Bear Tooth debate focuses on immigration

On Monday, the next installment of the "Arguing Alaska" Debate Series will be hosted by the Seawolf Debate program and Alaska Dispatch News.

Steve Johnson, associate professor of communications at the University of Alaska Anchorage and leader of the Seawolf Debate program, said immigration is a topic currently dominating political debates, sparking the topic: Who should be allowed to become an American?

The debate topic will be: "Only the most qualified should be permitted to immigrate to the U.S."

Tickets are $15 and can be bought online on beartooththeatre.net or at the Bear Tooth box office. All proceeds from the tickets go to support the Seawolf Debate Program.

The recently introduced Reforming American Immigration for Strong Employment Act, or RAISE Act, takes a new approach on this question. It was proposed by Sens. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., and David Perdue, R-Ga., with the goal of reforming the criteria for immigration and reducing the number of newly issued green cards by 50 percent.

"At present, our immigration policy prioritizes family reunification as a (criterion) for awarding green cards," Johnson said. "The RAISE Act would, among other things, introduce a points-based system that prioritizes things like age, English language proficiency, education and available investment capital. It is this facet of the proposed immigration reform that we wanted to investigate in our debate."

Members of UAA's award-winning debate team will take part in the discussion;  Mara Kimmel and Margaret Stock will function as guest judges.

Kimmel has a long career in Alaska public policy with particular emphasis on legal issues, and is on the faculty of both UAA and Alaska Pacific University.

Kimmel has practiced law in Alaska since 1996 and recently completed her Ph.D. Her research focused on local governance and community well-being. She is a co-founder of the Alaska Institute for Justice, Alaska's only nonprofit agency providing low-cost immigration legal services, and language access services.

Stock is a former U.S. Senate candidate and attorney specialized on immigration and citizenship law. She is a nationally recognized expert on immigration and national security laws and has testified regularly before congressional committees on these matters.

Stock has also worked as a professor at the United States Military Academy at West Point and worked as an adjunct instructor at UAA.

The series seeks to bring together members of the community such as policymakers, academics and specialists to explore the issue. Johnson is convinced that the Arguing Alaska Series, with its qualified guests, is important as a forum for public discussion.

"It's increasingly important to remind people that differences of opinion are not toxic and evidence of some greater problem and, more importantly, that those with whom we differ are not bad people," Johnson said. "Given what sometimes passes for political discourse — from both our citizens and leaders — we feel a responsibility to provide examples of informed, reasoned argument."

This article originally appeared in The Northern Light, the campus newspaper at the University of Alaska Anchorage, and is reprinted with permission.