The purpose of this free, intimate Forum is to gather at the Seven Hills Conference Center (SFSU campus) to deepen our collective knowledge of the multitude of social and health problems endured by Latino day laborers – in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond – and explore better ways of working in partnership. Through presentations and interactive sessions, Forum participants will inform each other of effective and innovative ways of addressing these complex problems. The Forum organizers hope to facilitate a thought-provoking, motivating day -- affirming our shared commitment continue working on these seemingly intractable social justice issues and forging mutually helpful connections between us.

Why this Forum?

Now more than ever, immigration is a burning global issue. Immigrants from around the world are currently under attack simply by virtue of not having full citizenship, which denies their existence as fellow human beings deserving of the means and opportunities to improve their lives. Too often immigrants are lumped together even when they represent a wide variety of human experience in spite of shared ethnicities or common life conditions. Immigrants are often categorized and depicted as discredited, suspect populations who must be regulated, controlled, criminalized or deported, and as such are vulnerable to all sorts of official and unofficial sanctions, insults, and denial of basic human rights. The nature and consequence of these sanctions, as well as the multiple ways to nationally and locally overcome such sanctions, will be among our central topics of discussion. The Forum is dedicated to understanding how the structural vulnerability day laborers endure in their daily lives can be effectively addressed by health, human rights, and the academic-research communities.

Backgound:

The visible presence of Latino day laborers throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond has opened this community to being publicly scapegoated and discriminated against. In a climate of growing xenophobia and popular intolerance, the means for Latino day laborers to access and receive basic social and health services is becoming increasingly difficult. At a time when our nation is at war and gripped by the fear of terrorism and foreigners, Latino day laborers - many of whom are recent immigrants without documentation - are one of our most vulnerable populations. Social service providers and health care practitioners are as challenged in effectively serving this community as day laborers themselves are in meeting their vital needs and maintaining their dignity.