UCLA Professor Hinojosa-Ojeda speaks on immigration in Washington D.C.
By Leonardo Chusan
Jan. 24, 2010 9:38 p.m.
Since the 2008 presidential election, Raúl Hinojosa-Ojeda, associate professor and director of the North American Integration and Development Center, has made numerous trips to Washington to work on issues revolving around immigration.
Hinojosa’s trip to Washington is part of a rigorous schedule that is considered part of his job description as a professor.
Reynaldo MacÃas, professor of Chicana/o studies, education and applied linguistics, roughly breaks down the job description of a faculty member as involving 40 percent research, 40 percent teaching and 20 percent service.
“(Hinojosa-Ojeda) is one of the faculty that focuses quite a bit of his research work and scholarship on real life issues,” MacÃas said.
Hinojosa-Ojeda’s commitment to his research translates to his classrooms and to his students as they take notice of what he is doing as well as the importance of his work.
“I felt like I was receiving truly a world-class education because my professor, who I have direct contact with, is an authority in the subject he is teaching,” said Jacqueline Hernandez, a fourth-year Chicana/o studies student, in regards to watching Hinojosa-Ojeda on C-SPAN as part of a panel discussion.
Hinojosa-Ojeda visited the nation’s capital on Jan. 7 to release a report on the impact immigration has on the economy.
“The last trip was part of a longer agenda starting right after the presidential election,” Hinojosa-Ojeda said. “We have been touching base with key players in Washington including the all-important Congress.”
In the span of two days, Hinojosa-Ojeda’s agenda involved a panel discussion broadcasted on C-SPAN and meetings with government officials and organizations such as the Cato Institute, which is a public policy research foundation.
The trip began with a panel discussion organized by the Center for American Progress. The panel included both liberals and conservatives who discussed Hinojosa-Ojeda’s report as well as the general issue of immigration.
“It was sort of a left meets right type of approach on the immigration issue,” Hinojosa-Ojeda said.
After answering questions regarding his report as well as the effects of immigration on the economy during a question-and-answer portion of the panel discussion, Hinojosa-Ojeda headed toward his next engagement on Capitol Hill.
“I went to Capitol Hill and spoke to a room full of Senate and House staffers … representing all spectrums of the politics of the Hill,” Hinojosa-Ojeda said, who gave another presentation on his report to staffers on Capitol Hill.
On Hinojosa-Ojeda’s last day in Washington, he participated in another set of meetings and discussions, but this time he met with individuals outside the U.S. government, such as senior economists at the World Bank and a group of foreign diplomats from Latin America.
Hinojosa-Ojeda said there are many more Washington trips to follow due to the continuing importance of immigration.
