There are 12.3 million children, women and adults being exploited for labor and sex in the human trafficking business and the Model United Nations members on the University of La Verne campus decided to spread the word on this issue.

Omid Furutan sparked long debate and discussion with his lecture on immigration on Tuesday in the President’s Dining Room as part of the Hot Spots lecture series.

The Hot Spots series continued Thursday as the University of La Verne debate team took on the issue of whether amnesty should be given to immigrants who live in the United States and have not passed the citizenship exam.

The International Studies Institute at the University of La Verne has voted on this year’s theme: immigration. Every year, the University has a new theme focusing on a global issue or concern that either affects people, forces them to think about their opinions or inspires them to help.

With such issues as migrant labor, illegal immigration in the public consciousness, Kenneth Marcus, associate professor of history and director of the International Studies Institute, chose immigration as the theme for this year’s Hot Spots speaker series.