I-week continues with panel discussion on borders, immigration

“Can we be safe, can we be us, if we’re with people who are different than us?”

That was the question posed by Dr. John Hulsey, assistant professor of political science at James Madison University, during Tuesday evening’s panel discussion “When Borders Divide Us.”

During the event, which was part of International Week at JMU, four panel members discussed immigration issues and problems surrounding the border disputes of several countries including the United States and Mexico; India and Pakistan; Israel and Palestine; and North Korea and South Korea.

Gary Race, director of JMU’s Mahatma Gandhi Center for Global Nonviolence, focused on the human impact of these border issues.

“It’s not about, ‘Oh, I want to live in L.A. and have a nice life,’ it’s ‘I want food and water and an education for my children,’” Race said of immigration issues in the U.S.

Race and Husley were on the panel with Isabel Castillo, the Shenandoah Valley organizer for Virginia Organizing Project, and Alexandra de Havilland, executive director of the Valley AIDS Network.

The group shared their personal experiences with immigration issues, discussed border conflicts and answered questions from audience members.

International Week concludes Saturday, Sept. 28, with the 18th annual Harrisonburg International Festival. The event will be held in Hillandale Park from noon to 6 p.m. 

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Jen Eyring (’14) JMU Public Affairs

Sept. 27, 2013