Students from different universities across the state at the Latino Leaders Conference Saturday sat down to talk about their concerns with SB 590, a current immigration bill in the Indiana legislature that would require police officers to enforce federal immigration law, similar to the Arizona law.
Alicia Nieves, a student at Indiana University, was among those that came up with ideas to raise awareness about SB 590. Her family and friends are her motivation for becoming a part of Dream IU and informing the community about issues that affects Latinos.
"My family, there's an immigration history there, and my friends were in a precarious situation, so that's why it was very important for me," she said.
Alejandra Lagunas, head of the coordinating committee, said she hopes the event raised awareness of current issues at a state level.
"We hope these workshops make students aware of the problems that are affecting their families or people that are like us," she said.
The Latino Leadership Conference brought more than 350 college and high school students from Indiana to learn about recent issues around the Latino community, including state immigration laws, culture and identity.
This year's keynote speaker at the event, Gaby Pacheco, walked with a group of friends from their hometown in Florida to Washington D.C. to advocate for reform to the federal immigration law last year.
"We walked those 1,500 miles in the name of all the different people that were afraid or had lost hope and it really evokes for people to realize that anything is possible," she said.
Pacheco told students the only way to be heard and to get support from others is by actively seeking the support.
"I'm just any one of you, and anyone of you can do the same thing in your community and in this country," she said. "You cannot wait for somebody out there to go represent you. Every single one of you has the potential to create a difference."
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