Conference on Gender, Families,
and Latino Immigration in Oregon

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May 22-23, 2008
Room 175, Knight Law Center, 1515 Agate St., Eugene
University of Oregon

By the year 2005, the state of Oregon was approximately 9.9 percent Latino as a result of Latin American immigration, primarily from Mexico. While Latin American immigration to Oregon has been occurring since the 19th century, the growth in the Latino population has been greatest since the 1990s.  Latino immigrants have settled throughout the state and made many contributions in a wide range of cities and towns. Latino children were about 15 percent of the population under age 18 of the state in 2005 and Latino births were 20 percent of the total births in Oregon.

At a time when debates about immigration and citizenship are at a high point in the state and the nation, this conference will pay special attention to Latino immigrant communities in Oregon from a gendered and generational perspective.  Held at the University of Oregon Law School on May 22-23,2008, the conference features panels on youth and education issues; challenges for immigrant men and women at home; labor issues for immigrant men, women, and youth; changes in Latino immigrant family dynamics; Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer issues in immigrant families and communities; immigrant indigenous women’s organizing and leadership challenges and accomplishments; access/lack of access to services for immigrants. The conference also features an opening community forum on “Myths and Facts about Immigration: Gender, Youth, and Family Perspectives,” a plenary on “Building Alliances for Immigrant Rights,” and a final keynote panel on “Lessons on Gender and Families Issues among Latino Immigrant Populations in California and Oregon.” The conference will close with a reception and a cultural event featuring local musicians and dancers. A photo exhibit prepared by the Community Alliance of Lane County will be on display.

Over thirty community leaders and advocates for immigrants’ rights will participate in the conference. They are members of more than twenty organizations from Eugene, Salem, Woodburn, Portland, Scappoose, Medford, Los Angeles, and Oaxaca, Mexico.  Faculty, graduate students, and researchers from the University of California-Santa Cruz, UC-Santa Barbara, New York University, Oregon Health and Science University, Oregon State University, University of Oregon, and the Oregon Social Learning Center will also participate in this conference. The conference is free and open to the public.

This conference is noteworthy in that the organizers have used its planning as a means of reaching out to Latino communities throughout the state, a process that resulted in community leaders and advocates committed to playing an active role in this event. The key issues to be discussed were identified during a process of community consultation coordinated by a community advisory board. Over the past eighteen months, the organizers have conducted a series of public events that have drawn a diverse public including Latino immigrant families and students, immigrant rights advocates and community leaders, health care providers, human service providers, educators, participants in the justice system, academics, students, and others who work with immigrant populations.  We expect some of these same people to also attend the conference.