Raúl Grijalva

U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva will talk about efforts at immigration reform in Congress during a presentation at California State University, Northridge on Friday, April 25.

The Arizona congressman will give CSUN students an opportunity to weigh in on his proposal for immigration reform following his speech, which is scheduled to take place from 9:30 to 10:45 a.m. in Jerome Richfield room 118, known as the Chicana/o studies mural room, on the west side of the campus at 18111 Nordhoff St. in Northridge.

Grijalva and U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela of Texas have introduced an immigration reform bill in the House of Representatives that includes a pathway to citizenship, investments in the ports of entry to enhance security and trade, and “commonsense border security measures without conditioning legal residency status on border security triggers.” The proposal would expand the definition of border security to include the environment, trade and humanitarian issues.

“Immigration reform always raises heated debate, so we’re fortunate to have Congressman Grijalva visit CSUN to provide an insider’s point of view on the pending proposals for immigration reform,” said Mary Pardo, chair of CSUN’s Department of Chicana/o Studies, which is hosting Grijalva’s visit. “Most importantly, he will be here to have a dialogue with the students and faculty and give them an opportunity to learn more about bills proposed by other members of the U.S. House of Representatives and compare them to his.”

Grijalva is serving his sixth term representing Arizona’s Third Congressional District. He is a member of the Congressional Border Caucus, LGBT Equality Caucus, Native American Caucus and co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, as well as that caucus’ Immigration Task Force. Since his election to Congress in 2002, education, job creation, employee rights and the environment have been among Grijalva’s top policy concerns.

As a long-standing member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus — where he chairs the Education Task Force — Grijalva has worked for comprehensive immigration reform. He has pushed for adequate funding for English-language learners and fair access to quality education for minority communities.

His speech is free and open to the public. Parking at the university is $6 per vehicle. Parking permits may be purchased at the information booth near Prairie Street and Darby Avenue.

For more information about the event, call CSUN’s Department of Chicana/o Studies at (818) 677-2734.