Living Ethnography

This blog has moved

2011-10-27T07:00:00.002-05:00

Dear Readers, I have moved this blog to a new address. Please visit Living Ethnography at this URL

Guns, Gun Violence and the U.S.-Mexico Border

2011-10-25T05:34:00.001-05:00

Beyond the Borderlands: Updates, Readings, and more

2011-09-08T10:52:00.002-05:00

I've created a new website for my book, Beyond the Borderlands, published last month by the University of California Press. The website offers a sample chapter, upcoming readings and presentations, and information for reading groups and teachers.

Obama and NCLR

2011-07-25T19:50:00.000-05:00

Obama addressed the National Council of La Raza today. It was exciting to see him live, although his comments were fairly predictable. I've included a linke to the CNN coverage here. I'll add a few of my own photos in a few minutes.

2011 NCLR Annual Conference

2011-07-24T17:51:00.000-05:00

I'm attending the National Council of La Raza conference this weekend. I was a presenter this morning, talking about my research in Manassas. It's been a fantastic weekend so far.

The Harvest/La Cosecha

2011-07-24T17:45:00.000-05:00

I heard about this film today during the Latinas Brunch at NCLR.

The Harvest/La Cosecha - Theatrical Trailer from Shine Global on Vimeo.

What if the Mexicans (or immigrants) stop coming?

2011-07-14T18:46:00.000-05:00

This article from the NY Post posed the question: what happens when Mexicans stop coming? It examines the reasons-on both sides of the border-that have led to decreased immigration from Mexico. It seems that changes in Mexico, such as a lower birth rate and increased socioeconomic status, and in the U.S., including a recession and fewer job opportunities, has brought immigration from Mexico to a halt.

What's next? It all depends on the economy. If things pick up, immigration likely will too, although perhaps not from Mexico in the numbers we've experienced in the past.

New Gun-Buyer Rule Approved for Mexican-Border States - ABC News

2011-07-14T18:40:00.000-05:00

Finally, the DOJ has made a move to keep American-made firearms out of the hands of drug smugglers on the border. It's a small step in the right direction.

Chasing the American Dream: A Better Life

2011-07-14T17:00:00.000-05:00

From today's Washington Post, a review of a new film about a Mexican immigrant in L.A.:

Chasing the American dreamFriday, July 15, 2011By Ann Hornaday Early Oscar list-makers, please write down this name: Demian Bichir.Bichir, a movie star in Mexico whose most familiar role to date was as Fidel Castro in Steven Soderbergh’s “Che,” delivers one of the most powerful performances of the year in “A Better Life,” Chris Weitz’s engrossing, unassuming drama about an undocumented Mexican worker in contemporary Los Angeles. With such classics as “El Norte” and, more recently, “Sin Nombre” and “Under the Same Moon” having addressed the subject matter already and so well, viewers might be forgiven for asking just how many immigration movies we need. As “A Better Life” proves, as many as there are stories to tell.
In this case, the story concerns Carlos Galindo (Bichir), who does lawn-care work while taking care of his 14-year-old son, Luis (Jose Julian), an angry, spoiled kid who, surrounded by “Hollywood Cribs” on TV and gangs on the street, is on the verge of succumbing to the lures of thug life. When Carlos takes an opportunity to buy his boss’s truck, he’s finally in a position to create a business for himself. While he’s atop a swaying palm tree one day, that dream comes crashing down, turning the movie into a 21st-century American version of the wrenching Italian neorealist drama Bicycle Thieves.
Weitz, whose resume includes the dizzyingly diverse slate of “American Pie,” “About a Boy” and a “Twilight” movie, hews to a disarmingly simple storytelling style in “A Better Life,” which chronicles Carlos and Luis’s journey through the most elite and impoverished precincts of L.A. as they embark on a classic cinematic quest. But what Weitz and screenwriter Eric Eason capture so vividly is the sense of simultaneous dislocation and complete integration experienced by young people of foreign descent who have grown up drenched in American culture. With his hip-hop Spanglish cadences, Luis embodies the contradictions of that generation with poignant, pointed subtlety, whether with the withering contempt he gives his working-class dad in a posh nightclub or quizzically listening to the announcer whose Spanish he can’t understand at a local Fiesta del Charro.
If “A Better Life” falls into too-pat schematic order at times, its emotional pull is undeniable, thanks in large part to Bichir’s quietly potent performance of a good man who’s incapable of doing the wrong thing until he does. Without a scintilla of showboating or begging for the audience’s sympathy, Bichir never allows Carlos to be a victim, instead giving him the dignity of his choices: good and bad, smart and dumb, legal and illegal.“A Better Life” might not change any minds about immigration policy, but it illuminates the conversation with context, compassion and understanding. And by the time Carlos utters the film’s heart-stopper of a final line, audiences may feel ambivalent about where he’s going, but they’ll have a newly awakened sense of where he’s coming from.
Contains some violence, profanity and brief drug use.

Changing Pattern of Mexican-American Population Growth | Pew Social & Demographic Trends

2011-07-14T16:46:00.001-05:00

This report from the Pew Research Center discusses the growth in the Mexican-American population in the U.S. Immigration is no longer the major factor; the birthrate is.

The study notes:

The pattern from 2000-2010 was a change from the previous two decades, when births to Mexican-American mothers in the U.S. were matched or surpassed by the number of new immigrant arrivals.
The birth trend is largely attributable to the surge of immigration from Mexico in recent decades. The report uses data from the Current Population Survey taken by the Census Bureau, as well as Mexican government data on migration of Mexicans in and out of that country. Immigration to the U.S. from Mexico ebbed in the 2000s compared with the 1990s.

Field School: Fits and Starts

2011-06-10T08:50:00.001-05:00

When I met with students this week, we gathered in small groups so I could have one-on-one time with each research team. The purpose of the team meeting is to review the week of research and to make certain that these emerging ethnographers are on the right path.

For the most part, the first independent week in the field has gone extremely well, although some students were so sure. One team completed entire interview and at the end the informant asked them to please delete it. She wasn't happy with what she had to say, and on reflection decided she didn't want to have her statements immortalized in an archive. "What to do?" the team asked. That one was simple. You erase the interview. The experience points to the fact that ethnographic fieldwork can be really difficult. You can spend time and energy and effort preparing for what you hope will be a successful oral history collection. In the end, even your best laid plans might not work out.

Other students reported great interviews, but they didn't produce the information they were hoping to collect. “He didn't have much to say about Columbia Pike," was a common response to several initial interviews. One student was concerned that she had committed a faux pas, in that she had to decline an informant's request to do an interview in the public space. It's true, if we were not concerned about the overall quality of her recordings while doing the oral histories, completing an interview at a restaurant, a public park, or even a laundromat might work. However, the digital recorders that we use are highly sensitive and produce broadcast quality recordings. Because of this, and because one of our goals is to produce an oral documents that will be available for generations, we have to be a bit more selective of the places where we conduct interviews. Once we explain our reasoning, most informants understand.

Despite a few minor glitches, initial reports were very positive. Students found their informants to be generous and talkative, and even in instances where the students felt like they didn't do their best, upon reviewing the information they found was that the collection was still a success. This too, is reflection of being relative newcomers to ethnographic data collection. It's hard to take a step back and see how effective your efforts are while you're in the midst of everything.

We have two weeks to go, but I began to plan for our final report. I booked a room at the Arlington Central Public Library so that community members can more easily attend. Ideally, I would love to have everyone who participated in the interviews and anyone who would like to participate in an interview in the future, as well as our sponsors collaborators with the Columbia Pike Documentary Project and other interested parties, to join us on June 23. I have posted details below.

On Thursday June 23 from 4-5:30 PM researchers from George Mason University will present an overview of the Columbia Pike Documentary Project Oral History Collection. This project is a collaborative project between the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress (http://www.loc.gov/folklie/fieldschool/index.html) and the Folklore Studies Program at George Mason University (http://folklore.gmu.edu/)

Researchers will present an overview of their month-long oral history collection and and details about the collection that will be archived at the Arlington Public Library's Virginia Room and at the Northern Virginia Folklife Archive.You can follow the progress of the field school athttp://livingethnography.b

logspot.com/ and view the photo documentary project at http://cpdpcolumbiapike.bl

ogspot.com/.

This event will take place in the Auditorium of Arlington Central Library.

Transportation: the Central Library is a short walk from the Ballston Metro Station and parking at the library is free.

Fieldschool: Now the fun begins

2011-06-04T06:03:00.001-05:00

We finished the second week of the field school on Thursday. The procedures have been reviewed, teams selected and contacts distributed. For the first time since summer school started, I returned home without a load of recorders, mics and batteries.

The first weeks of a field school are intense, but fun. We've toured the Pike by car and bike, the students have been sent out to hang out, observe and document. My sense is that the students are ready to make the move into the field put into practice what they've been learning in the classroom.

In planning for the project, my goal was to have a solid list of potential informants for the students to interview. Something reasonable, about 2-3 interviews per person. My preliminary fieldwork was much more successful than I expected, and I have a list of about 50 people who would like to participate in the project. My hope is that the student teams can interview most of them.

I'll be meeting with individual teams throughout the rest of the term. I'll keep you posted on their progress.

Here are a few photos from the last week.


Field school participants Marielle Barrow and Brittney Pierce. They will be examining musical traditions on the Pike

Folklife Specialist Guha Shankar from the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress gives a lecture on the use of digital recording equipment

Annie Hallman and Sahar Haghighat will be focusing on the Douglas Park neighborhood of Columbia Pike

Field School: Participant-Observation on the Pike

2011-05-31T22:07:00.001-05:00

The first week of the field school was exhilarating and exhausting. The students spent most of the week learning the finer points of cultural documentation, focusing on interviewing techniques and working with field equipment.

Over the weekend students were instructed to complete their first foray into participant observation. They set out of the Columbia Pike Farmer's Market, Bob and Edith's Diner, among other places.

Tiffany Kajer Wright explaining the field school project to Marie Flores

CPDP was invited to a family Memorial Day weekend cookout--the 46th Annual Flores-Gambino Picnic. Three students, Tiffany Kajer-Wright, Jessica Brenchick, and Katie Kerstetter all attended the picnic and spend a productive afternoon meeting some long-time Columbia Pike residents. The photos that follow are courtesy of Lloyd Wolf, lead photographer for the Columbia Pike Documentary Project.

Field School participants Tiffany Kajer Wright (left) and Jessica Brenchick (center)
talk to Joe Flores about CPDP and the work they will complete this summer.

Bike the Pike

2011-05-23T11:54:00.000-05:00

On Sunday May 22 I met with five students who have signed up for the Field School for Cultural Documentation--a collaboration between GMU and the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. This was an optional bike tour of the Pike neighborhoods, led by the director of the Columbia Pike Revitalization Organization, Takis Karontonis. The goal was to become familiar with the neighborhoods along the Columbia Pike and to get a feel for the history through an examination of the built environment.

We met at the farmer's market on the corner of Columbia Pike and Walter Reed Drive. From there we biked toward the Pentagon to visit neighborhoods that have almost been swallowed up by roads and government installations, then headed west. The students got a good feel for the different neighborhoods, and the distinctiveness of this community. We finished about three hours after we started. We were dehydrated and exhausted, but as a group I can say the students were very enthusiastic about the tour and the project.

Special thanks to Takis for taking time on Sunday to show us around.

Columbia Pike Documentary Project -Emmy nomination

2011-05-19T16:00:00.002-05:00

This film, a production of Arlington County, documents the Columbia Pike Documentary Project. It has received a regional nominated for an Emmy. On Monday, a group of GMU students will begin training to span out and begin taking systematic oral histories of Pike residents. This course, The Field school for Cultural Documentation, is a collaborative between the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress and the Folklore Studies Program at George Mason University

What happens in a folklore class?

2011-04-26T09:54:00.000-05:00

This semester I'm teaching Latin American Folklore. I have a great group of students, all who have joined into the multiple activities I require when taking an upper division folklore course. A few weeks ago we visited an authentic Salvadoran restaurant, yesterday we hosted a baile folklorico, in this case a Bolivian folk dance troupe, Alma Boliviana. Below are a few photos taken by Rebecca Martin, a student in the class.

News from the Pike: Holiday edition

2011-04-18T20:44:00.001-05:00

There were two notable news items from the Columbia Pike. I'll start with the most mundane. Columbia Pike is going to have a new Taquería Poblano at the corner of Columbia Pike and South Adams Street. I've eaten at the Del Ray restaurant, and I look forward to visiting the new location.

It was also reported that a Flash Mob convened inside the Bank of American on the Pike. The demonstrators were with Tenants and Workers United as part of a national tax day protest. It's not that TWU opposes taxes, but the fact that B of A paid no taxes last year. Some 50 people participated in the protest. No one was arrested.

Beyond the Borderlands

2011-03-22T07:57:00.004-05:00

Well, it's finally happening. My book is coming out. Here is a preview of the cover. It will be available on Amazon in April. Here is a synopsis:

Immigration from Mexico was once considered a localized problem. In the last three decades immigrants have moved beyond the U.S.-Mexico borderlands to diverse communities across the U.S., with the most striking transformations in American suburbs and rural small towns. These new locations of immigrant settlement have generated new ways of thinking about immigration, belonging and local identity. Beyond the Borderlands vividly captures the difficulties of the early years of Mexican settlement in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, a small farming community known as the "Mushroom Capital of the World." In an evocative and highly readable account based on a ten-year ethnographic study in Mexico and Pennsylvania, Beyond the Borderlands considers how feelings of belonging and displacement are central concerns for communities that have become new destinations of Mexican settlement.

Beyond the Borderlands traces the process of migration and belonging, drawing on experiences of Mexican settlers and their American neighbors. It demonstrates that newcomers and long-term residents must each adjust to the transformations brought on by immigration and the new community that is emerging as a result. Beyond the Borderlands completes the cycle of migration, following Mexican families as they return to their home community in Mexico for holidays and vacations, and in the process revealing the tenuous sense of belonging that Mexicans experience as they journey home.

News from the Pike

2011-03-11T07:22:00.001-05:00

I spend a lot of time in Arlington this week. Most of it was spent interviewing folks and getting familiar with the cultural landscape, but two things struck me as interesting, one of which I want to follow up on in the coming weeks.

The first is the destruction of the Arlington Mill Community Center. Built in 1965 and originally a Safeway store, the community center is largely acknowledged as an important part of the social life of immigrant communities along the Pike.

The center, pictured on the left, looked to be in pretty good shape. The new center will be larger, more modern and offer more amenities for community members. It won't be finished until 2013, however.

There is a strong need for a community center like this in most neighborhoods, but only a handful in Northern Virginia have the luxury of having one within walking distance.

I'll be documenting the progress of the new Arlington Mill here

This is the plan for the new Arlington Mill Center. It should be an amazing addition.

