Luz Varela, a 2015 Bluffton graduate, will present the forum “#ProtectRefugees: The Criminalization of Immigrants in the United States” at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 18, in Yoder Recital Hall. The event is free and open to the public. Varela is a legal assistant at the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES) in San Antonio. RAICES is a nonprofit agency that promotes justice by providing free and low-cost legal services to underserved immigrant children, families and refugees in Central and South Texas. 

The presentation will detail the struggles of immigrants and refugees in the United States resulting from current political and media realities.