April 8 Hot Topics Panel Discussion Focuses on Immigrant Rights
League of Women Voters of Orange County Lunch and Discussion Series
ORLANDO, Fla. (March 18, 2026) — The League of Women Voters of Orange County will host an April 8 Hot Topics discussion — “Why Immigrant Rights Matter to Us All” — that focuses on threats to immigrants’ due process and what voters can do to counter efforts that weaken everyone’s constitutional rights.
Doors open at 10:30 a.m. at the Winter Park Events Center for a buffet lunch. The panel discussion starts at 11:45 a.m. at 1050 W. Morse Blvd. in Winter Park and ends at 1 p.m. Tickets are $30 for League members, $37 non-members. Register at www.LWVOC.org/HotTopics. A Hot Topics Overtime will be held from 1:15-2 p.m. on the second floor of the events center, and various groups representing immigrant issues will be available for an extended discussion.
The moderator is Kate Aschenbrenner, an assistant professor who teaches immigration law and directs an immigration clinic at Barry University. Panelists include Ericka Gómez-Tejeda, who coordinates the local Immigrants Are Welcome Here Coalition and also serves as organizing director for the Hope CommUnity Center; Josephine Arroyo, an Orlando attorney who works with immigration cases and also is an assistant professor at Rollins College, and Ryan Gillespie of the Orlando Sentinel, who has reported on immigration issues.
Giving more rights to one group usually helps protect everyone's rights. For example, when immigrants are treated fairly under the law, it becomes harder to take those same rights away from citizens. The opposite is also true — when one group loses their rights, everyone’s rights tend to weaken as a result. Recent deportation sweeps in Minneapolis and other cities showed how fast this can happen, as citizens who spoke out against the government faced threats to their own rights. Two protesters paid with their lives.
The League of Women Voters of the United States criticized the escalation of deportation efforts in Minneapolis as a “historic abuse of power.” “Democracy cannot endure when its government uses violence to silence dissent and evade accountability,” the statement said. https://www.lwv.org/newsroom/press-releases/statement-league-women-voters-federal-immigration-enforcement-and-erosion
Among the issues to be discussed at Hot Topics:
- What local groups are doing to protect immigrants and their rights.
- What local elected leaders are doing to discourage creation of a large federal detention facility in Orange County.
- What is happening with the Orange County jail and immigrants detained there.
The panel discussion will be streamed live on the League’s Facebook page Facebook and an edited version will be available later on the League’s YouTube channel, League of Women Voters Orange County - YouTube.
Visionary sponsors: Phil and Jennifer Anderson. Silver sponsors: Lyn and David Berelsman; Voting Voices — Michele Levy, Charley Williams, Caroline Emmons-Schramm and Laurie and Richard Wack; The Kindred Three — Lee Rambeau Kemp, Sue Foreman and Joan Erwin; a new Silver sponsor group, Friends of the League — the Hon. Fred Lauten and Shelley Lauten, the Hon. Bob LeBlanc and Joanie Schuler LeBlanc, and Dr. Gloria Pickar. Bronze sponsors: Alex and the Hon. Cynthia Mackinnon.
The League of Women Voters of Orange County, Florida, is a nonpartisan civic organization that encourages the informed and active participation of citizens in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy.