T. B. Scott Free Library Adult Department announces the continuation of the Building Merrill Together Initiative Series with a community forum on March 6 from 6-8 p.m. in the library’s Community Room.
The immigration issue affects virtually every American directly or indirectly, often in deeply personal ways. The issue raises a number of difficult questions, and there are no easy answers:
•Should we strictly enforce the law and deport people who are here without permission, or would deporting millions of people outweigh their crime?
•Should we welcome newcomers to build a more vibrant and diverse society, or does this pose too great a threat to national unity?
•Should we accept more of the growing numbers of refugees from war-torn regions, or should we avoid the risk of allowing in people whose backgrounds may not have been fully checked?
Join us on Tuesday, March 6, in a community forum at the T. B. Scott Free Library as we explore how the rate of immigration and the number of undocumented immigrants has increased, who the “Dreamers” are, and the employment and financial impacts that immigrant workers have in northern Wisconsin and Lincoln County. This forum will consider three options to improving the process of immigrating to and living in America:
1) Welcome immigrants and be a beacon of freedom,
2) Enforce the law, but be fair to those who follow the rules, and,
3) Moderate the flow of immigrants and regain our sense of national purpose and identity.
This T. B. Scott Free Library Building Merrill Together Initiative Series event is contributing to a nation-wide discussion about the immigration issue. Participants will be asked to complete a post-forum questionnaire and these results will be shared with the Kettering Foundation and their “A Public Voice” Program. The “A Public Voice” Program gathers citizen opinions and insights from a multitude of communities across the United States. A final summary report of these findings will be then presented at a National Press Club Panel Discussion in Washington, D.C. for state and federal policy makers in May of 2018.
The Building Merrill Together Initiative Series at the T. B. Scott Free Library is co-supported by T.B. Scott Free Library, the Interactivity Foundation (IF), and the Wisconsin Institute for Public Policy & Service (WIPPS), to engage government, business, and the general public to positively change Merrill through information and discussion, and by creating an open and transparent environment for change.
For further information, please contact Laurie Ollhoff at 715-536-7191 or [email protected] or John Greenwood at 715-218-0284 or [email protected].
Refreshments for the evening’s forum will be provided courtesy of The Checkered Churn and First Street Coffee Station.