Calexico, CA – The Associated Student Council and the Committee on Diversity and Equity at San Diego State University-Imperial Valley Campus will host an international conference on immigrant rights next month in Calexico. Proposed legislation against undocumented immigrants (e.g. HR 4437 “Sensenbrenner Bill,” S 6411 “Hagel-Martinez Compromise Bill,” and most recently, the Border Fence Act) has spurred supporters of immigrant and human rights to organize the most massive movement in our nation’s history.

Who – Nativo V. Lopez, National President of the Mexican American Political Association (MAPA), Mike Davis, author and professor a the University of Irvine, representatives of labor and social movements in Mexico and several others; Hosts – SDSU-Imperial Valley; Sponsors – National Alliance for Immigrant Rights, the Mexicali-based Ricardo Flores Magon Border Committee in Defense of Human Rights

What – International Conference on Immigrant Rights

When – Saturday, December 9, 2006; 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Where – San Diego State University-Imperial Valley Campus in the Rodney Auditorium; 720 Heber Avenue, Calexico, California

Why – Attendees will attempt to outline a unified strategy to defend the civil and human rights of undocumented workers and their families everywhere but with particular focus on those living in the U.S.

FYI – Admission to the conference is free and it is open to the public. English-Spanish interpreting will be provided. For more information, contact the following: Arturo Encinas at 760.554.1136, ajencinas@mapa-ca.org or Rogelio Reyes at 760.768.5532, rreyes@mail.sdu.edu.

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Nativo V. Lopez is currently the National Director of Hermandad Mexicana Latinoamericana (HML) and the National President of the Mexican American Political Association (MAPA). Both charges require of him full-time advocacy for the civil, human, labor, and immigrant rights of Mexicans, Mexican Americans, and Latinos throughout the United States. He has dedicated his life to these causes since his years as a high school student where he founded the first student movement organization, United Mexican American Students (UMAS). He was born in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles in 1951 to Mexican American parents, and is of both eighth-generation native U.S. born and immigrant stock. Nativo met the legendary immigrant organizer, leader, and advocate, Humberto “Bert” Corona, in 1971 and worked with him in various capacities for thirty years with the organizations Center for Autonomous Social Action (CASA), Hermandad Mexicana, and MAPA. He was a lead organizer in the springtime mass protest pro-immigrant marches and was part of the creation of the National Alliance for Immigrant’s Rights (NAIR) in Chicago, Illinois.

The Mexican American Political Association, a multi-partisan advocacy organization, was founded in Fresno, California in 1963 and has chapters throughout California. It is dedicated to the constitutional and democratic principles of political freedom and representation for the Mexican, Mexican-American and Latino people in the United States. For more information, visit the MAPA website at www.MAPA.org.

Hermandad Mexicana Latinoamericana (National Mexican Latin American Brotherhood), an advocacy organization for immigrants, was created in 1951 to achieve the development and integration of Latino immigrants that live in the United States. It is dedicated to improving economic and social opportunities of immigrants and their families, and maintains that a better future for children is an inalienable right. For more information, visit the HML website at www.HermandadMexicana.org.