The Utah Way

2011-03-11T07:04:00.002-05:00

The last few years have been somewhat Dickensonian--the best and worst of times. I can cheer for the new gay marriage resolutions, but despair at the Congressman King's anti-Muslim crusade on the Hill.

Then there are the unexpected joys, like the "Utah Way." The immigration bill passed in the Utah state legislature, and immigration enforcement bill. The legislation includes both an enforcement provision that is a much more reasonable approach to dealing with immigrants who have committed crimes (that police say won't make much difference) and a guest-worker program that could mark a turning point in the way Americans think about immigration, if it survives constitutional challenge. The law grants legal status to undocumented workers and allows them to live normal lives. It appears to be a one-state version of the overarching immigration reform package that Congress has repeatedly tried, and failed, to enact.

What is so encouraging about this is that the Mormon church has been such a strong moral force behind this legislation, as has the business community. Finally, conservatives have come to see the importance of immigrants to local economies and living up to their religious values. The Catholic Church could learn a few lessons from the LDS community in this regard.

The law is not perfect, but it give me hope. For that, I'm giving thanks today.

Learning a New Community

2011-02-28T12:51:00.001-05:00

An amazing series of stories from some of Arlington's newest arrivals.

Tell Arlington's Story

2011-02-28T12:50:00.000-05:00

I'm very pleased to announce my participation with Tell Arlington's Story, a county-wide initiative to collect the stories of everyday Arlingtonians. Check out the website, it's amazing.

Virginia's Changing Communities

2011-02-28T12:45:00.000-05:00

I've decided it's time to refocus this blog so that it is more in line with my current research agenda. I began blogging in 2006 when I started fieldwork in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. I was studying a group of North American and European retirees who had decided to make Mexico home. It was a great run, but a series of health problems and new job demands in the U.S. have pushed my research in new and exciting directions. I am, and always will be, a scholar of human migration. However, my focus has reoriented toward communities in Northern Virginia.

In 2007-2009 I did some work with Latino and U.S.-born residents of Manassas, Virginia. It's an interesting place, but the work was not a good fit. I found that although I enjoyed the people who were willing to share their life experiences withe me, the racial and ethnic tension there was overwhelming. There are a lot of great people there, but also a few bad apples who aren't interesting in getting along. They want to push their Latino neighbors out. I did not want to continue to work under that constant pressure, so late last year as I was writing up my last article on Manassas, I decided it was time to start something new.

Since then I've started a new project in Arlington County. For Washingtonians it probably seems like a move to the other side of the world, and in some respects, that's true politically. Arlington is more urban, and certainly much more accepting of their immigrant populations. But what draws me to studying Arlington is the fact that despite the rapid changes and the many immigrant populations, they've taken a different approach to their new neighbors. My plan is to examine this as another of Virginia's changing communities.

Because my interests will be similar, I will still post on immigrant issues and legal proceedings. I will also talk about my research process, as I will be working with students and community members throughout the project. For this reason, I've returned to the blog's original title, "Living Ethnography." I'm still "the Gringa," but my identity as a researcher is likely to be more expansive, and thus not limited to the U.S.-Mexico context as it was before.

I hope you'll continue to join me on this new ethnographic adventure.

Workforce Compliance and the IMAGE program

2011-01-23T18:57:00.000-05:00

As I've long stated, effective immigration control has to go after employers. This article from the Washington Post seems to confirm this position.

TYSON FOODS, one of the world's largest food processing firms, has a checkered past when it comes to employment practices, specifically the hiring of undocumented workers. A decade ago, the firm faced federal charges that it conspired to smuggle undocumented workers into the country to operate its production lines. A jury acquitted Tyson, but the damage to the company's name was done.

So it was notable this week when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced that Tyson had received a federal seal of approval for its hiring practices, which it has improved over the past five or six years. After months of scrutiny by officials, who combed through employment records for virtually every one of Tyson's 100,000-plus workers in this country, ICE and Tyson signed an agreement certifying that the firm and its workforce were on the right side of immigration law.

The event is instructive, not least because Tyson is an outlier; in the past four years, only 115 companies have enlisted in the so-called Image program that Tyson signed up for last week. Most of them are small- to medium-sized ventures; Tyson is one of just two Fortune 500 firms on the list. Although some 250,000 companies have enrolled inE-Verify, a federal program that screens potential new hires for employment eligibility, most firms appear reluctant to have their existing workforces scrutinized, as the Image program requires. And no wonder: An estimated 6 million or 7 million undocumented immigrants are in the U.S. labor force.

To its credit, the Obama administration has more than tripled the number of ICE agents assigned to check hiring practices. The agency has targeted several thousand employers with stepped-up audits of their workforces, arrested hundreds of company officials and levied fines amounting to millions of dollars against companies hiring undocumented workers. Recently, ICE announced that it is beefing up its ability to go after larger companies that may employ undocumented workers. All that is a sensible shift from Bush administration policy, which emphasized raids on factories featuring mass detentions of the workers themselves.

If the current policy turns up the heat on corporations, so much the better; they may in turn increase pressure on Congress to reform America's broken immigration system. As it stands, that system ignores the fact that millions of undocumented workers play an integral role in the economy and that the nation needs a realistic mechanism for admitting sufficient numbers of low-skilled employees to fill jobs that Americans don't want, even with the nation suffering from high unemployment.

The administration has cracked down on employers, tightened border security and stepped up its deportation efforts, particularly against undocumented immigrants with criminal records. Those steps, combined with the recession, have dramatically slowed the inflow of workers here illegally. Still, some 11 million of them remain in America, working in the shadows. As long as Congress refuses to act, the problem will continue to fester.

Immigration Reform's Image Problem

2011-01-23T18:47:00.003-05:00

This is an amazing commentary about the lack of marketing strategy used by non-profits trying to promote the DREAM Act. The basic message: you cannot sell a rights issue by saying you deserve it.

There is a subtext to this piece, about the fact that Americans don't believe anybody deserves anything (except perhaps the rich who deserve to make as much money as possible and have little or no social or community obligation).

It's something we should all think about.

Dare to Dream

2010-12-16T06:44:00.001-05:00

Lou Dobbs, American Hypocrite

2010-10-08T06:13:00.000-05:00

Lou Dobbs on Illegal Immigration: He rallies against them, but they're working for him

2010-10-08T06:12:00.000-05:00

It's been a long time since I last thought, wow, that's some great investigative journalism. If you know how the American economy works you know that many of the rich not only employ undocumented immigrants to cut their grass, clean their houses and care for their horses, they benefit from their labor in other less direct ways. We all benefit from undocumented immigration whether we want to admit it or not. In Lou Dobb's case, he benefits and vilifies at the same time.

Revisiting Manassas: Watching 9500 Liberty

2010-09-27T16:40:00.001-05:00

Last night 9500 Liberty was aired on MTV2. It was the first time I have been able to see the final cut version of the film. I've been watching the development of the project since its first video clips went viral three years ago. I've also hosted Annabel Park and Eric Byler to campus for a screening of the film as a work in progress.

That said, watching the film in its entirety was an emotional experience for me. I conducted fieldwork in Manassas and in the surrounding county from 2008-2009, speaking with native-born residents and immigrants, and I was impressed how the filmmakers were able to capture the essence of the immigration controversy in Prince William County, particularly the overwhelming influence of a small group of residents, the role of groups outside the community in pushing an anti-immigrant agenda, and Cory Stewart's crass and obvious use of a local conflict to advance his political career.

What really struck me, however, was the overwhelming pain that Prince William County's "rule of law" ordinance inflicted on the largely Latino immigrant community.

The film documents an important and rarely understood aspect of the immigration debate: how immigration is shaping local communal identity, and how poorly equipped many communities are to deal with those changes.

Annabel and Eric--job well done.

Water in the Desert-littering or lifesaving?

2010-09-27T06:39:00.001-05:00

When I read this story in the NYT yesterday, I thought, "my goodness, I live in a hateful country."

What type of person would ticket and charge someone with littering when they're leaving jugs of water to be consumed by dying men and women in the desert?

The act of leaving water is basic humane behavior. To think otherwise is simply obscene.

Immigration, Economics, and Nativism

2010-09-27T06:36:00.000-05:00

This essay by Ezra Klein argues that the positive aspects of immigration on the economy outweigh the negative one. He'll find no argument with me on that point, however, he falls into the trap that so many pro-immigrant advocates do: he assumes that the obscure intellectual economic discussion will actually influence people who believe that immigrants are transforming their way of life. And as idiotic as it may sound--some people would rather give up the economic benefits to live in communities where everyone speaks English, is white, and has the same cultural and aesthetic values.

I say this after years of experience working in new destination immigrant communities in the U.S. It's irrational, but there are a lot of otherwise good-natured folks out there who see immigrants in their community about as positive as a radioactive brownfield.

If, as a nation, we are going to address the issue of immigration in communities, it has to be done at the local level.

There is no other way.

The Gringa on the DREAM Act

2010-09-25T07:27:00.000-05:00

9500 Liberty

2010-09-25T07:23:00.000-05:00

9500 Liberty will be broadcast on Sunday night at 8 PM. This film is an outstanding & fair examination of the immigration controversy in Manassas, Virginia.

You can watch the film in its entirety on on MTV 2, MTV U and MTV Tr3s (with Spanish subtitles).

Stephen Colbert's Congressional Testimony

2010-09-24T15:26:00.002-05:00

Powell on the GOP and Immigration

2010-09-22T06:54:00.001-05:00

Bravo, Colin Powell. I wish you were not the minority. "Immigration is what is keeping our country's life-blood moving forward."

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Colin Powell: illegal immigrants have worked on my home

2010-09-20T05:32:00.000-05:00

If you're going to be honest, most of us would have to admit that at one time or another, we've had undocumented immigrants working in or around our homes. Whether we've done this intentionally, by hiring a housekeeper whom we decided "don't ask, don't tell" is the best policy, to hiring a subcontractor to mow lawns or landscape who most certainly has picked up a day laborer or two to help out with a day's work. Today's Washington Post highlights the perspective of Colin Powell, who breaks with the American tradition of pretending that we don't do thing we really do pretty often, and admits that he has hired the undocumented to work on his home.

He does this as an attempt to raise awareness of the need for comprehensive immigration reform. Let's hope he's not the last reasonable Republican who's willing to take a stand.

Immigrant Voices: An Oliver Twist Story

2010-09-20T05:24:00.000-05:00

This article from today's Washington Post highlights an amazing story of a Guatemalan immigrant child who arrived in the U.S. at age 14 and somehow survived--and thrived--with the support of teachers, family and friends. He's a poster child for why we need to pass the DREAM Act.

Virginia and the Immigration "debate"

2010-08-03T07:24:00.000-05:00

I put debate in quotations above because I do not see the shouting match that is taking place in the U.S. as a debate--it is simply a group of politicians, in many cases siding with nativists, who are looking for ways to enhance their political careers and ride the immigration wave.

Take Corey Stewart, for example. Mr. Stewart has made he entire career on the backs of immigrants in Virginia. His latest shenanigans was an attempt to proposal immigration legislation at the state level. Never mind that 1) he's not a member of the general assembly and 2) not eligible to introduce legislation. Even more significant here is that the alleged newspaper (Inside NOVA.com) that reported this didn't even bother to mention that Mr. Stewart is simply doing with he does best: blowing steam in an attempt to capture media attention. Mission accomplished.

The latest news from Virginia comes from our state Attorney General, Ken Cuccinelli. Mr. Cuccinelli has been following Mr. Stewart's lead, and has issued a legal opinion that authorizes law enforcement to check the immigration status of anyone stopped by police officers for any reason. Unlike Mr. Stewart, this is something that our state AG can do, although to what effect is still in question.

The opinion basically states that Virginia law enforcement is authorizes to check the immigration status of anyone stopped by police officers for any reason.

Gov. McDonnell may codify Cuccinelli's opinion as an executive order. Local jurisdictions may adopt ordinances based on his opinion, but they may not. Either way, Cuccinelli's opinion will likely be challenged in the courts.

What is of concern here is the effect that Mr. Cuccinelli's opinion will have on the Commonwealth. Do we really want to tie up our local law enforcement digging into the immigration status of everyone who gets pulled over for speeding? Is our fair state so crime-free that we don't need police officers to do what they were hired to do, which is find and apprehend criminals?

Let's put aside the fact that this move, if enacted, is a tremendous waste of taxpayer dollars. What will be the effect on the hundreds of thousands of LEGAL IMMIGRANTS in Virginia? What about their civil rights?

Even if his opinion is met by a collective yawn from law enforcement, Mr. Cucccinelli has gotten what he wants: national publicity.

Show me your papers? I don't think so

2010-07-28T16:27:00.000-05:00

I'm very happy to report that part of the Arizona immigration law--the provision that would require American citizens to carry papers--has been blocked. The judged restated the concern that I and many immigrant advocates have felt is the most damaging aspect of the law, saying:

“There is a substantial likelihood that officers will wrongfully arrest legal resident aliens,” she wrote. “By enforcing this statute, Arizona would impose a ‘distinct, unusual and extraordinary’ burden on legal resident aliens that only the federal government has the authority to impose" (emphasis added).

Some aspects of the law were not blocked, but this move indicates that the nativists will not have free reign in this debate.

Arizona Immigration Law's Day in Court

2010-07-22T06:54:00.000-05:00

At 4:30 eastern time, a federal judge in Phoenix will hear arguments regarding Arizona's immigration law. At issue is whether the judge will issue a temporary injunction. I'll be blogging later today as news develops.

Colbert on Immigration

2010-07-01T12:49:00.000-05:00

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Obama on Immigration

2010-07-01T12:46:00.000-05:00

Time to call their bluff?

Today President Obama made a major speech on immigration, calling for comprehensive immigration reform.

We all know this may not work. The important thing is to keep pushing the momentum forward and to call the GOP out to stand accountable to America's fasting growing voting block.

Wanna Get rid of Immigrants? Take their Jobs!

2010-06-24T17:30:00.000-05:00

In an effort to draw attention to the necessity of immigrant labor, the United Farm Workers have started a campaign to lure native-born Americans to take over picking and "Take our Jobs."

So, which one of you is going to sign up first?

Truth and Fiction in the Border debate

2010-06-20T19:30:00.000-05:00

This article from today's NY Times highlights the realities of security, safety and crime in the immigration debate are often overshadowed by fear and hype.

On Border Violence, Truth Pales Compared to Ideas
When Representative Gabrielle Giffords, Democrat of Arizona, announced that the Obama administration would send as many as 1,200 additional National Guard troops to bolster security at the Mexican border, she held up a photograph of Robert Krentz, a mild-mannered rancher who was shot to death this year on his vast property. The authorities suspected that the culprit was linked to smuggling.

“Robert Krentz really is the face behind the violence at the U.S.-Mexico border,” Ms. Giffords said.
It is a connection that those who support stronger enforcement of immigration laws and tighter borders often make: rising crime at the border necessitates tougher enforcement.

