Immigration in U.S. to be discussed at Lunch with League 

A University of Tennessee lecturer and adjunct assistant professor will discuss immigration in the United States during a lecture on Tuesday, September 15.

De Ann Pendry is a senior lecturer and adjunct assistant professor in anthropology at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

Immigration has been an issue in the 2016 presidential campaign, and it is relevant to the local, state, and national League of Women Voters, a press release said.

Pendry will be the guest speaker at Lunch with the League at noon, Tuesday, September 15, in the Social Hall of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church at 809 Oak Ridge Turnpike.

Pendry received her master’s degree in Latin American studies and her doctorate in cultural anthropology from the University of Texas-Austin. Her publications include “Seeking to Understand the Politics of Immigration in Tennessee” (2011). She has book projects in progress on immigrant rights in Tennessee and diabetes care among Mexican Americans.

Since 2005, Pendry has been working with the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, the press release said. More recently, she helped found the Allies of Knoxville’s Immigrant Neighbors (AKIN) and serves as AKIN’s liaison to the Comité Popular de Knoxville. She has received several community service awards for this work, including Centro Hispano’s Espíritu Latino Award in 2013.

“In order to understand current debates about immigration policy in the United States, it is necessary to understand how policies and migration patterns operated in the past,” Pendry said in the press release. “The presentation will cover the major policy changes from 1790 to the current proposals for federal immigration reform.”

The release said the League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge, League of Women Voters of Tennessee, and League of Women Voters US all have positions on comprehensive immigration reform and tuition equality. In the upcoming legislative session, the Tennessee House of Representatives will be considering the issue of tuition equality.

Sponsored by the LWVOR, Lunch with the League is open to the public. There is no cost to attend, and reservations are not needed. Box lunches will be available starting at 11:30 a.m. on a first-come, first-served basis for $8, or you may bring your own. Coffee and tea are provided.

The League of Women Voters is a non-partisan organization that encourages informed and active participation in government and works to increase understanding of public policy through unbiased studies of public issues.  Membership is open to both men and women.  For more information, visit lwvoakridge.org.

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