U. students write immigration resource guide

A project for University of Utah honors students could potentially become a resource for lawmakers and educators struggling with the intricacies of the immigration debate.

While a highly charged emotional issue — with rallies, school walk-outs and employment site raids grabbing headlines throughout the years — U. honors students decided to attempt to tackle one of the country's political hot buttons in a factual manner. Today, after 10 months of research and a visit to the central state of Mexico, the students plan to release a resource guide containing their observations.

"Because we're not near the borders, immigration seems so different here, and this experience helped us to see it from a different perspective," said Denise Casteneda, one of 11 "Think Tank" students at the U. who worked on the project. She said the guide presents an unbiased view of the all-encompassing effects of immigration.

"We are all impacted by immigration whether we know it or not," she said, adding that she hopes the guide increases dialogue of the issues surrounding immigration, while finding a "comprehensive solution for the problem."

While in Michoacan, Mexico, Casteneda said she saw things that changed her life. Because of what she learned, she will continue working to help undocumented workers "so they're not living in fear" by giving them more rights.

"I saw how the American dream can cause people to migrate and then also how detrimental it can be to their lives once they're here," she said. "It's the way we portray things here."

During a meeting with the Deseret Morning News editorial board Monday, Valery Pozo, another student who helped develop the guide, said that their main goal was to present the history, economics, media coverage and government regulations of immigration without injecting much opinion.

"We really wanted this to be factual," she said. "We all have our biases ... but we didn't want them to come through in this guide."

Another important component of the guide, however, allows the human side of the issue to be presented, especially in regards to both legal and illegal immigrants. Those experiences are set apart within the guide and written as first person observations or experiences.

The humanity present within the issue "wasn't forgotten," she said. "We were trying to frame the facts in a human context."

The guide will be delivered to legislators, teachers and others. The students also plan to set up a Web site with a downloadable version.

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E-mail: wleonard@desnews.com; jloftin@desnews.com