But the rate of violent crime at the border, and indeed across Arizona, has been declining, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, as has illegal immigration, according to the Border Patrol. While thousands have been killed in Mexico’s drug wars, raising anxiety that the violence will spread to the United States, F.B.I. statistics show that Arizona is relatively safe.

That Mr. Krentz’s death nevertheless churned the emotionally charged immigration debate points to a fundamental truth: perception often trumps reality, sometimes affecting laws and society in the process.

Judith Gans, who studies immigration at the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy at the University of Arizona, said that what social psychologists call self-serving perception bias seemed to be at play. Both sides in the immigration debate accept information that confirms their biases, she said, and discard, ignore or rationalize information that does not. There is no better example than the role of crime in Arizona’s tumultuous immigration debate.

“If an illegal immigrant commits a crime, this confirms our view that illegal immigrants are criminals,” Ms. Gans said. “If an illegal immigrant doesn’t commit a crime, either they just didn’t get caught or it’s a fluke of the situation.”

Ms. Gans noted that sponsors of Arizona’s controversial immigration enforcement law have made careers of promising to rid the state of illegal immigrants through tough legislation.

“Their repeated characterization of illegal immigrants as criminals — easy to do since they broke immigration laws — makes it easy for people to ignore statistics,” she said.

Moreover, crime statistics, however rosy, are abstract. It takes only one well-publicized crime, like Mr. Krentz’s shooting, to drive up fear.

It is also an election year, and crime and illegal immigration — and especially forging a link between the two — remain a potent boost for any campaign. Gov. Jan Brewer’s popularity, once in question over promoting a sales tax increase, surged after signing the immigration bill, which is known as SB 1070 but officially called the Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act.

No matter that manpower and technology are at unprecedented levels at the border, it may never be secure enough in Arizona’s hothouse political climate when Congressional seats, the governor’s office and other positions are at stake in the Aug. 24 primaries.

It took the Obama administration a few weeks to bow to that political reality and go from trumpeting the border as more secure than it had ever been to ordering National Guard troops to take up position there — most of them in Arizona, Mr. Obama assured Ms. Brewer in a private meeting — because it was not secure enough.

Crime figures, in fact, present a more mixed picture, with the likes of Russell Pearce, the Republican state senator behind the immigration enforcement law, playing up the darkest side while immigrant advocacy groups like Coalición de Derechos Humanos (Human Rights Coalition), based in Tucson, circulate news reports and studies showing that crime is not as bad as it may seem.

For instance, statistics show that even as Arizona’s population swelled, buoyed in part by illegal immigrants funneling across the border, violent crime rates declined, to 447 incidents per 100,000 residents in 2008, the most recent year for which comprehensive data is available from the F.B.I. In 2000, the rate was 532 incidents per 100,000.

Nationally, the crime rate declined to 455 incidents per 100,000 people, from 507 in 2000.
But the rate for property crime, the kind that people may experience most often, increased in the state, to 4,082 per 100,000 residents in 2008 from 3,682 in 2000. Preliminary data for 2009 suggests that this rate may also be falling in the state’s biggest cities.

What is harder to pin down is how much of the crime was committed by illegal immigrants.
Phoenix’s police chief, Jack Harris, who opposes the new law, said that about 13 percent of his department’s arrests are illegal immigrants, a number close to the estimated percentage of illegal immigrants in the local population. But the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, which runs the jail for Phoenix and surrounding cities and is headed by Joe Arpaio, a fervent supporter of the law, has said that 19 percent of its inmates are illegal immigrants.

Scott Decker, a criminologist at Arizona State University, said a battery of studies have suggested that illegal immigrants commit fewer crimes, in part because they tend to come from interior cities and villages in their home country with low crime rates and generally try to keep out of trouble to not risk being sent home.

But he understood why people’s perceptions of crime might lag behind what the statistics show. “Hard as it is to change the crime rate, it may be more difficult to change public perceptions about the crime rate, particularly when those perceptions are linked to public events,” Mr. Decker said.

He added, “There is nothing more powerful than a story about a gruesome murder or assault that leads in the local news and drives public opinion that it is not safe anywhere.”

Kris Kobach, a University of Missouri law professor who helped write the Arizona immigration law, pointed to crimes like a wave of kidnappings related to the drug and human smuggling business in Phoenix, something Ms. Brewer herself noted when she signed the law.
Although the reports have dipped in the past couple of years, the police responded to 315 such cases last year.

“That’s scary to people, and people react to that all over the state,” Mr. Kobach said. “They are concerned. ‘That might happen in my part of the city eventually.’ ”

Terry Goddard, the state attorney general, who does not support the immigration law, said the drop in violent crime rates might not reflect the continued violence, often unreported, that is associated with smuggling organizations.

Mr. Goddard said he doubted that the immigration law would put a dent in the smuggling-related crime that grabs attention in the state. For that reason, Mr. Goddard, who is running to be the Democratic nominee for governor in the primary, said he backed the deployment of National Guard troops and supports increasing manpower and spending on police and prosecutor anti-smuggling units.
Brian L. Livingston, executive director of the Arizona Police Association, said he would prefer more attention on the border, too. But until then, he said, laws like Arizona’s are necessary.

“We know the majority of people crossing across are not criminal, but unfortunately some criminal elements are embedded with them,” he said, adding, “Governor Brewer gets that.”

As Ms. Brewer put it just after signing the bill: “We cannot sacrifice our safety to the murderous greed of drug cartels. We cannot stand idly by as drop houses, kidnappings and violence compromise our quality of life."

Harvard Student will not be deported. At least not yet.

2010-06-20T19:24:00.000-05:00

Hopefully this case and others like it will help make the DREAM Act a reality.

Boomer Abroad

2010-06-18T11:47:00.000-05:00

Web resources for American and Canadians who are looking to retire or live part of the year abroad.

Press one for English

2010-06-18T10:03:00.000-05:00

Seriously, folks, are you that insecure that you'll pass a law simply so you don't have to hear that option?

This report from the NY Times details the story of Fremont, Nebraska, a town that is concerned about immigration, particularly the cultural changes it brings. Sure, they also mention the more acceptable excuses for nativism: the "rise" in crime and loss of good jobs. (Excuse me, Nebraska, but have you ever heard of "globalization" and it's accompanied "job exports abroad"? That may be your real culprit here.)

On Monday Fremont will vote about a ordinance that will ban businesses from hiring illegal immigrants (no complaint from me here--if only these federal laws would be enforced), and bar landlords from renting to them. It seems like the voters have some decent leadership (their local elected officials fought this all the way to the Nebraska Supreme Court).

The truth is, immigrants bring cultural change. They always have. They also bring prosperity, growth, and a way to see the world more broadly than we might normally. No one has to like this, but really, folks. Save your time and money on that vote. Lobby your congressman about REAL immigration reform. Your little ordinance won't make a hill of beans difference, unless your goal is to divide your community.

If you don't believe me, look no further than Prince William County, Virginia.

Whoa, Arizona! Looks like a State-Fed standoff

2010-06-18T09:53:00.000-05:00

If the unconfirmed reports are true, Hillary Clinton spilled the beans about an upcoming Federal lawsuit against Arizona.

Corey Stewart, are you paying attention?

Polling on Arzona's new Immigration Law

2010-06-18T05:45:00.000-05:00

A new Washington Post-ABC News poll finds that more than half of all Americans support Arizona's attempt to deal with immigration. The full poll results are offered here.

Here is the overview:

American opinion is divided largely by race: on the Arizona question 68 percent of whites back the law, compared with 31 percent of non-whites. White Democrats are about evenly divided on the bill (51 percent in favor; 47 percent opposed), while non-white Democrats are broadly opposed (24 percent support, and 73 percent oppose).

Again, much of the perception here is based on a false assumption that certain strategies, like building a wall, will work. I want to leave my wall-building readers with a something to think about: 1) no society in the history of man has been able to keep a population out using a wall and 2) increased border enforcement has disrupted the natural (and preferred) cycle of return migration and has therefore increased the number of undocumented immigrants who live in the U.S. full-time. You don't have to believe me on this one, here is the proof.

Here is the full article from the Washington Pose;

Most Americans support the new, controversial Arizona law that gives police there the power to check the residency status of suspected illegal immigrants. But most also still back a program giving those here illegally the right to earn legal documentation, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

Immigration has been rising in prominence as an issue and has the potential to roil party unity on both sides as Democrats and Republicans push for the upper hand in the midterm elections. Liberal Democrats are broadly against the Arizona law; moderate and conservative Democrats are more evenly split on the issue. Most staunch Republicans oppose a "path to citizenship," while a majority of other Republicans favor such a plan. At the Texas Republican convention last week, the party splintered over the issue, with moderates proposing a legalization plan through military service, and the party ultimately adding an Arizona-like measure to its plank.

"I'm for it [the Arizona law] because it's giving a sense of accountability and it's making it easier to recognize who's who," said Terrance Hawkins, 36, a comedian who lives in Oxon Hill and is a Democrat. Illegal immigrants, he said in a follow-up interview, "just come and they stay, and they end up getting health-care coverage."

But Nancy Thomas, 58, a Democrat who is a bodywork therapist in Annapolis, criticized the law, which she worried could result in racial profiling. "It leans too much on somebody's appearance, and it doesn't really depend on an action somebody does," she said.

A further challenge for Democrats is that public disapproval over how President Obama is dealing with immigration has edged higher, with 51 percent of all respondents -- and 56 percent of political independents -- giving him negative ratings on the issue.

One unifying immigration concern is the widespread perception that the federal government is not doing enough to keep illegal immigrants from coming into the country. Overall, 75 percent of those polled fault border enforcement, and 83 percent support using National Guard troops to patrol the U.S.-Mexico line.

Views about the government's performance on the border relate directly to assessments of the Arizona law: 67 percent of those who see inadequate federal action on the border favor the new law, compared with 31 percent of those who see sufficient enforcement along the 1,954-mile frontier. In all, 58 percent of Americans say they are supportive of the new law.

Several respondents said the scarcity of jobs was a factor in their support of the law.
"They're affecting all the tool-bag trades," said Robert Sawyer, 42, an electrician in Poquoson, Va., who is a Republican. Sawyer strongly supports the Arizona law, he said, in part because he thinks illegal immigrants are contributing to the unemployment woes some of his friends are suffering. "They're good workers and all," he said of illegal immigrants, "but they're taking all the jobs that Americans do."

There is a steep racial divide on the Arizona question: 68 percent of whites back the law, compared with 31 percent of non-whites. White Democrats are about evenly divided on the bill (51 percent in favor; 47 percent opposed), while non-white Democrats are broadly opposed (24 percent support, and 73 percent oppose).

At the same time that a majority of Americans back the Arizona law, most say they support a program allowing illegal immigrants already in the United States the right to live here legally if they pay a fine and meet certain requirements. In the new poll, 57 percent support the option, close to the level in spring 2009 at the 100-day mark of Obama's presidency.

"I think we should at least give them a chance to pay their dues; don't spit them out," said Tillie Braswell, 77, a retiree in Bristol, Va. ,who opposes the Arizona law and supports a path to citizenship for people here illegally. "We should treat them with respect, the way I'd want to be treated if I were in their country."

But Braswell, a Democrat, also thought border patrols should be beefed up, perhaps by the National Guard. "Post them up and down, but don't let them be shooting them," she said.

The poll was conducted June 3-6 among a random sample of 1,004 adults contacted by conventional and cellular telephone. The results from the full poll have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.

A slim majority who see a lack of effort on the border say states should be allowed to make and enforce their own immigration laws, while other respondents prefer continued federal control by a ratio greater than 2 to 1. But the main divide on this question is ideological, with 83 percent of liberal Democrats and 34 percent of conservative Republicans preferring exclusive federal jurisdiction.

More on Corey Stewart's latest grandstand

2010-06-18T05:33:00.001-05:00

You heard it here first. Today the Washington Post is catching up with me.

Understanding America's Immigration Crisis

2010-06-18T05:31:00.002-05:00

For those of you who are agitating for more border enforcement and "sending 'em all back," this lecture by Professor Douglas Massey of Princeton University will be a place to begin to think about how we come to have an immigration crisis, and what can realistically be done to solve it.

Understanding America's Immigration "Crisis"

U.S. Immigration Policy Must Change (from the Carnegie Endowment)

2010-06-17T13:17:00.001-05:00

A phenomenal, well reasoned discussion of the need for immigration reform:

U.S. Immigration Policy Must Change
William Shaw International Economic Bulletin, June 2010

Illegal low-skilled immigration is a heartrending problem: workers whose very presence violates the law are deeply woven into the fabric of American society and the performance of essential tasks. Any constructive proposal to deal with the issue must balance re-establishing the rule of law with safeguarding prosperity and civil liberties. With many political leaders paralyzed by this difficult compromise, xenophobes and bigots gain public attention with simplistic policies—including the recent Arizona law—that are likely to exacerbate the adverse impacts of illegal immigration. Policy makers must recognize the benefits derived from low-skilled immigration while reducing illegal immigration. In making these difficult policy trade-offs, they must, at a minimum, reject those proposals that would make the situation worse.
Low-Skilled Immigration Largely Benefits the U.S. Economy

Any approach to sensible policies should begin by distinguishing between low-skilled immigration and illegal immigration. The effects of the two differ in important ways.

Low-skilled immigrants benefit the U.S. economy:

* Productivity: They increase the productivity of skilled workers and the stock of machines and buildings by carrying out essential tasks, and they further increase the productivity of American workers, including working parents, by freeing up their time. They also enable the productive use of agricultural land that would be unprofitable to exploit in the absence of immigration.

* Services Costs: They reduce the cost of services, thereby increasing the purchasing power of U.S. consumers.

The two most common concerns over low-skilled immigration—that it burdens government finances and decreases native wages—are of limited importance. The impact of low-skilled immigration on the federal budget is small, although some state and local governments do face a greater fiscal burden.1 Similarly, while low-skilled immigration does benefit skilled workers and owners of capital and can hurt low-skilled workers, most studies find that the impact is small, particularly over the long term. Evidence suggests that even the sharp rise in low-skilled immigration over the past 20 years has had a surprisingly small impact on the wages of native, low-skilled workers.2 This is for two principal reasons: low-skilled immigration attracts investment in industries that use low-skilled labor, thus increasing demand for these workers;3 and the rising educational levels of the workforce means that few native workers compete directly with low-skilled immigrants.4,5
Illegal Immigration’s Many Costs

It is possible to have legal low-skilled immigration; the benefits of low-skilled immigration need not come with the costs of illegal immigration, which are significant.

There are perhaps 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States, and the number of undocumented workers is probably more than 8 million. Some 60 percent of illegal immigrants live in six states, where their share of the population is about 6 percent on average, compared to less than 3 percent in the rest of the United States.

