Friends! If you haven’t already heard, we here at the Mercury have teamed up with those titans of voluntarism and civic engagement at the Oregon Bus Project for a new monthly series called “Debate Club.”

We’re pretty freakin’ thrilled about it, as the events we’ve done in the past (our charter review forum and digital politics) have been fun and engaging, and a bit messy around the corners, the way any drunken political discussion should be.

The series is kicking off this Tuesday, June 26, at rontoms (600 E Burnside) at 7pm. As always, this shebang is all abut dialog, democracy, and drinking—in fact, that’s the tagline. This month’s issue is about the little-discussed topic of immigration. I know there hasn’t been much about it in the news lately, so if you’re a little under-informed, it’s okay—we’ll help fill you in. We’ve got a great panel lined up, which I’ll tell you about tomorrow, but suffice it to say that no matter how much you think you know about immigration, you’re going to hear some new perspectives.

We’d love to see you out. It’s free—of course—and you can stick around with us afterward to talk about immigration, or whatever else is on your mind. Fun!

Before that, though, on Sunday afternoon, the Portland Immigrant Rights Coalition is organizing a rally and march to show support the families of the workers deported in the Del Monte immigration raid. It starts at 2pm in front of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement office at 511 NE Broadway.