Rupp Debate Society to Host Public Debate
about Immigration Reform
POCATELLO—The James M. & Sharon E. Rupp Debate Society
will host a public debate on February 9 at 6 pm about immigration reform. The
audience will be given time to question the debaters as part of the debate and asked
to vote for the winner.
The debate will be in the North Fork
of the Salmon River Suites on the third floor of the Pond Student Union
Building (PSUB) on the ISU campus. Members of the ISU debate team will engage
the topic: The United States should deport nearly all illegal immigrants.
“Public debate is essential to a functioning democratic
society,” said Sarah Partlow Lefevre, Director of Debate and Professor of Communication,
Media, and Persuasion at ISU. “We hope to air both sides of the issue and to
encourage audience members to think deeply about immigration policy.”
Following the debate, the audience can ask the debaters questions
about their arguments and strategies.
Immigration reform has been a controversial topic for
several decades. While representatives on both sides of the political aisle
agree that reform is long overdue, federal legislation remains stalled in
Congress. At the center of the debate is what the government should do about
the 12,000,000 Mexicans currently living in the United States after illegally
crossing the United States’ southern border. During the current presidential
election, the topic has become a flashpoint, with leading Republican
presidential candidate Donald Trump calling for all illegal immigrants to be
deported.
The debate is an outreach event for the James E. and Sharron
M. Rupp Debate Society which is housed in the Department of Communication,
Media, and Persuasion in the College of Arts and Letters at Idaho State
University. The Bengal debaters are sponsored by K-ISU radio. The debate is
free to the public, and refreshments will be provided. For more information,
contact Assistant Debate Coach Casey Santee at santcase@isu.edu.
