MTV Tr3s to air immigration forum

by Marisa Treviño of of Latina Lista

With this week’s massive rally at Irving City Hall protesting the “stop and deport” tactics that the local police force is implementing against undocumented immigrants, there are just as many people who still don’t get what the whole immigration debate is about.

Some see it clearly as a legal or illegal issue, others see it as a humanitarian issue, and others are just sitting on the sidelines waiting for Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert to do their thing on it.

What is certain is that young Latinos have been playing a big role in this issue from the beginning. If you recall, last year in Dallas the student walkouts were organized by local teen Gustavo Jimenez using nothing more than a MySpace page and a cell phone.

Gustavo was able to mobilize 10,000 students over a three-day period. It was one of the largest student walkouts in the nation.

The number of students participating in Dallas and across the country is a sign that it’s an issue that touches too many homes.

MTV Tr3s , a channel of MTV that focuses on the music and lifestyle of bicultural Latino youth, recognized how important this issue is to them and the necessity in educating everyone about how indiscriminate deportations affect these families and how the immigration debate also entails the lives of 65,000 Latino youth who are waiting for Congress to pass what’s called The Dream Act.

So the network decided to bring together some panelists tomorrow night at 6 p.m. (EST) to talk about the issues in what is called “Beyond Borders: An MTV Tr3s Immigration Forum.”

It’s not going to be a flag-waving, in-your-face scream match about who deserves to be here and who doesn’t. But it’s a youth forum that’s going to take the initiative in this debate and act adult.

By that I mean, all the panelists, who range from celebrities to college professors to politicians to the media to young people, will sit down and discuss REAL solutions offered by the young people.

And since this is the interactive age, viewers at home will also be able to participate by either going online at mtv3voces.com or texting 22444.

To add a little perspective to the forum, the network is premiering an hour-long documentary before the forum titled “True Life: I Live on The Border.”

As a way to show they value their viewers’ opinions, MTV Tr3s conducted a poll asking what is the most important issue affecting Latino youth. Sixty percent said immigration and 76 percent said that a Presidential candidate’s position on immigration would define their vote.

And from anecdotal word on the street — a lot more young Latino voters will be putting their right to vote to work in the next election.

WHAT: MTV Tr3s Immigration Forum

WHEN: Saturday, September 29, 2007

TIME: 5 p.m.: documentary “True Life: I Live on the Border”

6 p.m. Beyond Borders: An Immigration Forum

CHANNEL: MTV and MTV Tr3s (program will be simulcast on both)