Symposium Addresses the Intersection of Immigration Rights and Racial Justice

On Wednesday, March 30th, the FAITHS and Koshland Programs of The San Francisco Foundation co-sponsored a regional immigration symposium focusing on racial justice and immigrant rights. Building Inclusive Communities: Racial Equity and Immigration brought together a full house of more than 150 faith and community representatives and neighborhood and student leaders from community and faith-based organizations to discuss the intersection of immigrant rights and racial justice.

The symposium at Preservation Park featured three main panels. The first focused on globalization and the root causes of American and global migration, with speakers from Priority Africa Network, Central American Resource Center, and the University of San Francisco School of Law. The second panel addressed national, state, and local policy and law enforcement issues with speakers from California Immigrant Policy Center, American Civil Liberties Union, National Immigration Forum, as well as a DREAM Act student. The third and final panel dealt with inter-racial and cross-sector alliance-building, and was facilitated by Reverend Deborah Lee from the Interfaith Coalition for Immigrant Rights (CLUE-CA). Panel speakers included a Berkeley High School student, a union activist, and an immigration attorney from the Asian Law Caucus. 

In Dr. Jacqueline Copeland-Carson’s keynote address, she drew on images of African slaves and Chinese indentured servants in America from the 1800s, as well as Latino farm workers and Jewish refugees from the 20th Century. She delivered the message that injustice affects all communities across lines of color, age, religion, and class.

Peggy Saika, Trustee of The San Francisco Foundation and executive director of Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy, who moderated the first panel discussion, found the event to be extremely inspiring. She said, “The symposium was an incredible gathering of both veteran activists and a new generation of leaders that are working on racial justice and equity – issues that continue to challenge our society.”

The symposium brought together leaders and representatives from all five counties that the Foundation serves, and provided a much-needed space for education, networking, relationship building, and celebration. Musical performances were coordinated by East Bay Center for Performing Arts and reflected the diversity of the room, including Richmond Jazz Collective, West African Music and Dance Ensemble, and Son de la Tierra, a folkloric Mexican dance and performance group.

Visit the Photo Gallery for more pictures of the event. 

Download the following presentations in PDF:

• ACLU's presentation
• California Immigrant Policy Center's presentation
• Keynote speaker Jacqueline Copeland-Carson's presentation

Access the following reports and videos discussed at the symposium:

• ACLU – Costs and Consequences: The High Price of Policing Immigrant Communities
• National Immigration Forum – In the States Stepping Into the Federal Void
• National Immigration Forum – Immigration Enforcement Fiscal Overview: Where are We, and Where are We Going?
• The Next Step: A Humane Pathway movie trailer, a R.I.S.E. Program Production