Like low-skilled immigration in general, illegal immigration generates economic benefits for native Americans. However, illegal immigration also imposes significant costs:

* Legal System: Perhaps the most serious cost of illegal immigration concerns the quality of our society rather than economics. Illegal immigrants are often hesitant to cooperate with law enforcement, which increases their own vulnerability and makes it difficult for the police to obtain necessary information. The failure to enforce immigration laws erodes respect for the legal system, encouraging vigilantism and violence against ethnic minorities. The presence of large numbers of people who live outside the law’s protection and have little long-term stake in the country erodes the social contract and impedes the cooperation required to establish safe and vibrant communities. And some efforts to address illegal immigration threaten the civil liberties that Americans view as their birthright.

* Working Conditions: Undocumented workers are limited in their ability to organize to protect their rights, which may erode working conditions for American workers in general through competition (though some employers benefit from this).

* Wage Competition: Undocumented status can intensify wage competition because some illegal immigrants (and their employers) do not pay taxes on wages. Moreover, their vulnerable position may cause illegal immigrants to accept lower wages6—again, some employers and U.S. households benefit from this.

* Budget: Illegal immigration may have a positive impact on the federal budget, as some undocumented workers do pay taxes but don’t enjoy the same access to services as natives.7 However, illegal immigrants can impose a fiscal burden on states and municipalities, which are required to provide some services to all residents, regardless of their immigration status.8

Policy Must Change

Recognizing the economic value of low-skilled immigration and the large economic and social costs of illegal immigration provides a useful guide to policies:

* Upgrade Skills: Concerns over low, or declining, low-skilled wage rates should be addressed by providing training and education (perhaps financed through taxes on firms or richer workers who benefit from low-skilled immigration), rather than through hopes of a radical reduction in the number of low-skilled immigrants.

* Regularize Illegal Immigrants: The number of illegal immigrants should be reduced by regularizing their status, thus improving their welfare and that of American households in general.9 Depending on the take-up of regularization programs, there may be scope for increasing low-skilled immigration.

* Enforce Immigration Policy: Measures to improve the enforcement of immigration laws should avoid exacerbating the social cost of illegal immigration by attempting to arrest individual immigrants, which degrades our civil liberties, increases the vulnerability of immigrant communities, and reduces their willingness to cooperate with the police. Instead, illegal immigration should be reduced by compelling large employers to check documents, as well as imposing significant fines for violations and devising efficient but minimally-obtrusive schemes for policing these efforts.

The Arizona Law is Misguided

Arizona’s recent law—which imposes jail sentences on illegal immigrants (while entering the United States illegally and harboring illegal immigrants is a federal crime, residing illegally in the United States is generally treated as a civil offense) and requires that police check immigration documents—will be damaging and counterproductive.

Though concern over illegal immigration in Arizona is doubtless the result of the high share of illegal immigrants in the state’s population (the highest in the United States), the new law is unlikely to have much impact on the level of illegal immigration, as many immigrants take much greater risks than police harassment or even jail terms to travel to the United States.10 These measures could, however, substantially reduce immigrants’ willingness to cooperate with the police and subject the native Hispanic population to document checks that would further inflame ethnic tensions. Since about 30 percent of Arizona’s population is Hispanic, the potential for social conflict is great.

Arizona's recent law will be damaging and counterproductive.

Nevertheless, this law highlights how the failure of federal policy increases the potential for ill-conceived state decisions, perhaps giving impetus to more sensible solutions at the national level.

The proposal to reinterpret the fourteenth amendment to exclude children of illegal immigrants from citizenship is another dead end. Refusing to educate or provide health care to children who could become long-term members of American society would be stupid and brutal, as would be deporting children or adults who grew up in the United States to foreign countries that they have never seen. In addition, such measures would have only a limited impact on the level of illegal immigration, since wage differentials are sufficient incentive for migration.

Illegal immigration is inevitably a difficult and divisive issue, given its distributional implications and the infections of racism and xenophobia. At a minimum, we should reject policies that would make a bad situation worse.

William Shaw is a visiting scholar in Carnegie’s International Economics Program.

1. Most studies find that tax revenues from both legal and illegal immigrants exceed the cost of services provided to them. For a more somber view of the budgetary implications of illegal immigrants, most of whom are low-skilled, see Camarota (2004).

2. See Card (2005) for a summary of the literature from the dominant view that the impact of low-skilled immigration on the wages of native low-skilled workers is small, and Borjas (2003) for the higher estimates of this effect.

3. For example, Ottaviano and Peri (2008) find that the least-educated native workers suffered a loss of only 1.1 percent of real wages due to immigration over 1990–2004, lower than the estimates from Borjas (2003) because they account for increased investment in response to immigration.

4. Only about 8 percent of native Americans in ages 25–64 lack a high school diploma, while many low-skilled immigrants have little schooling and speak little English. The supply of low-skilled native workers is further reduced by those who are unsuited or unwilling to work, for example due to drug addiction.

5. It is possible that a sharp reduction in low-skilled immigration could assist low-skilled native workers by improving incentives for businesses and the government to invest in education, training, and rehabilitation, but it would also encourage automation, which would limit the increased demand for low-skilled workers.

6. Controlling for observable skills, legalization through the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act raised wages by 6 percent compared to wage levels if workers had remained undocumented. (Kossoudji and Cobb-Clark 2002). Legalization also improved incentives for learning skills that further boosted wages. Rivera-Batiz (1999) finds that observable characteristics accounted for less than half of the substantial difference between the wages of legal and illegal immigrants. However, Duncan and Trejo (2009) conclude that labor market skills are much more important than legal status in determining immigrants’ wages.

7. Estimates of the share of illegal immigrants that pay federal, state, and local taxes range between 50 and 75 percent (CBO 2007). Illegal immigrants are not eligible for most federal safety net programs. And some illegal immigrants pay into social security (they provided fake social security numbers as proof of citizenship to employers) but will never collect benefits.

8. For example, the Supreme Court has determined that children cannot be excluded from public education due to their immigration status. There are about 2 million school-age children who are unauthorized immigrants, and 3 million school-age children are U.S. citizens born to illegal immigrants (Urban Institute 2006). Together, these groups constitute about 9 percent of school-age children. Other unavoidable costs from illegal immigrants include emergency health care (since 59 percent of adult illegal immigrants lack health insurance—Passel 2009) and law enforcement.

9. Dixon and Rimmer (2009) find that legalization coupled with a tax on visas could generate $180 billion in welfare gains for U.S. households. As part of ongoing research that is still subject to revision, Aguiar and Walmsley (forthcoming) estimate that legalization of undocumented Mexican workers in the United States coupled with effective border controls would raise U.S. GDP by 0.17 percent.

10. For example, since the tightening of border security in 1994, an estimated 5,600 people have died in the wasteland that straddles part of the U.S./Mexican border (Jiminez 2009).

Offensive Quote of the Day

2010-06-17T06:40:00.000-05:00

Pulled from Stateline.org, a report on New Mexico Politics. The article that Mr. Shelby is responding to examines the different approaches to immigration by Democrats and Republicans in New Mexico.

I post it here to remind readers than much of the anti-immigrant sentiment circulating in the U.S. today is simply nativism that has been reframed under the guise of "being against illegals" when it is in fact an attempt to promote a "White Peoples" agenda.

Stop Immigration legal or Illegal
By Richard Shelby on Jun 17, 2010 5:47:22 AM

The European White race is suffering from these growing third world invasions. We must send the message that immigrants are no longer welcomed into our states and communities using laws like SB 1070. Arizona has done the right thing. We ask European-Whites to join us in voting for the White People's Party; it the only party that can help address our issues. We've won in Arizona. New Mexico, Florida and Texas should be next.

If money talks, Arizona should listen

2010-06-17T06:32:00.000-05:00

This report from AP indicates that Jan Brewer is getting a little support from folks outside Arizona who want to help her with her legal troubles. I think the amount, 20K, speaks for itself. There is no overwhelming public opinion that Gov. Brewer is being unfairly singled out. There is simply very little support for Arizona's actions.

PHOENIX — Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer's office has received nearly $20,000 in private donations to help the state mount a legal defense against lawsuits related to its tough new immigration law.

Nearly 440 people in 46 states and the District of Columbia have contributed to the fund. According to a list of donors provided to The Arizona Republic newspaper, the smallest contribution is $1 and the largest is $750.

Brewer announced last month that she had hired private counsel to represent her in the federal lawsuits pending against the state. She is named as a defendant in four of the five cases.

Arizona's new immigration law is scheduled to take effect July 29. It requires police, while enforcing other laws, to question a person's immigration status if officers have a reasonable suspicion that the person is in the country illegally.

ICE Rebrands to Soften Image

2010-06-17T06:26:00.001-05:00

Anti-immigrant forces everywhere are going to love this:

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will realign its duties to promote criminal investigations over immigrant deportation, officials have announced.

By streamlining and renaming several offices, officials hope to highlight the agency's counterterrorism, money laundering and other complex criminal investigations and in the process "re-brand" ICE, turning the public -- and political -- spotlight away from its immigration work.

It's a serious change, long overdue. I'm not certain that it is possible to "rebrand" the agency to diminish the idea that being undocumented is not a major crime. But it's a move in the right direction.

Cory Stewart wants to bring the Arizona Law to Virginia

2010-06-16T16:24:00.011-05:00

Corey Stewart loves to be in the spotlight. He announced today via his website that:

Prince William County's crackdown on illegal immigration worked: Illegal Aliens fled the county, and the violent crime rate plummeted. It is now time to protect all communities in Virginia from the effects of Illegal Immigration. Please join me in our effort to protect every county and city in the Commonwealth by following Prince William County's and Arizona's lead and enforce the Rule of Law.

Never mind that violent crime was ALREADY ON THE DECLINE. Click here for the PWC crime reports (the news of the undocumented starts on page 31). Never mind that residents are complaining on local blogs that the PWC ordinances didn't work, like this one from bvbl.net:

While I agree that it worked for about a year, the illegals came FLOODING back around the middle of 2008 and it has gotten progressively worse since then. There are far more illegals in the area now than there were in 2007. Every morning I drive by houses FULL of them jumping into white work vans. I am utterly amazed at the level of them that I see here nowadays. The problem has gotten so much worse. The 7-11’s are packed, the home depots are loaded to the gills with them and the roads and sidewalks full of them. This morning some idiot in a white truck was honking at the guy in the house because he was picking him up and I guess the guy wasn’t coming out fast enough. I rolled up next to him and told him to knock off the honking at 6am as this is a residential area. If I see him do it again I am going to get out of my car and ask him politely face to face to abstain from honking his horn in the neighborhood at 6am and if he has a problem with it then I will simply call the police and ask them to cite him for violating noise ordinances. These people have no decency or respect for others. I wish Corey luck but judging how he got manhandled and uber pwned by Deane back in 2007 I’m not sure that he is the man to toot his horn and be the force behind something like this. No way something like this will work in an ever-increasing blue state like Virginia. FAR too many bleeding heart, wealthy and powerful libs in this area that don’t have to live around illegals.

Let it also be known that unless someone in the VA legislature signs on to sponsor this, this is more of the theatre of Corey Stewart. Nevertheless, concerned Virginia citizens should be put on notice. We may have a fight on our hands.

ICE captures and detains undocumented Harvard Student

2010-06-16T14:41:00.001-05:00

Americans can all rest easier tonight. Another potentially dangerous "illegal alien" was apprehended at the San Antonio airport last week. It appears this would-be criminal was able to sneak into our beloved country when he as 4 years old, and has since spend his life recklessly working hard and gaining admission to one of the top U.S. universities.

I ask you, is this the type of person we want to have in our country? Don't we need to send this kid packing and "take back" America from him and those like him?

Eric Balderas is one of the thousands of kids who were brought to this country by their parents. They grew up here, speak English and could be productive members of our society. Does that matter?

I guess it all depends on your perspective. The current immigration hysteria would lead a lot of otherwise reasonable people to treat Eric like a common criminal and send him packing. Others can see the benefit of helping kids like Eric by supporting the DREAM Act. For more information on Eric click here. For more on the DREAM Act, click here.

From the Boston Globe:

A 19-year-old Harvard biology student, who has been in the United States unlawfully since he was 4 years old, was detained at a Texas airport this week and is now fighting deportation to his native Mexico.

Eric Balderas, a sophomore on a full scholarship to Harvard, was detained Monday while preparing to board a flight back to Boston to spend the summer conducting research at the university. He had been visiting his mother in San Antonio, where he grew up and was valedictorian of his high school class.

Balderas said he had lost his Mexican passport and tried to board the flight using a consular card from the Mexican government and his Harvard identification. Instead, he said, airport security called immigration officials, who handcuffed and fingerprinted him, and detained him for five hours before letting him go. He boarded a flight back to Boston the next day, pending a July 6 court date with an immigration judge, probably in Boston.

Today, Balderas was shaken and fearful of being forced to return to a country he barely remembers. He hopes to finish school and become a cancer researcher.

"I’m very worried to be honest," he said in an interview. "I’m willing to fight this, of course. I’m just hanging in there."

Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Brian P. Hale would not comment on Balderas's case because of privacy laws, but he said ICE evaluates each case on an individual basis.

Balderas's arrest comes a year after Harvard President Drew Gilpin Faust urged Congress to support the Dream Act, federal legislation that would allow immigrant youths to apply for legal residency, under certain conditions. Faust also recently met with US Senator Scott Brown, in part to urge him to support the measure.

A Harvard spokeswoman praised Balderas today and said he is an example of why Congress should pass the act.

"Eric Balderas has already demonstrated the discipline and work ethic required for rigorous university work, and has, like so many of our undergraduates, expressed an interest in making a difference in the world," said Harvard spokeswoman Christine Heenan. "These dedicated young people are vital to our nation’s future, and President Faust’s support of the Dream Act reflects Harvard’s commitment to access and opportunity for students like Eric."

The Dream Act would create a path to legal residency for youths who arrived before they turned 16 and have lived here for five years. They would have to complete two years of college or the military, among other requirements to qualify.

Opponents say it would reward students and their families who broke the law by entering the country illegally, but supporters point out that children had no say in their parents' decision to bring them to the United States. The presidents of Harvard, Brown, Tufts, and other universities have backed the legislation, which has been stalled since 2001.

Balderas' stunned friends and classmates today, who rallied to his defense, joining a Facebook page and urging immigration officials to let him stay. They said he has tried to be a good citizen and stellar student.

Friends pointed out that Balderas barely remembers Mexico, and feels like English is his first language.

"He's like an American, but without documents," said Mario Rodas, a member of the Student Immigrant Movement, which has been pushing for legal residency for immigrant youth. "These are the kind of people we need in this country, doing research for cancer."

Balderas said he is the son of a single mother who left an abusive husband and worked 12-hour days packing biscuits while raising him, and his younger brother and sister in San Antonio. At home, he would babysit his siblings while juggling homework on his own.

"I honestly never thought I’d make it into college because of my status but I just really enjoyed school too much and I gave it a shot," he said. "I did strive for this."

