Museums' exhibits take on American visa and immigration debate

Launched this week in Chicago is a program that aims to explore the important questions on American visa and immigration, migrant access to health care, how borders should be controlled, and issues of citizenship and national identity.

Called "Face to Face: Immigration Then and Now" the program will let the public decide how they want to talk about the issue.

The Director of the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience, Liz Sevcenko, said the idea behind the program was to get political leaders and activists talking to each other to reach decisions about how to achieve reform.

The museums chose American visa and immigration as a focus because it intersects with other topics and historically has been an issue the US struggles with, Sevcenko said.

The program involves 13 museums, each museum tailoring events to the local communities.

The American Visa Bureau is an independent consulting company specialising in American visa and immigration services.