DREXEL EVENT: Panel on Immigration Reform and Immigrant Workers’ Rights, Wed Sep 17 2008 @ 2:30pm

Rinku Sen with Fekkak Mamdouh, The Accidental AmericanJoin us on Wednesday, September 17th for a panel discussion on immigration policy and the challenges of organizing and advocating on behalf of immigrant workers, featuring Rinku Sen and Fekkak Mamdouh. In their new book, The Accidental American, Sen and Mamdouh “argue[] that, just as there is a free flow of capital in the world economy, there should be a free flow of labor”:

Author Rinku Sen alternates chapters telling the story of one “accidental American” — coauthor Fekkak Mamdouh, a Morrocan-born waiter at a restaurant in the World Trade Center whose life was thrown into turmoil on 9/11 — with a thorough critique of current immigration policy. Sen and Mamdouh describe how members of the largely immigrant food industry workforce managed to overcome divisions in the aftermath of 9/11 and form the Restaurant Opportunities Center of New York (ROC-NY) to fight for jobs and more equitable treatment. This extraordinary story serves to illuminate the racial, cultural, and economic conflicts embedded in the current immigration debate and helps frame the argument for a more humane immigration and global labor system. [link]

The discussion will be moderated by Prof. Anil Kalhan, and will be followed by a reception in the Second Floor Gallery.

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Drexel University Earle Mack School of Law When: Wed, Sep 17, 2008, 2:30-4:30pm

Where: Drexel University Earle Mack School of Law, Rm 440 (reception to follow in 2nd Floor Gallery), 3320 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA

Sponsored by the Drexel University Earle Mack School of Law Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild. For more information, please contact Nicole Aiken or Ryan Miller at [email protected].

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Previously: Five Questions for Rinku Sen (SAJAforum).