Now he is at one of the world's best universities, majoring in molecular and cellular biology.
But on Monday, as he sat handcuffed, he said he contemplated suicide at the thought of being sent back to Mexico. He does not remember his hometown of Ciudad Acuna, in the northern state of Coahuila. His family is in Texas.

"They just kept (asking) me if I had any other documents, that they were just trying to help me so that I can get on the plane," he said, recalling his conversation with immigration officials. "But at that point I realized there was nothing that I could do, that anybody could do."

Day labor sites and neighbors who can talk to one another

2010-06-16T07:16:00.000-05:00

An interesting thing has been happening in Centreville, VA. People are disagreeing about immigration. And they're still talking to one another.

Centreville is no Manassas. For one thing, they have a growing immigrant community, and for the most part, no one seems to care. Unlike Manassas, Centreville doesn't have a storied history, no association with the Civil War. In fact, there is no "there" in the same way there is in Old Town Manassas. It's a suburb that became a place relatively recently, therefore the residents seem to acknowledge and accept that their community is a work in progress.

Cut to the recent day labor center controversy. It's hardly a controversy at all--at least for the time being. According to today's article in the Washington Post, a few Centreville merchants decided to organize a day labor center to relocate a group of Central American men who congregate in the Centreville Square Shopping Center. The men are waiting for American citizens to pick them up for their daily labor needs, and at the same time are frightening off customers. There have been unpleasant run-ins (at all places, the ice cream shop), but for the most part, moving the men is about aesthetics and the perception of safety rather than a documented risk. No one has reported being robbed or having suffered from a violent crime.

There is no real consensus about the new day labor site, although there are opinions. These include what one would normally expect from a debate like this: will an official center draw more laborers? Would the community benefit from moving the center away from the shopping mall? Who should fund the center, and run it?

Amazingly, there has been no rise in anti-immigrant sentiment. No formation of organized hate groups. No nativist leaders shouting that Centreville will benefit by running immigrants out of the area.

Thanks, Centreville. It's good to know that in your little community civil behavior is still the norm.

Texas GOP uses YouTube to reach out to Hispanic Voters

2010-06-15T06:30:00.000-05:00

Just a few days after the Texas GOP voted to include an Arizona-style law as part of its 2010 platform, the party decided it might be a good idea to do some Hispanic recruiting using YouTube. It's no secret that in Texas no one can win without the Hispanic vote, but it is curious that the GOP leadership there is so blind to the reality that no amount of advertising will woo a group of people to your party when you're busy trying to deport their fellows.

So, the Texas GOP wants to recruit Hispanics? Good luck with that.

DALLAS (KERA) - The Texas Republican Party is launching a YouTube campaign today to attract more Hispanics to the party. KERA's BJ Austin says it comes three days after an Arizona-type immigration law was put on the party's list of legislative priorities.

On YouTube, a quick succession of Texans tell why they are part of the GOP, in English and Spanish.

State party spokesman Bryan Preston says this is the first of many outreach efforts between now and the November election to engage Hispanics - appealing to conservative Hispanic values of family, faith and free enterprise.

Increasing Hispanic Republican ranks could be more difficult after the party's convention in Dallas where delegates approved several immigration-related legislative priorities. They include creation of a Class A misdemeanor offense for an illegal alien to (intentionally or knowingly) be within the State of Texas. And it would require local law enforcement to verify residency status upon arrest for another crime.

Eric Garza is vice chairman of the Latino National Republican Coalition in Texas. He does not believe "immigration issues" will sink the party's Hispanic recruiting efforts.

Garza: The Hispanic community is concerned about other issues as well. I think they're interested about health care. They're concerned about jobs, the economy and education. I think the Hispanic community is going to realize that Governor Perry and the Republican Party really do have the answers to securing our borders and taking care of our immigration policy, at least here in the state of Texas.

Governor Perry opposes an Arizona-style law for Texas. He says it would not be good for the state and would burden police. Republican Lauro Garza says the call for an Arizona-style immigration crackdown, and the talk surrounding it, are divisive and harmful.

Lauro Garza: It gives Latinos the impression that they are hated. And what is clear is that is not the Republican Party "platform". But what is clear is that there are these voices within the Republican Party. I believe they are a vocal minority. They are turning away Latinos at a higher rate than Governor Perry and myself are recruiting Latinos. And that's a big problem.

Texas Democrats responded quickly to the GOP delegate vote on immigration. Democratic Party spokeswoman Kirsten Grey says it should be "insulting to every American that values basic rights and freedom." The Democratic Party has long relied on Hispanics as a large, loyal voting base. Texas Democrats also take up immigration issues at their convention later this month.

Latinos Leave Arizona over Immigration Law

2010-06-15T06:20:00.000-05:00

I've linked an interesting radio broadcast from yesterday's Marketplace. The overview: Immigrants are leaving Arizona even before the new laws go into effect that have the goal of pushing out undocumented immigrants.

At the moment, schools are losing students, houses are being abandoned, and apartments are going unrented. And guess what? The "surplus" of savings that states like Arizona "gain" by not paying out services is not enough to offset the loss of taxes and productivity that immigrants provide because they fuel the economy.

So Arizona may get its wish. But I wonder if they can afford it.

U.S. Conference of Mayors Blasts Arizona's anti-immigrant law

2010-06-15T06:12:00.001-05:00

The U.S. Conference of Mayor joins a long list of organizations that have condemned the Arizona immigration law. Bravo.

Anchor babies? Arizona's "solution"

2010-06-14T09:33:00.000-05:00

It does not appear that the legislators in Arizona realize that the federal government, and the U.S. Constitution, get to decide who is and isn't a citizen. NOT ARIZONA.

Anchor babies isn't a very endearing term, but in Arizona those are the words being used to tag children born in the U.S. to illegal immigrants. While not new, the term is increasingly part of the local vernacular because the primary authors of the nation's toughest and most controversial immigration law are targeting these tots — the legal weights that anchor many undocumented aliens in the U.S. — for their next move.

Buoyed by recent public opinion polls suggesting they're on the right track with illegal immigration, Arizona Republicans will likely introduce legislation this fall that would deny birth certificates to children born in Arizona — and thus American citizens according to the U.S. Constitution — to parents who are not legal U.S. citizens. The law largely is the brainchild of state senator Russell Pearce, a Republican whose suburban district, Mesa, is considered the conservative bastion of the Phoenix political scene. He is a leading architect of the Arizona law that sparked outrage throughout the country: Senate Bill 1070, which allows law-enforcement officers to ask about someone's immigration status during a traffic stop, detainment or arrest if reasonable suspicion exists — things like poor English skills, acting nervous or avoiding eye contact during a traffic stop. (See "The Battle for Arizona: Will a Border Crackdown Work?")

But the likely new bill is for the kids. While SB1070 essentially requires of-age migrants to have the proper citizenship paperwork, the potential "anchor baby" bill blocks the next generation from ever being able to obtain it. The idea is to make the citizenship process so difficult that illegal immigrants pull up the anchor and leave. (See pictures in "The Border Fence Rises in the Southwest.")

The question is whether that would violate the U.S. Constitution. The 14th Amendment states that "All persons, born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States." It was intended to provide citizenship for freed slaves and served as a final answer to the Dred Scott case, cementing the Federal Government's control over citizenship. (Comment on this story.)

But that was 1868. Today, Pearce says the 14th Amendment has been "hijacked" by illegal immigrants. "They use it as a wedge," Pearce says. "This is an orchestrated effort by them to come here and have children to gain access to the great welfare state we've created." Pearce says he is aware of the constitutional issues involved with the bill and vows to introduce it nevertheless. "We will write it right." He and other Republicans in the red state Arizona point to popular sympathy: 58% of Americans polled by Rasmussen think illegal immigrants whose children are born in the U.S. should not receive citizenship; support for that stance is 76% among Republicans.

Those who oppose the bill say it would lead to more discrimination and divide the community. Among them is Phoenix resident Susan Vie, who is leading a citizen group that's behind an opposing ballot initiative. She moved to the U.S. 30 years ago from Argentina, became a naturalized citizen and now works as a client-relations representative for a vaccine company. "I see a lot of hate and racism behind it," Vie says. "Consequently, I believe it will create — and it's creating it now — a separation in our society." She adds, "When people look at me, they will think, 'Is she legal or illegal?' I can already feel it right now." Vie's citizen initiative would prohibit SB1070 from taking effect and place a three-year moratorium on all related laws — including the anchor-baby bill — to buy more time for federal immigration reform. Her group is racing to collect 153,365 signatures by July 1 to qualify for the Nov. 2 general election.

Both sides expect the anchor-baby bill to end up before the U.S. Supreme Court before it is enacted. "I think it would be struck down as facially unconstitutional. I can't imagine a federal judge saying this would be O.K.," says Dan Barr, a longtime Phoenix lawyer and constitutional litigator. Potentially joining the anchor-baby bill at the Supreme Court may be SB1070, which Republican Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed into law in April. It is set to take effect July 29, but at least five courtroom challenges have been filed against it. Pearce says he will win them all.

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1996064,00.html?xid=huffpo-direct#ixzz0qq0tZvZX

Governor Jan Brewer Speaks out

2010-06-14T09:29:00.000-05:00

Last week, Jan Brewer was trying to play down the effects of Arizona's recent immigration law, suggesting that Arizona needs to "rebrand" its image. This interview suggest that Ms. Brewer is entrenched in her position. As she says herself, "it's their [Arizona's] choice." If they want to continue in this direction, they'll have to face the consequences.

Six Reasons to Retire Abroad

2010-06-14T05:46:00.001-05:00

As regular readers of the blog know, I'm not a big proponent of retirement abroad. I study it because it is an interesting and growing trend, however. These six reasons to retire abroad are quoted from US News and World Report Money:

Look beyond Florida and Arizona and your retirement options get exciting. There can be much more to life than the way you’ve been living it. By considering retirement choices overseas, your days can become full of discovery and adventure. You can reinvent not only your life, but yourself too. What did you want to be when you grew up? Here’s your second chance.

This is reason enough for many to consider a move to another country at this stage of life. But it’s certainly not the only benefit of retiring overseas. Here are five other reasons to consider retirement abroad.

Permanent summer. You can escape winter. Throw away your snow shovel.

Reduced expenses. Retirees
can reduce their cost of living, maybe dramatically, by moving abroad. In Ecuador, perhaps the world’s most affordable overseas retirement haven, a couple could live comfortably on as little as $800 per month.

Lower taxes. Retirees can live tax free in some places. Depending on the sources of your income, in some countries, including Panama and Belize, you can organize your financial affairs so that you pay no tax. This can be more straightforward to accomplish than you might imagine. And, yes, it’s completely legal.

Less crime. Some low cost retirement locales have very low crime rates. You can live safer in a place like Uruguay where violent crime is all but unheard of.

A slower pace. Many people live healthier, with less stress abroad. In Argentine wine country or southwestern France, for example, the surroundings are pleasing, the neighbors are friendly, and the way of life is sweet and simple.

Kathleen Peddicord is the founder of the Live and Invest Overseas publishing group. With more than 25 years experience covering this beat, Kathleen reports daily on current opportunities for living, retiring, and investing overseas in her free e-letter. Her book, How To Retire Overseas—Everything You Need To Know To Live Well Abroad For Less, was recently released by Penguin Books.

Arizona's Looming Foreclosure Crisis

2010-06-14T05:39:00.000-05:00

This is certainly not a surprise. It seems that, just like in Manassas and PWC, Arizona seems to be seeing an exodus of legal and undocumented Latinos from neighborhoods in Phoenix, which is fueling foreclosures and may the start of a new foreclosure crisis:

An exodus of people - both legal and illegal residents - could be one more drag on a housing-market recovery. Departures from a state where growth is the economic foundation could add to the number of foreclosures and vacant houses and apartments, all of which will hurt the housing industry just as signs of recovery are starting to appear.

Driving illegal immigrants out of Arizona is one stated purpose of the new immigration law. But the law, experts say, could also drive out legal residents and deter potential new residents - people who are afraid of what might happen to them or who simply object to the law.

Real-estate analysts and economists are watching for signs that both illegal and legal residents are moving from the state, while also tracking the number of newcomers to Arizona. After the immigration law goes into effect July 29, it may become one more factor in real-estate forecasts for the region.

"Estimates are that there are several hundred thousand undocumented aliens residing in Arizona," said Phoenix housing analyst Mike Orr, publisher of the Cromford Report, a daily housing-research report. "If the law has the intended effect and these people do leave, then both population and demand for housing will probably decline."

Of course, this may be what the folks in Arizona want. Good luck with that one.

Guess who's coming to stay?

2010-06-14T05:33:00.000-05:00

Oh Dear. Guess what's happening? The US Census released new population figures for 2009, and it turns out that most of the U.S. population growth can be attributed to the Latino birthrate. That's right folks, native-born citizens born to Latino parents.

Here's an excerpt regarding Virginia:

Although Virginia remains majority white (73 percent of its 7.9 million residents), minorities are growing in numbers and proportion. About 570,000 Virginians, or 7 percent, are Latinos. That represents a 70 percent jump from the 330,000 Latinos in the state a decade ago.

7% is still a fairly small number, but Latinos tend to be concentrated in certain areas of the state, such as Northern Virginia. It's been an interested week for me. Some of my buddies in Manassas and PWC have started to feel insecure again, so they've decided that if they rant enough about a problem, it will certainly go away. Unfortunately, they have failed to accept the fact that they showed up for their battle after the war was over.

Here's the full article:

Hispanics fueled much of the population growth in Maryland and Virginia last year, mirroring a pattern echoed around the country, according to census statistics released Thursday.

More than half of Maryland's 66,000 new residents in 2009 were Hispanic. In Virginia, Hispanics represented a third of the state's 113,000 new residents. In contrast, most of the District's population gain came from non-Hispanic whites, part of a shift that is expected to affect the mayoral election this fall.

Even the recession did not dampen population growth in the region, particularly in Northern Virginia. Fairfax and Arlington counties gained more residents last year than in any single year during the past decade. Loudoun County remained among the fastest-growing counties in the nation.
The rise of Hispanics in the Washington region was part of a fundamental shift in a nation that is becoming increasingly minority as the population of non-Hispanic whites remains virtually static and grows older.

Minorities make up 35 percent of the U.S. population, another notch toward the day expected midcentury when non-Hispanic whites will become a minority group.

The statistics also show a continuing rise in the number of people who identify themselves as biracial or multiracial. More than 5 million people are multiracial, up 150,000 last year.

That was true even in Virginia, which less than five decades ago had a Racial Integrity Act that made marriage between whites and non-whites illegal. Last year, almost 140,000 Virginians said they belong to at least two races.

The census statistics for 2009 are the last ones before the count is completed in the ongoing 2010 Census. In addition to being a preview of the decennial census, the figures could have implications in the midterm elections this fall and beyond.

