Ahora Latino: A National Conversation

While Americans' concerns about illegal or undocumented immigrants rise, they are bearing witness to something new and unprecedented: immigrants, legal and illegal, are coming out of the shadows and onto the streets. They are letting their feelings known and are participating in the Democratic process in a way never seen before in the U.S. America is at a crossroads.

Experts from throughout the country gathered to discuss this topic and the larger implications when NPR's Latino USA and PBS' NOW joined local affiliates KSTX 89.1 FM and KLRN TV to present "Ahora Latino: A National Conversation" at 7 p.m. Sunday, May 7 at the KLRN studios 501 Broadway in San Antonio. Representatives of diverse points of view on the subject came together to share in a national dialogue.

The one-hour program is moderated by Latino USA host and PBS NOW Senior Correspondent Maria Hinojosa and was simulcast live on KLRN-TV and KSTX-FM in San Antonio. The program was taped for airing nationally later on PBS' NOW and NPR's Latino USA and for archiving here on tpr.org.

Listen to the program (56:30)

Recent polls indicate the public remains largely divided in its view of immigrants and their impact on America. For every American who believes immigrants take jobs and create a strain on the health care system, there is another who believes new immigrants strengthen the American fabric and contribute to its diversity.

As Congress struggles to develop new legislation to handle the influx of immigrants, particularly those from Mexico and Latin America who risk their lives to cross at the Mexican border, immigrants already here are finding a new voice, registering their disagreement with suggested legislation that would declare them criminals.

Is this the calm before the storm? What happens next? Is this the next Civil Rights Movement? Experts discuss solutions and the Latino emergence happening this election year on "Ahora Latino: A National Conversation."

About Latino USA

Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective. It is a production partnership of KUT Radio and the Center for Mexican American Studies at The University of Texas at Austin. The show airs at noon Fridays and again at 6 a.m. Saturdays on KSTX 89.1 FM and is distributed nationally by National Public Radio.

About NOW

Called "one of the last bastions of serious journalism on TV" by the Austin American-Statesman, the series occupies a unique place in the American television landscape. For three seasons the broadcast has been led by Bill Moyers. At the helm in 2005 is veteran journalist David Brancaccio, who joined NOW in fall 2003 after a decade as host of public radio's Marketplace. NOW airs at 8:30 p.m. Fridays on KLRN.