Published: 02.22.2007
UA brings back speaker from Mexico
Human rights talk last year disrupted by protesters
CLAUDINE LoMONACO
Tucson Citizen
An official with Mexico's National Human Rights Commission will return to the University of Arizona a year after members of an anti-illegal immigration group forced him to cancel a talk because he was speaking Spanish.
Members of Border Guardians disrupted a talk by Mexican Human Rights Inspector Mauricio Farah Gebara at the University Services Annex last spring when they demanded that the university provide an interpreter or that Farah speak English. When university officials explained that the talk was planned and advertised in Spanish, the protesters prevented Farah from speaking by telling him to "go back to Mexico," according to several witnesses.
Police were called in after a shouting match broke out between members of the Border Guardians and those who wanted Farah to continue in Spanish.
Border Guardians could not be reached for comment.
UA regularly sponsors talks in languages other than English, said university spokesman Johnny Cruz.
"It's common for any large university that has an international scope to have guests that come from other countries, and those lectures are not always translated. That's really not an uncommon thing," he said.
Former UA President Peter Likins sent Farah a written apology over the incident and invited him to come back, Cruz said.
Farah will give a talk entitled "Mexico-U.S. Migration: Let's Talk About Solutions" at UA's Integrated Resource Learning Center, 1500 E. University Blvd., Room 130, at 4 p.m. Friday.
The university will provide extra security and simultaneous translation, Cruz said.
"Given the interest in this particular topic, we thought it would be best to offer people the option to hear it in either language," he said.
Jaime Gutierrez, associate vice president of UA's Office of Community Relations, attended last year's event and will introduce Farah on Friday.
"Hopefully we will have a respectful crowd that is here to listen, whether you agree with him or not," Gutierrez said. "Whether you like it or not, immigration is here to stay. I don't believe we can . . . have public policy unless we develop a dialogue. And a dialogue suggests to me that you have people from all views of what immigration should be."
A question-and-answer period will follow Farah's talk.
The event is sponsored by 15 university groups including the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy, the College of Public Health and the International Affairs Office. It is open to the public, but space is limited. For more information, call 626-4292.
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