"Hispanics are a force to be reckoned with, and savvy politicians are going to have to take them into account," said William Frey, a demographer with the Brookings Institution.

More than half of the almost 3 million new people in the country last year are Hispanic, according to the census figures. At 47 million, Hispanics form the nation's largest minority group. In contrast, there are 39.6 million African Americans, a number that grew by about 600,000, and 14 million Asians, or 460,000 more than in 2008.

The rise in Hispanics is being driven by high birthrates. More than seven out of 10 of the 1.5 million additional Hispanics last year were born here, while immigration accounted for just 18 percent of the growth, the census shows.

Conversely, the nation's 200 million non-Hispanic whites increased by a meager 360,000 last year, about 12 percent of the total growth. As the baby boomer generation advances into old age, the white population is growing notably older. For whites, the median age is now 41, compared to 27 for Hispanics. In analyzing the data, Frey noted that 42 states show a decline in non-Hispanic whites younger than 45, underscoring how young people increasingly are likely to be minorities.

Overall, the U.S. population grew almost 1 percent last year, to 307 million people. But growth was widely uneven. Growth rates of 1.2 percent in the South and West were triple the 0.4 percent rate in the Northeast and Midwest.

Every jurisdiction in the Washington region grew last year, some at a faster pace than others.
The District's population gained almost 8,000 people in 2009, to just shy of 600,000 residents. That is about 28,000 more residents than the District had at the start of the decade. The median age of 35 1/2 is a year older than in 2000.

The city's biggest change has come in its racial makeup. A decade ago, the city was 60 percent black and 31 percent white. By 2009, African American residents were 54 percent of the population, and whites were almost 41 percent. Last year, the number of whites increased by 6,500, compared with 2,000 more blacks and 2,000 more Hispanics.

The District exemplifies how demographic shifts can drive political change. White residents supported successful council measures on same-sex marriage and the bag tax.

In the upcoming mayoral election, political strategists predict this will be the first citywide election in decades attracting an equal number of black and white voters.

Bernard Demczuk, a George Washington University professor of African American history who follows District politics, said he does not expect the increasing proportion of white voters to dramatically alter the racial makeup of the city's elected offices. He noted that white District residents have long supported black candidates in city races.

Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) and his chief rival for the nomination, Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray (D), are black. But polls show that Fenty runs strongest among white voters, while Gray has broad support in the African American community.

Although Virginia remains majority white (73 percent of its 7.9 million residents), minorities are growing in numbers and proportion. About 570,000 Virginians, or 7 percent, are Latinos. That represents a 70 percent jump from the 330,000 Latinos in the state a decade ago.

As in Virginia, about 7 percent of Maryland's 5.7 million residents are Latino. Last year they were responsible for 53 percent of the increase in the state's population as their numbers increased to 411,000. A decade ago, the state's 228,000 Latinos were less than 5 percent of the population.

Staff writer Tim Craig contributed to this

Texas GOP votes to press Arizona-like Law

2010-06-14T05:31:00.000-05:00

It appears that the GOP in Texas has decided to declare war on the undocumented, according to this article from today's Dallas Morning News. That's an interesting development, considering the long-term Mexican and population in the state. The immigration aspect was not the most surprising item on the GOP platform. My personal favorite was the outlawing of all sexually oriented businesses, including strip clubs. You won't hear an argument about that one from me, but seriously folks, is this any more realistic than your proposal to round up and deport your state's undocumented?

There are days when I think the GOP is marching toward it destruction, and along the way they decided to provide the rope to be used for the party's own hanging.

It's hard to say what will come of this--there are plenty of Texans who oppose taking strong measures against the undocumented, simply because it can work to undermine good neighborly relations. But I still think the GOP in Texas and elsewhere should take a nice long look at the U.S. census data. They may score a short-term victory today, but the demographic trends are not moving in their favor.

Standing up for Free Speech (even when you have to hold your nose)

2010-06-12T09:05:00.002-05:00

The following op-ed highlights a subject that I often reference in regard to immigration. Even if one disagrees with another person about an issue, it is best that both parties have their say in open, public forums. Not all free speech is productive, however, and there are instances where groups use their rights in an attempt to impinge on the rights of others.

Nevertheless, I'm firmly behind the principle of free speech, even in cases like the one cited above, when I strongly disagree with how it is employed. I think families should have the right to a private funeral. In the instance below, it might be best to have a designated free speech zone (much like the ones employed by President Bush during his eight year administration), so that protesters can have their say, and families can have their peace.

KEN CUCCINELLI II, Virginia's attorney general, is not famously a champion of the First Amendment. As a state lawmaker, he sought to subvert it with legislation that would bar journalists from knocking on the doors of bereaved families. His colleagues in the General Assembly turned a deaf ear to that measure, and with good reason.

Now comes another, more agonizing case involving bereaved families, the First Amendment and Mr. Cuccinelli. In this instance, he was asked to join a lawsuit, brought by the family of a Marine killed in Iraq, against a group of hateful religious zealots who picket service members' funerals. The picketers contend that American combat deaths are to be celebrated as God's punishment for America's tolerance of homosexuals. The case is to be heard by the Supreme Court.

Mr. Cuccinelli refused to lend Virginia's support to the lawsuit. In taking that stand, he pitted Virginia against 48 other states that have joined it, effectively sided with a handful of gay-bashing provocateurs over the mourning family of a dead Marine who wanted to bury their son in peace, triggered bitter criticism -- and stood up for the First Amendment. Although Mr. Cuccinelli's legal judgments often seem clouded by his conservative ideological agenda, in this case he has made a good call, albeit an unpopular one.

It would be difficult to find a more loathsome band than Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., whose sparse congregation mounts small but vocal protests at military funerals, schools and other venues around the country. The church -- better described as an extended family cult led by its patriarch, one Fred W. Phelps Sr. -- deploys its members, some of whom drag the American flag on the ground, with signs praising God for dead soldiers, improvised explosive devices and the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

The family of Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, killed in action in Iraq, sued Mr. Phelps and the church, arguing that by picketing the funeral they had caused the family emotional distress, interfered with its privacy and abridged its rights to free exercise of religion and peaceful assembly.

Some of Mr. Cuccinelli's critics have noted that the right to free speech can be legitimately restricted, as in Oliver Wendell Holmes's famous example of falsely shouting fire in a crowded theater. But restrictions that safeguard public safety should not be wielded to stifle public speech, no matter how inflammatory or hurtful. The sensible way to deal with Mr. Phelps and his followers is by using the same regulations the authorities generally use to contain other obnoxious groups of protesters -- racists, neo-Nazis, skinheads. Keep them at a distance from which they cannot disrupt their targets, provide adequate police presence to deter violence, and let them spew. That approach ensures that in the free marketplace of ideas, their hate speech will fall on deaf ears.

Close to home (yet so much like the border): another day labor controversy

2010-06-11T15:20:00.000-05:00

I was unable to blog about the conversations in Centreville, VA regarding the establishment of a new day labor center. I've been pleased and surprised by the tone of the conversation--that is, they are actually having conversations in Centreville about what to do about day laborers who congregate in places that the neighborhood residents clearly see as inappropriate places:

That said, the immigrants' presence in Centreville has unquestionably been a nuisance, and their own bad behavior is partly to blame. Numerous people complained that men awaiting jobs regularly intimidated women and girls with leers, ogling and lecherous comments.
The problem has been particularly bad outside the Centreville Regional Library, near a housing complex where many day laborers live.

"It was scary to come to the library. I'd tell my daughter, who's 14, 'Hey, don't go outside,' " said Pamela Jordan, 39.

Center supporter Foltz said he couldn't defend such conduct. But he said it would be easier to prevent such problems if the day laborers were supervised at an established venue.

It would be great if a few of the community activists--those who support the immigrants and hosting a day labor center--would take a moment and go talk to the men who are congregating around the library. They could give a mini-course on appropriate behavior. They could also let the men know that by being inappropriate, they risk bringing on hostility from residents when the inevitably loose patience with the men. I just wish people would try the education approach before things get out of hand. It's worked in other places. It can work here, too.

Mexican youth shot by border agent on Monday: the full video

2010-06-11T14:40:00.000-05:00

This is the full ten minutes of film of the shooting on Monday.

The Border Patrol Union has released the following statement:

The National Border Patrol Council said the still-unidentified agent acted appropriately after Sergio Adrian Hernandez Huereka, 15, started throwing rocks in his direction.

"Since biblical times, rocks have been used as a crude but effective weapon to injure and kill humans," the union said. "On June 8, 2010, when Border Patrol Agents were assaulted at the U.S./Mexico border by several individuals armed with rocks, they were forced to defend themselves and their fellow agents. Border Patrol Agents are not trained, nor paid to withstand violent assaults without the ability to defend themselves. Rocks are weapons and constitute deadly force."

The union also stated, "While the loss of this teenager’s life is regrettable, it is due solely to his decision to pick up a rock and assault a United States Border Patrol Agent. We stand behind the actions of the agents who did their duty in El Paso, and are confident that the investigation into his incident will justify their actions."

Please note what was NOT said here. There is no accusation that the teen actually HIT the agent, and as I said before, I'm not certain why the adult with the gun didn't stand back out of the range of the rock throwers. These kids are not Stephen Strassburg, after all.

Tips for Retiring Abroad

2010-06-11T06:56:00.000-05:00

Recently I've been working through the data I collected in Mexico in 2005-2007 on retirement abroad. In keeping with the original theme of this blog, I am posting the following tips from US News and World Report on retiring abroad.

8 Tips for an Affordable Retirement Abroad - US News and World Report

More on the Mexican youth shot by border agents on Monday

2010-06-11T06:52:00.004-05:00

ore information is coming out about the border patrol agent who shot and killed a Mexican boy on the Mexican side of the border. I've posted a report from CNN and two videos below. The first is a video of the rock throwing/fatal shooting exchange. The second is an interview with an FBI agent who is investigating the event.

The FBI is treating this investigation as an assault on a federal officer, not one of civil rights.

The Border Patrol has released a statement that indicates that the 15 year old who was fatally shot was suspected of smuggling and had been detailed several times. Interestingly, he had never been arrested.

What I find troubling about this incident is the fact that the boys were standing a significant distance from the agents. I doubt there was any way that the agents in question even knew who they were shooting at, but even if they did, the boy was suspected-not accused, not charged and there was no warrant out for his arrest.

I clearly understand that rock throwing can be dangerous, however, if you look at the film, the boys were a pretty significant distance from the officers, on their side of the border, and were throwing rocks in a manner that looked like they'd have trouble hitting the side of a barn.

My question is, why did the agents feel the need to use deadly force? Where they simply angry and lost it? Did they feel entitled to shoot across the border and kill these kids who were certainly an annoyance. But did they need to be shot? Wouldn't it have been more prudent to stand back, out of rock throwing range?

It's an unfortunate incident. I would also like to pose a another question: if a Mexican Federale shot and killed an American rock-throwing teen ON US TERRITORY how would you respond?

The full report from CNN.com:

(CNN) -- The 15-year-old Mexican youth who was shot and killed by a Border Patrol agent had a history of involvement with human smuggling and was on a list of repeat juvenile offenders, U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman Mark Qualia told CNN Thursday.

The victim, Sergio Adrian Hernandez Guereca, had been apprehended by U.S. officials on more than one occassion but was never criminally charged, Qualia said.

The use of juveniles to smuggle people across the border is a common tactic for smugglers, he said.
Meanwhile, a video obtained by CNN casts doubt on the Border Patrol agent's claim that he was surrounded by rock-throwing suspected illegal immigrants when he fatally shot the boy on the border at Ciudad Juarez.

CNN obtained the video, which was shot by a witness on a cell phone camera from the Mexican side of the border, from affiliate Univision. The video aired on its program Primer Impacto late Wednesday evening.

The video shows part of the buildup before the incident, with several individuals running underneath the Puente Negro, a railroad span that connects the two countries.

Monday night's incident started around 6:30 p.m. when Border Patrol agents responded to a report of a group of suspected illegal immigrants being smuggled into the United States near the Paso del Norte port of entry, FBI Special Agent Andrea Simmons said.

In the distance, a U.S. Border Patrol officer on a bicycle can be seen making his way toward the area. Seconds later, the officer can be seen getting off the bicycle and approaching two of the four suspected Mexican nationals who had just crossed through an opening in the fence. One of the suspects is detained by the officer, but never handcuffed, and is dragged a short distance. This happened on the U.S. side of the border.

Moments later, the officer points what appears to be his firearm in the direction of a second suspect, standing about 60 feet away from the officer -- on the Mexican side of the border. The video shows the suspect running away.

Seconds later, two gunshots can be heard on the video. A third gunshot is heard in a different sequence of the tape. After the shooting, another suspect is seen running in the upper left side of screen away from the incident.

"They're throwing rocks," witnesses screaming in Spanish can be heard in the background of the video as the officer opens fire. "They hit him ... they hit him."

The video contradicts Simmons' account. She had said: "This agent, who had the second subject detained on the ground, gave verbal commands to the remaining subjects to stop and retreat. However, the subjects surrounded the agent and continued to throw rocks at him. The agent then fired his service weapon several times, striking one subject who later died."

A federal law enforcement official told CNN that the FBI's use of the word "surrounded," was "probably not the best choice of words," and that it is more accurate to say that people were nearby throwing rocks.

The FBI has been studying videos of the incident and said some of the video does show rocks being thrown at the Border Patrol agents, the official said.

Hernandez Guereca was a secondary student in Juarez.

"The young man was not armed," said Sergio Belmonte, Ciudad Juarez spokesman. "He did not have the physical size to threaten anyone. The aggression (by the U.S. agent) is evident." Belmonte said Hernandez was shot in the head.

"My people have spoken to his family. His dad says he was a straight-A student. His secondary school even sent him on an academic trip because of his good grades," Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz said.
A memorial for Hernandez was to be held in Juarez Thursday morning, according to Reyes. Local politicians were expected to attend.

Reports that the Mexican military may have drawn weapons on U.S. Border Patrol agents, which surfaced earlier Wednesday, could not be immediately confirmed. The tape released by Univision did not show any Mexican military troops.

"We are aware of those reports, but I cannot confirm them to you at this time," said Mexican military spokesman Enrique Torres. "I plan on speaking with the individuals who are said to have been involved, but I can't and won't confirm that to you. I cannot speculate."

The Mexican government has requested a quick and transparent investigation into the fatal shooting.
Mexico "reiterates that the use of firearms to repel a rock attack represents a disproportionate use of force, particularly coming from authorities who receive specialized training on the matter," the Foreign Ministry said Tuesday in a news release.

Simmons told CNN earlier that she did not know whether the person who was shot was on the Mexican or U.S. side of the border, but the agent never left U.S. territory.

The body was found on the Mexican side of the border, Simmons said.

Peaceful protests against the U.S. Border Patrol were held in Juarez on Wednesday, near the site of the fatal shooting.

