Protest ends debate
Students demonstrate at illegal-immigration forum
By Will Bigham, Staff Writer


CLAREMONT - An illegal-immigration debate at Pomona College ended prematurely Thursday night when a group of students critical of the event began chanting protest slogans, drowning out the two speakers and fueling shouting matches among audience members.
Anti-illegal-immigration activist Marvin Stewart debated Jacob Hornberger, an open-borders advocate, for about an hour, often eliciting strong responses from the audience of nearly 600.

The decision to invite Stewart to the campus generated a great deal of controversy at the Claremont Colleges, with more than a dozen professors signing a letter to Pomona College President David Oxtoby in protest of the event. The debate was hosted by the Pomona Student Union.

Hornberger, founder and president of the Future of Freedom Foundation, argued that an open border, with free movement of people and goods, would promote economic growth in the United States and Mexico, and eliminate many of the problems associated with illegal immigration.

"There is only one solution to this so-called immigration problem," said Hornberger. "It is a solution that is consistent with our heritage as Americans, with basic principles of economics and prosperity, especially for the poor and those seeking a better life, and it is a solution consistent with basic moral and biblical principles. That solution is the free market, and there is no other solution."

Stewart expressed the view that illegal immigrants, particularly across the Mexican border, eliminate jobs for U.S. workers, lower wage standards and contribute to an atmosphere of lawlessness along the border and in U.S. cities, Stewart said.
"Here in my own nation I don't know what country I'm in now," said Stewart, who said he objected to foreign languages being spoken by illegal immigrants in the United States.

Stewart, a black minister, also focused his comments on the economic harm he believes illegal immigration is causing blacks in the United States.

At the start of the event, a group of about 50 students in the crowd stood and turned their backs to the speakers, removing outer layers of clothing to reveal signs taped to T-shirts with slogans such as "Don't Fuel Hate" and "Hate is not Debate."

The students stood silently for the duration of the debate, and began chanting during the question-and-answer segment that followed.

Their protest effectively ended the organized debate, prompting arguments between activists on opposing sides of the issue that lasted long after the formal debate ended.

"I think the debaters could have used this opportunity to express their ideas instead of using the platform as a soap box," said Kelly Natoli, a Pomona College . "I don't think learning should be threatening."

Jose Calderon, a sociology professor at Pitzer College, objected to Stewart's comments about illegal immigration negatively impacting blacks.

"We don't want to make this an issue where we're dividing people of color," Calderon said.

Stewart was billed at the event as the president of the Minuteman Project, which rose to prominence in 2005 when the volunteer group organized citizen patrols of the Mexican border.

Stewart's role in the Minuteman Project is disputed by Jim Gilchrist, its founder, who is mired in a legal battle with Stewart and others over control of the group.

Gilchrist, who learned of the debate early Thursday, unsuccessfully lobbied Pomona College to halt the event. Gilchrist objected to Stewart's identification by event organizers as president of the Minuteman Project, accusing the school of "aiding and abetting" what he considers a fraudulent use of the Minuteman Project name.

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