These last few weeks have been filled with political vitriol from both sides of the aisle about the contentious US-Mexican Border Wall. From butterflies and lakes to land-owner rights and humanitarian issues, the considerations that need to be made to execute the United States’ President’s plan are complex.

The February English Learners in the Mainstream (ELM) Talks are all about the often forgotten logistics of building ‘the wall,’ and an all too timely non-political reminder that there are more issues than funding the project.

The Talks are sponsored by The ELM Project, the Center for Justice and Law and the Center for Excellence in Urban Teaching.

The speakers will include Professor Ana Pottratz Acosta of Mitchell Hamline School of Law, Michael Hatting, real estate attorney, Hamline’s environmental studies professor Patty Born Selly and Marina Aleixo, Program Director of International Initiatives and Relations at the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Minnesota.

These speakers were selected for their unique expertise on the logistics of building a border wall as attorneys, environmentalists and humanitarians.

“One thing that I like about this is that [we’re] trying to make this as a-political as possible”, said Michelle Benegas, faculty lead and Principal Investigator of ELM, “So let’s not say ‘is the wall a good idea or a bad idea’. Let’s say ‘so we build a wall. What are all the impacts?’”.

Amy Stolpestad, director of ELM and this event also wants us to consider all the aspects of building the wall.

“Instead of that [political] conversation, let’s have a really deep conversation about all the angles that you need to take to think about… what about this? What about that?”

If interested in attending, people can RSVP for Deconstructing the Wall on Hamline’s website, listed under events. This free event will take place from 4:30 – 6 p.m. on Feb. 27 in the Kay Fredericks Room.