In video shot by CNN affiliate KVIA, a man holding a bullhorn is seen pacing back and forth on the dusty streets of Juarez, pleading "Justice for Hernandez" to any passerby who would listen.
The shooting comes less than two weeks after the May 31 death of a Mexican illegal immigrant who had been detained three days earlier by border agents in California.

A suspect identified as Oscar Ivan Pineda Ayala was initially detained on the Rio Grande levee, said the FBI, which is leading the investigation.

"The growing frequency of this type of event reflects a worrisome increment in the use of excessive force on the part of some border authorities," the Mexican Foreign Ministry said.

According to the ministry, the number of Mexicans who have been killed or wounded by U.S. border authorities has increased from five in 2008 to 12 in 2009 and 17 so far this year.

Earlier, Qualia, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman, said he could not comment because he does not know where the Mexican government obtained its statistics.

But Qualia said there were 799 assaults on border agents from October 1, 2009, through May 31 -- up from 745 assaults for the same time period in 2007-08 and 658 for the same span in 2008-09.
Lethal force, he said, is allowed "when an agent is in imminent threat of physical or bodily harm, which could cause death or injury or in protection of an innocent third party."

The determination of when to use lethal force, Qualia said, is made by each individual agent at the scene.

From October 1 through May 31, he said, Custom and Border Protection agents used their firearms 31 times.

Rock-throwing can be considered a dangerous assault, Qualia said: "They're not chunking pebbles."

The Press, Misrepresentation, and Misunderstanding

2010-06-10T08:17:00.009-05:00

To my readers:

Yesterday a local Virginia newspaper ran a story in response to a a press release regarding research that I and my colleague, Carol Cleaveland, had conducted in Manassas in 2008 and 2009. We are ethnographers, which means we utilize ethnography as our primary research method. Ethnography is a research method often used in the social sciences, particularly anthropology, folklore and sociology, but also in a variety of other fields. The goal of ethnography is to gather data that is in-depth and from a small group of people. Usually this would be a local community, a neighborhood, or even a small town. Data collection is done a number of ways: participant observation (where the researcher lives alongside his or her informants and documents day-to-day life and activities), but also interviews and questionnaires. The purpose of an ethnographic account is to describe those who are studies (i.e., the people or ethnos) and to document this through writing, thus the term, ethnography.

We began our work in Manassas in the Weems neighborhood and Sumner Lakes in March 2008. During that period, we interviewed 100 households that were randomly selected. These households were non-immigrant households. The householder had to be able to speak English fluently to participate. The summary of that research is highlighted this statement that I made earlier this year:

“Our research suggests that the changes that have taken place in Manassas in the last 20 years have been unsettling for some residents," says Debra Lattanzi Shutika, assistant professor of English at Mason. "Many of these residents seemed to be experiencing what I have identified as a type of ‘localized displacement'—they feel out of place in their home community. In some cases, residents told us that they found it difficult to adapt to the changes taking place around them, and that these changes that made their 'home' seem unfamiliar.”

Throughout this phase of the research, we asked residents about a number of changes in their community. What we found is that Manassas had changed significantly over the last 20 years, and many residents viewed those changes as unsettling. We also discovered that a majority of the people we talked to had strong negative feelings about immigrants. We interviewed 103 households and then went back and did an additional 30 in-depth interviews. These ranged from 1-3 hours in length, depending on the informant.

In the second phase of this study, we went into two predominantly Latino neighborhoods and interviewed a non-random sample of residents. There we interviewed 60 people. These residents reported feeling alienated from the community, and in some cases, extreme fear. What I told Ms. Chumley when I spoke to her on Monday was, although it was not surprising that an undocumented person would feel frightened by the law, we were not expecting DOCUMENTED LATINOS, of which there are many in the area, to feel this way. In fact, the responses of the documented indicated that they were just as likely to fear leaving their homes or sending their children out to play as others. [Note: for reasons of confidentiality, we did not directly ask people about their documentation status. However, those who were documented were forthcoming about their residency status.]

When I read Ms. Chumley's article, I was disappointed with her report because she clearly misrepresented our work. For instance, both Prof. Cleaveland and I told her that we understood the frustrations of Manassas residents who were distressed with changes in their neighborhoods, such as having neighbors who did not cut their grass, had too many cars parked around their homes, and left trash unattended around their homes and on their laws. For my part, most of the work that I have done in the last 15 years with immigration has focused equally on American-born residents in new destinations of Mexican migration. I recently published an essay on this, which is linked here.

In short, I may disagree with some of my informants about their perspectives on immigration, but that is not to say that I don't think their perspectives should be ignored. I honestly think that one of the major reasons why immigration has become such a volatile topic is because for too long residents complaints about the changes to their communities and the legitimate problems that come with a rapid increase in an immigrant population have been ignored by their local government.

And please note: Prof. Cleaveland and I did not have to go into Weems or Sumner Lakes and do interviews. We could have followed the path of many of our colleagues and only focused on the perspectives of Latinos. We could also have simply published our work in peer-reviewed journals and no one would have questioned us regarding why we did not talk to American-born residents.

However, we decided that, in light of the ordinances, the people in these communities deserved to have a say, and we gave them the opportunity to share their perspectives.

Getting back to the article written by Ms Chumley yesterday, there were a number of errors in it, and in places she clearly misrepresented us. Prof. Cleaveland and I wrote a letter to the editor of the newspaper, and to date we have not had a response from the editor or Ms. Chumley. Below is a excerpt from that letter:

We agreed to an interview with Cynthia Chumley on the assumption that as a reporter, she would adhere to basic principles of fairness. Reporters are taught early on in journalism programs to offer subjects of an article the chance to respond to allegations--especially those that can harm the reputation of people either professionally or personally. This reporter has quoted two public officials, including one who made serious allegation about the scientific merits of our research.
This reporter made no effort to allow us the opportunity to respond.
The following are our concerns:

Though we stated repeatedly in our interviews that our work also focused on non-Latino views of the situation in PWC and Manassas, and that we both understood and sympathized many resident's frustration, she chose to leave these comments out of the article.
This reporter never allowed us the opportunity to respond to allegations that our work is not scientific and our methodology is flawed
This reporter quotes a public official who does not appear to have the credentials to evaluate scientific research, and gives him a platform for alleging that our work has no merit.
Chumley describes one researcher as a "professional social worker," which appears to be a deliberate effort to ignore the fact that Cleaveland has a Ph.D. in the field, and is therefore a social scientist.
She also questions the use of ethnographic methodology, a method of inquiry developed at the University of Chicago in the 20th century, and which continues to be practiced and refined by social scientists.
It is apparent from the article that Ms. Chumley's intention was to created a controversy about our work, specifically by characterizing our research as having a specific agenda--to oppose the PWC ordinances--which we clearly and repeatedly told her in the interview as not the case.
Although we strongly disagree with Ms. Chumley's methods and characterization of our work, we would like the opportunity to share our research with your readers. We are willing to write a brief op-ed piece that accurately describes our methods, purpose and findings to set the record straight.
As scholars of immigration, and as advanced scholars in our prospective fields, we both recognize that some readers will disagree with our research and our findings. However, we cannot allow your publications to mischaracterize our work and allow those claims to go unchallenged.

Border Patrol Agent Kills Mexican Teen--on Mexican side of the Border

2010-06-10T07:18:00.000-05:00

This article from today's Washington Post discusses the case of a Border Patrol agent who shot and killed a Mexican teen who was standing on the Mexican side of the border. Allegedly the teen and his friends were taunting and throwing rocks at a group of agents, and one agent shot and killed the boy in response.

This is a terrible tragedy. I understand that there must be an incredible amount of attention on the border right now. Nevertheless, as a nation we cannot allow this type of behavior under any circumstances.

Globalization and the Criminalization of Immigrants

2010-06-10T07:12:00.002-05:00

Balón

2010-06-09T08:49:00.000-05:00

Arizona's Image Suffers as a Result of anti-Immigrant Law? That's a surprise?

2010-06-09T05:17:00.002-05:00

It appears that Arizona's leaders have suddenly woken up to the fact that the only people cheering the state's xenophobic anti-immigration law and banning of ethnic studies tend to have buzzcuts and favor a certain 20th Century German political movement.

And they're surprised by this?

Clearly, the only groups who have truly benefited from the chaos that has become the U.S. immigration debate are the white supremacists. Don't believe me? Then why not take a look at the language they use. You can do an analysis of the discourse used by the "Help Save" and "Take Back America" movements. In fact, read their materials side-by-side with some of the WWII Nazi propaganda. It's a real eye opener. I've been stunned for many years now that the mainstream media, the alleged bastion of all things liberal, hasn't bothered to take notice here.

The fact is, this type of demonization of America's non-white residents is exactly the type of discord that hate groups love to foster, but often cannot, simply because many Americans see through the veneer of claims that "white people have rights, too" for what they are: racism, antisemitism, and in this case, nativism.

Arizona, like any other state, is free to establish their own local laws in order to meet the needs of their citizens. If they want to institute draconian measures-measures that will not only effect undocumented immigrants but also anyone who looks like an undocumented immigrant, they should be ready to take the opposition that they so rightly deserve.

If their anti-immigrant measures cost them dearly (and the article I link here suggests that it does), then they have a choice to make: nativism or commerce. It's time for every Arizonan to take stock of their state and community.

If they want to act like ignorant fools, they are welcome to do so.

But they shouldn't expect people like me to show up and spend my money there. It's a simple choice, and I sincerely hope that I NEVER wake up in an America where they can have it both ways.

Blog Carnival on Immigration and Human Rights: Momsrising.org

2010-06-08T05:53:00.000-05:00

This is a repost from Moms Rising. I appreciate the range of discussion here. Three cheers for Moms Rising.org

Writings on Human Rights for Moms, Kids, Families & Current Immigration Law Enforcement Practices
Posted May 28th, 2010 by Kristin Rowe-FinkbeinerWelcome to the MomsRising blog carnival about the human and civil rights impacts of current immigration law enforcement practices on children, mothers, and families. Our goal is to facilitate an online conversation on this topic by bringing together the voices of many people together in one online venue.

We thank the many bloggers who are contributing original posts to this blog carnival. We are also cross posting, and gathering links from, other eloquent blogs found across the web. Browse through this carnival – you’ll find a wide range of blogs from personal stories to policy analysis, from a focus on what is currently going on in Arizona to a wider lens on the human and civil rights impacts of current immigration law enforcement across the country, and more.

These blogs represent a variety of topics, but the heart of our blog carnival is addressing this: The need to further a rational, meaningful, and reasonable national conversation on the human and civil rights impacts of current immigration law enforcement practices that is based on understanding the real life experiences of mothers, children, and families who are affected by such practices. MomsRising is bringing forward this conversation as part of our overall mission to build a truly family-friendly America for all families.

- Kristin, Mary, Anita, Julissa, Donna, Joan and the MomsRising.org team

Letters from Immigrant Mothers in Phoenix
by Cecilia Menjivar
Arizona’s Law is a Social and Racial Sin
by Jim Wallis
The Story Behind My Film “Entre Nos”
by Paola Mendoza
An Unimaginable Choice
by Elisa Batista
Peaceful Revolution: Arizona’s New Immigration Law and the “92 Percent Situation”
by Mary Olivella and Elisa Batista
We Need To Dump The Word “Illegal”
by Kung Li
The DREAM Act: Securing America’s Future in Education
by Wendy Cervantes
A Salvadoran Immigrant Story
by Wendy Carrillo
Movie Review: La Misma Luna
by Erika Chavez
The American Dream
by Lecia Imbery
MANA Calls For Immigration Reform to Protect Children and Families
by Alma Morales Riojas
VIDEO: African American Ministers Leadership Council Signs Immigration Reform Covenant
by Marge Baker
Women’s Stake in Fighting Arizona’s New Law
by Ellen Bravo
Arizona’s Anti-Immigrant Law Does Not Reflect Our Common Values
by Victoria Lopez, ACLU
Victims and Witnesses are Made Criminals When State and Local Police Enforce Immigration Laws
by Rights Working Group
Ripping Families Apart
by Jennifer Chrisler, Family Equality
Korean Americans Marching in Solidarity Under the Phoenix Sun
by EunSook Lee
A Univision debate on AZ law
Read This Before You Debate Immigration Reform
by Jill Richardson, La Vida Locavore
Arizona tourism loses more business in wake of immigration law vote, Washington Post, May 12, 2010
by Krissah Thompson
Arizona Tourism Fears Boycotts, Wall St. Journal, May 20, 2010
by Sarah Nassauer
A Nation Divided, MSNBC, May 26, 2010
Reviews poll numbers and mentions support for granting children of immigrants citizenship
Wrecking Arizona for a Law That Doesn’t Solve the Problem, dailyKos, May 10, 2010
by Markos Moulitsas
Why Americans Think (Wrongly) That Illegal Immigrants Hurt the Economy, Newsweek, May 14, 2010
by Arian Campo-Flores
Interesting piece with highlights on family economic security
Immigration Raid Rips Families , Washington Post, March 18, 2007
by Robin Shulman
Shedding light on the problem of family separation
Public Support for AZ immigration law traced to fear-based advertising, Latina Lista, May 26, 2010
by Marisa Treviño
How public opinion can be swayed with fear as a motivator
Churches profess empathy for illegals, The Columbus Dispatch, May 14, 2010
by Meredith Heagney
Churches express concern over parent-child separation and other human rights abuses in the name of immigration law enforcement.
But Wait, California Has An SB 1070 Too This American Muslim, May 27, 2010
by Affad Shaikh
Immigration law in a neighboring state
AZ Students Protest in John McCain’s Senate Office, Latina magazine, May 19, 2010
by Mariela Rosario
Undocumented college students standing together at Sen. McCain’s office
Thoughts Post the Conviction of Jeffrey Convoy, Marcelo Lucero’s Killer, VivirLatino, April 20, 2010
by Maegan La Mamita Mala
A Latina blogger’s thoughts on the conviction of a man who murdered an Ecuadorean immigrant because he suspected he was Mexican.
Memo to President Obama on a Recipe for a Down Payment on Immigration Reform in 2010, William C. Velasquez Institute (WCVI) & National Alliance of Latin American and Caribbean Communities (NALACC), May 25, 2010
by Antonio Gonzalez & Oscar Chacon
Faith Groups Press for a balanced approach to immigration, Christian Science Monitor, February 2, 2006
by Jane Lampman
Report: Immigration Laws Put 5 Million Children A Risk of Family Separation, TruthOut, May 3, 2010
by Michelle Chen
Video: Conviction, Deportation, Family Separation Images, Contexts, May 9, 2010
Hundreds Protest at DC Immigration Office, Christian Post May 17, 2010
by Ethan Cole
Children and the Immigration Debate: A Sneak Peek at “From North to South,” La Bloga, May 26, 2010
Reviewing a children’s book on family separation due to immigration enforcement practices, from the interesting perspective of an elementary school teacher
Why comprehensive immigration reform, APA For Progress, May 25, 2010
A view from the blog of Asian Pacific Americans for Progress
Immigration reform: Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation, Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, May 25, 2010
Dangerous Ideas, Psychology Today, May 13, 2010
Psychology professionals weigh in on immigration reform
Immigration and Family Unification, Asian Journal, September 1, 2009
A Moral Stand Against A Broken and Unjust Immigration System, Seattle Times, May 25, 2010
by Larry Gossett, Josefina Beecher, Pramila Jayapal
A Fatal Ending for a Family Forced Apart by Immigration Law, New York Times, February 11, 2010
by Nina Bernstein
A moving personal story about immigration law and one family’s terrible loss
First Lady Michelle Obama Questioned by Second Grader Worried About Her Mom’s Immigration Status, America’s Voice, May 19, 2010
by Frank Sharry
The video that’s gotten countless views from blogs all over.
Family Reunification, LatinoUSA, May 14, 2010
Audio, video and slideshows on the issues facing families who immigrate.
Women March for Immigrant Rights, United Methodist News Service, May 3, 2010
by Linda Bloom
Photos accompany the article showing women holding signs that say, “Because We Believe, We Act For Immigrant Rights”
Arizona’s Immigration Law – A Mother’s Worst Nightmare, Activistas, May 28, 2010
by Kristin Teigen
Immigration Law’s Impact on Kids: Broken Families and America’s Soul, Huffington Post, May 5, 2010
by Michelle Chen
Working to Keep Immigrant Families Together, Women’s Refugee Commission
by Amalia Guzman Molina
Arizona Law An Attack on All Women, 9to5.org
by Linda Meric
Are children of immigrants becoming needless statistics in the child welfare system? From Breakthrough’s Restore Fairness blog
by Emily Butera
Why Is the Arizona Immigration Law a ‘Women’s Issue?’, RHRealityCheck blog, May 14, 2010
by Amie Newman
Women’s Groups Fighting Arizona’s Immigration Law, RHRealityCheck blog, May 20, 2010
by Amie Newman
“Dropping Babies:” Senator Pearce Targets Immigrant Mothers, RHRealityCheck blog, May 28, 2010
by Amie Newman

Posted Under: Uncategorized

Are immigrants stealing summer jobs from American teens?

