Ignacio, the father of "Ugly" Betty on the hit television series, entered the country illegally. Coincidentally, actor Tony Plana --- who portrays Ignacio --- recently had a chance to spotlight an important subject to him: immigration.

The occasion was a weekend-long "Ignatian Family Teach-In on Immigration" at Loyola High School in Los Angeles. The early March event, sponsored by the Ignatian Solidarity Network, was attended by more than 500 students and representatives from about 50 high schools, universities, parishes and other organizations throughout the country as well as 25 students from a Jesuit university and high school in Tijuana.

During the weekend, the conference featured guest speakers, small group discussions, break-out topic sessions and a Sunday Mass celebrated by Auxiliary Bishop Gabino Zavala. Topics included border issues, the Guadalupe homeless project, global immigration, reflections on being bi-national, the rights and dignity of unaccompanied minors and the reality of human trafficking.

Plana --- who came to the U.S. when he was in the third grade and unable to speak English --- was a natural choice to serve as the moderator and guest speaker for the Teach-In.

"Immigration is something I am very connected with," he said during his opening address. "What I am most proud of is we ["Ugly Betty"] were able to put a human face on that figure that was bandied about so much of 14 million illegal immigrants in this country."

Plana said that he hoped the Teach-In would give attendees an opportunity to "reflect more deeply, with more complexity on the migrant and immigrant experience in the United States in light of Catholic social teaching and the Gospel mandate to honor the dignity of all persons."

Ann Magovern, executive director of the Ignatian Solidarity Network, said that the organization chose immigration as the conference topic because it was "of concern to lots of students and families" who wanted more education and help understanding the national political debate concerning the topic. Magovern said students attending the weekend ranged from areas of the country where immigration is not yet an issue, to those that have firsthand experience.

"The goal of the Teach-In is teaching and leadership development," Magovern said, adding that she hopes students will learn about the issues of immigration and take the information back to their communities and possibly have their own "mini-Teach-Ins."

Jesuit Father Gregory Goethals, president of Loyola High School, told the group at the opening dinner, "It is truly what we who are in Ignatian education are all about --- to tackle these kind of issues and to bring them into the forefront of peoples consciousness."

Jill Kriesky, director of service for the Social Action Center and the Appalachian Institute at Wheeling Jesuit University in Wheeling, W. Va., said that she brought students from her school to expose them not only to local and national social issues, but also to the international issue of immigration.

"What we like about this program is that we want our students to learn about service, but we really want them to learn about advocacy as a way to serve people as well," Kriesky said.

Arturo Romo, 15, a sophomore at Loyola Academy in Willmette, Ill., attended the weekend with 11 classmates. He said he wanted to learn more facts on immigration, to find out the number of immigrants living in the United States and to learn how the issue will affect the upcoming election. He said he also knows about immigration first hand. Though he was born in the U.S., his father's family all immigrated here from Mexico.

"I don't think there is a right answer," he said about people who enter the U.S. illegally. "If you are an illegal immigrant, you have a chance [if caught] of not becoming a citizen legally, but at the same time, there are families that might not have the time or the money to go through the process, so the only option might be to sneak into the country. The only answer would be not being so strict on the process."

Jaime Guerrero's father is from Mexico and his mother is from Ohio, giving him a unique vantage point for immigration. The 18-year-old senior at Loyola High School said that the Teach-In was important because it brought "together both sides of the view."

"You get to see that people's view on both sides are not perfect and that there really is a lot of gray area that has to be worked out," he said. "Maybe there aren't any solutions now, but events like this create solutions.

In his discussion Friday night, Jesuit Father Bill Rickle, a sociology professor at Loyola College in Maryland, focused on placing the migration issue globally and gave historical background and contemporary demographics on current migration.

"The whole migration thing is a global phenomenon --- it is not just a local phenomenon for us," Father Rickle said. And for our students to be aware of being citizens of the world means, among other things, recognizing that people are moving all over the place."

Loyola/L.A. senior Frank Romo, 17, said he especially liked Father Rickle's discussion because it showed the global migration over the past 50 years and projected increased migration in the United States, which included the east and southeast.

"It showed the huge diversity not only in the United States, but all over the world," Romo said. "It makes you realize that the United States isn't the only place [dealing with the issue]."