Undocumented workers and residents are a part of life in Southern California. Los Angeles, its businesses, schools, and other public resources have long struggled with the challenges of absorbing new populations, from educating young people who have just arrived in the country and are unfamiliar with English to managing a relatively transient workforce. It hasn't helped that the gap between economic reality and the law drove this workforce underground, as Southern California society simultaneously relied on it and decried its presence. Immigration reform promises to change life for the entire community-but how? A more permanent, settled population could create new opportunities for L.A.-including more people legally able to start businesses, pursue higher education, and participate fully in civic life. Immigration reform also poses potential challenges: Will demand for already strained public services spike? Will the region see another wave of future unauthorized immigration resulting from another amnesty? And here's an uncomfortable question for the city's wealthier liberal enclaves: Will costs for domestic help (from taking care of babies to roof leaks) go up as so many of the workers who perform these jobs emerge from the shadows? And, does the 1986 amnesty hold any lessons for the city's future? UCLA Graduate School of Education dean Marcelo Suárez-Orozco, USC sociologist Manuel Pastor, and UC Berkeley School of Public Health California Program on Access to Care director Gilbert Ojeda visit Zócalo to discuss what immigration reform would mean for us all.

Registration:
Register at http://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/event/what-would-immigration-reform-mean-for-los-angeles/.