nation is in the process of rapid demographic change, a fact that presents opportunities and challenges to our democracy,” said former United States Congressman Frank Guarini, who founded the Guarini Center in 1994. “Is the American political system – elected leaders, political parties, interest groups, civil society, and voters – prepared to manage an increasingly diverse society? The College is an ideal setting for such a discussion because its student body is one of the most diverse in the nation with students hailing from more than 60 nations.”

Program:

The Guarini Center for International and Public Affairs was established in 1994 to provide a non-partisan forum for the thoughtful discussion of public policy issues and to interest students in pursuing careers in public service.