An immigration panel and open discussion was held Tuesday night in the Alumni Memorial Union to inform the Marquette community about how immigration laws are affecting Milwaukee.

The five-person panel, which consisted of professors and area activists, spoke to about 30 people about immigrant issues such as college tuition, civil rights, language and immigrants' role in the workplace. The panelists also allowed time to speak amongst themselves and with audience members.

According to Adrian Garcia, a junior in the College of Arts & Sciences, the discussion was held to bring awareness and personal stories to the immigration issue so people could become more educated. Garcia is a member of Sigma Lamba Beta, the Latino-based multicultural fraternity that sponsored the event.

Garcia said the discussion also served as preparation for the immigration rights rally held Wednesday at Mitchell Park.

Panel member Barbara Pavon, a Milwaukee Area Technical College student, gave her personal story about how she was limited by immigration laws. After being accepted to Marquette, Pavon said she had to leave school after attending her first class because her scholarships were taken away because of her status as an undocumented student. She said she could not afford her tuition payments.

"That was the worst day of my life," Pavon said.

But Eva Martinez, admissions counselor for Undergraduate Admissions, said alternatives are now available for students with similar cases. Private scholarships, such as the urban scholars program, are available for anyone to apply regardless of immigrant status, Martinez said.

Melanie Benesh, youth coordinator for Voces de la Frontera, an organization to help immigrant workers, said there is much work to be done to help immigrant college students. She said these students have to pay higher tuition and have trouble applying for FAFSA. She said only exceptional students or student-athletes may receive the in-state tuition price at public universities.

Pavon said people need to know more about immigration issues such as tuition and that they need to get involved.

The rest of the panel agreed. Louise Cainkar, assistant professor of social and cultural sciences, said the movement needs to gain success locally before having a large enough influence nationally to give immigrants the chance for a better life.

"Immigrants in this country are still socially treated as the 'other,' " Cainkar said. "We need to give immigrants the access to the American dream that other people enjoy."

Manuel Busso, a junior in the College of Engineering, said the discussion provided a lot of useful information but that the panel needed to centralize its thoughts into one uniform view.

"It should have been done better," Busso said. He said there were too many random facts and statistics that took away from the overall message of the movement.