EDITOR’S NOTE: Due to sequestration-related events, Secretary Duncan is unable to travel to Boston on Monday, and the student town hall with Mayor Menino and press availability detailed below have been canceled. In his place, Executive Director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics Marco Davis will have a conversation with Boston International & Newcomers Academy students to talk about immigration reform and college access. The meeting will be at the school at 9 a.m.
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan will travel Monday to Boston where he will join Mayor Thomas M. Menino to discuss immigration reform with students at the Boston International & Newcomers Academy in a student town hall in the school's gymnasium.
The student town hall will consist entirely of 125 newly arrived immigrants of high school age who did not speak English only two years ago. Students representing more than 20 countries — including Vietnam, Ruanda, Iran, Cape Verde, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Albania, Venezuela and the Sudan — will share their personal experiences. The discussion will focus on immigration reform and college accessibility.
President Obama has proposed creating a workable immigration system for the 21st century that would focus on four areas: Continuing to strengthen border security, streamlining legal immigration, earned citizenship and cracking down on employers hiring undocumented workers. Click here for details.
A press availability will follow at 11:10 a.m.