2010-06-06T10:52:00.000-05:00

Are immigrants stealing summer jobs from your kids? This article from today's Washington Post asks, "what happened to summer jobs?" and seeks an answer.

The data discussed below are inconclusive. Not surprisingly, the Center for Immigration Studies, always on the lookout for another reason to blame immigrants, is certain that immigrants have been gobbling up the jobs that Beaver and Wally Cleaver once occupied during the summer months. There is no doubt that some summer employment, like grass-cutting, has been overtaken by professional landscaping companies which admittedly, are probably a major employer of undocumented labor.

The other issue listed here is summer school. More teens, apparently are attending summer school
than in past years. I find this curious. Why?

What is not discussed here is something that I've observed in my own neighborhood: a lot of parents don't want their kids to work. My kids are early teens, and they have small babysitting and lawn mowing businesses. But a lot of their friends are not only not interested in working, their parents have told me that they're simply not allowed. With babysitting, there is a fear that daughters and sons will be vulnerable to a lecherous parent, something I have tried to mitigate by visiting the parents and homes of prospective employers before my kids head out to babysit.

Another reason I've heard is that parents are afraid their kids will get distracted by work and not put their full effort into their studies. That seems reasonable to me, but in the summer? If the kid isn't in school, won't they have enough free time to pick up 10 20 hours a week working?

Finally, I've also heard parents say that they don't want their kids working because they don't want them to have too much money. With money they may be tempted to buy booze, drugs or cigarettes. That, too, is a legitimate concern, but only if they child in question does not have adequate parental supervision. I keep track of how much money my kids have coming in, and they are required (yes, REQUIRED) to save 66% of their earnings. We have savings accounts where we make regular deposits, and we don't keep cash around the house. If fact, if you were to comb my house right now, you'd be lucky to find $5 cash.

The kids are allowed to take the other 33% and spend it on what they like: clothes, guitars, music, make-up, etc.

My point in all of this, is that I think a lot of kids between the ages of 16-19 are not working because their parents don't encourage them to do so. In my neighborhood, I think it's a matter of parental pride, "my kids don't have to work--I support them." I think it's a part of being middle or just slightly above middle class. My peers don't want people to think they don't have enough money to buy their kids the things they want.

But at the same time, they're coddling kids and prevent them from understanding the value of work and money. Yes, I watch my kids' money like an involved parent. However, they're still pretty young. My hope is that by the time they reach their late teens this won't be necessary. Thus working and saving is part of the lesson, which I hope to make a habit. I also want my kids to understand that the night at the movies or those 30 iTunes downloads are not just materializing out of thin air, but they equal 2 hours of watching rambunctious toddlers or mowing 2 lawns.

Most suburban parents are not going to have the wealth to float their kids economically when they finish college. The kids are going to have to learn to do it themselves. I personally think it's better to learn those things now, when the stakes are not so high, then to wait until junior is in his or her mid-twenties and can run up their credit cards, get overburdened with car and house debt, or declare bankruptcy.

Call it the case of the missing summer jobs.

According to Northeastern University economist Andrew Sum, only a third of American 16- to 19-year-olds had a job last summer, the lowest level on record and down from 52 percent a decade ago. The decline began long before the current economic crisis, so high unemployment is not the only culprit. But the question of who is to blame has launched your classic Washington think tank skirmish.
First up, Steven Camarota, a researcher at the Center for Immigration Studies, which favors tighter restrictions on immigration. In a paper released last month, he points a finger at (yes) immigrants, who often fill the types of low-skill jobs that teenagers have traditionally held.

But in reviewing Camarota's paper, Heidi Shierholz, an economist at the liberal Economic Policy Institute, spotted what she considered a glaring omission. "He didn't mention rising summer school enrollment," she told me last week. "It's this massive trend that he just didn't talk about."

Shierholz put out a brief critiquing Camarota's argument: "CIS Analysis of Immigration's Impact on Youth Employment Omits Key Facts." She argued that increased summer school attendance more than accounted for the decline in teen employment.

After what a post on the EPI Web site describes as "friendly discussions," the dueling researchers reached a detente. Shierholz now reckons that summer school accounts for only around a third of the overall decline. Camarota, for his part, concedes that school enrollment might be playing some role. "It wouldn't be plausible if the whole story is immigration," he told me.

In other words, the mystery remains. Other suspects: older workers who aren't retiring as quickly as expected; increases, in some states, in the minimum wage; and that old standby, changing values.

One thing everyone agrees on? Summer jobs, if they can be found, don't pay anything like they used to. "When I was a teenager in the early '80s in New Jersey," Camarota said, "It was not uncommon for a hard job to pay $7 an hour, which would be about $15 an hour now. Now nobody, under any circumstances, pays a teenager $15 an hour."

The Voices that are forgotten in Arizona and across the U.S.

2010-06-06T09:15:00.000-05:00

From today's Washington Post. Regarding the DREAM Act.

PHOENIX -- Among the 10,000 or so protesters who gathered in front of the state Capitol here last weekend under a scorching sun, one group stood out. Despite the heat, they wore graduation caps and gowns in shiny royal blue and sunburst yellow.

They were graduates of American colleges, young people who mostly grew up in the United States, accidental Americans who just happen to be living here illegally.

Like the rest of the crowd, they came to protest Arizona's controversial new immigration enforcement law, but they also sought recognition of a long-sought goal -- passage of the Dream Act, federal legislation that would provide a path toward legal status for people like them
Unlike their parents, however, these young people aren't keeping quiet about their immigration status.

They are staging protests around the country, risking arrest and deportation. It's something their parents, for the most part, would never thinkof doing. But as this group of mostly 20-somethings sees it, they are American in every way -- except on paper. They have lived in the United States for at least 10 years. They speak perfect English and attended grade schools and universities here. They have American friends, American lifestyles and typical American sensibilities.

And what's more American than speaking out?

"In school we learned that if you do everything right and live by the rules, that you'll be rewarded, that everything will pay off, that you can be whatever you want to be," said Lizbeth Mateo, 25, who came to this country from Mexico at age 14. "We really believed that. We never felt different from other American kids, and now we want to start contributing to our country and make our country better."
In the past few weeks, as public criticism of Arizona's law has grown, several young activists have been arrested while engaging in civil disobedience. They've sought to capitalize on a moment when Americans are fixated on immigration to draw attention to their own political battle. Though they despise the Arizona law, they don't want the Dream Act to get lost in the debate. They support comprehensive reform that would provide a path to legalization for the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants living in this country, but they want separate legislation -- "a down payment" for the roughly 1.5 million people who would be eligible for the Dream Act -- passed in the interim.

These young people are tired of waiting. So they are staging sit-ins at the district offices of members of Congress and blocking traffic in front of federal buildings. In some cases, those arrested may face deportation to countries where they have not lived for many years and where they no longer have strong ties.

"We've been organizing for years," said Yahaira Carrillo, 25, who came to the United States at age 8 with her parents. "We've done everything else that we could, the faxing letters to Congress, the lobbying, the letter-writing campaigns, the conference panels, the media interviews. What else do we need to do for our political leaders to hear us?"

Carrillo was one of five students who took part in a sit-in last month outside the Tucson office of Sen. John McCain (R). They were hoping to convince the senator to help revive the Dream Act legislation. Instead, four of them were arrested and are awaiting a court hearing later this month. Three of the students, including Carrillo, are undocumented.

And if they face deportation? "That's something that we'll deal with when we have to," Carrillo says calmly.
That fearlessness -- or naivete -- separates Carrillo's generation from that of her parents. This divide was evident at the protest last Saturday. "These are different times," said Irene, an older immigrant from El Salvador who took part in the march and did not give her last name for fear of repercussions at her job. "Our kids are of a different time. They feel they are a more vital part of America."

Her friend Ann Saladrigas added: "They're more out in the open."
The difference is striking to me, too. As an immigrant who came of age in the early 1980s, I've watched this fledging movement with a mix of admiration and trepidation. I admire the young immigrants' unapologetic moxie, but I worry that it might cause a backlash. "American except on paper" is an important distinction to a lot of people who view legal status as a privilege, not a right. Then again, few activist movements won new "rights" by waiting for them to be handed out; they got them by agitating for them.

I came to the United States from Haiti at age 6, along with four older siblings. Although my family came here legally, we had friends and relatives who were undocumented. In those days, we never discussed loved ones' immigration status with anyone outside the family. Rallies and sit-ins were out of the question. Being undocumented was a source of embarrassment and fear. It remains so for older immigrants, but the Dream Act generation considers it merely a temporary state.

Without question, these young activists are a sympathetic and impressive bunch. Many were top high school students who went on to earn college degrees. Well-educated, media savvy and politically astute, they have something to say and are not shy about saying it. Over the years, they've consistently earned the support of both Republican and Democratic lawmakers. In April, Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) asked Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to halt deportations of students who would be eligible for legal status under the Dream Act.

The legislation has languished in Congress for nearly a decade, despite lobbying by the students and immigrant advocacy organizations. If passed, it would permit certain undocumented students to become permanent legal residents if they came to this country before age 16 and attend college or enlist in the military.

"Everyone who is in this group has been fighting for the Dream Act for years," said Tania Unzueta, 26, who emigrated from Mexico when she was 10 along with her parents and 6-year-old sister. She took part in the sit-in at the McCain office but left before being arrested.

"It's not just about us," she says. "We see many other people even younger than us going through this, so we wanted to give it our most and take this last stand."

As she knows from her fellow protesters awaiting court hearings, it's a stand that could land them very far from the place they call home.

Marjorie Valbrun is a journalist and senior writer at America's Voice, an immigration advocacy organization in Washington.

The Press, Misrepresentation, and Misunderstanding

2010-06-05T16:27:00.002-05:00

To my readers:

We began our work in Manassas in the Weems neighborhood and Sumner Lakes in March 2008. During that period, we interviewed 100 household that were randomly selected. These households were non-immigrant households. The householder had to be able to speak English fluently to participate. The summary of that research is highlighted this statement that I made earlier this year:

“Our research suggests that the changes that have taken place in Manassas in the last 20 years have been unsettling for some residents," says Debra Lattanzi Shutika, assistant professor of English at Mason. "Many of these residents seemed to be experiencing what I have identified as a type of ‘localized displacement'—they feel out of place in their home community. In some cases, residents told us that they found it difficult to adapt to the changes taking place around them, and that these changes that made their 'home' seem unfamiliar.”

And please note; Prof. Cleaveland and I did not have to go into Weems or Sumner Lakes and do interviews. We could have followed the path of many of our colleagues and only focused on the perspectives of Latinos. We could also have simply published our work in peer-reviewed journals and no one would have questioned us regarding why we did not talk to American-born residents. However, we decided that, in light of the ordinances, the people in these communities deserved to have a say, and we gave them the opportunity to share their perspectives.

We agreed to an interview with Cynthia Chumley on the assumption that as a reporter, she would adhere to basic principles of fairness. Reporters are taught early on in journalism programs to offer subjects of an article the chance to respond to allegations--especially those that can harm the reputation of people either professionally or personally. This reporter has quoted two public officials, including one who made serious allegation about the scientific merits of our research.
This reporter made no effort to allow us the opportunity to respond.
The following are our concerns:

Though we stated repeatedly in our interviews that our work also focused on non-Latino views of the situation in PWC and Manassas, and that we both understood and sympathized many resident frustration, she chose to leave these comments out of the article.
This reporter never allowed us the opportunity to respond to allegations that our work is not scientific and our methodology is flawed
This reporter quotes a public official who does not appear to have the credentials to evaluate scientific research, and gives him a platform for alleging that our work has no merit.
Chumley describes one researcher as a "professional social worker," which appears to be a deliberate effort to ignore the fact that Cleaveland has a Ph.D. in the field, and is therefore a social scientist.
She also questions the use of ethnographic methodology, a method of inquiry developed at the University of Chicago in the 20th century, and which continues to be practiced and refined by social scientists.
It is apparent from the article that Ms. Chumley's intention was to created a controversy about our work, specifically by characterizing our research as having a specific agenda--to oppose the PWC ordinances--which we clearly and repeatedly told her in the interview as not the case.
Although we strongly disagree with Ms. Chumley's methods and characterization of our work, we would like the opportunity to share our research with your readers. We are willing to write a brief op-ed piece that accurately describes our methods, purpose and findings to set the record straight.
As scholars of immigration, and as advanced scholars in our prospective fields, we both recognize that some readers will disagree with our research and our findings. However, we cannot allow your publications to mischaracterize our work and allow those claims to go unchallenged.

Mexican drug war has not stopped Americans from moving south

2010-06-04T12:29:00.000-05:00

This article from today's Christian Science Monitor examines the effects of the Mexican drug wars on the Americans' desire to move to Mexico, especially in retirement. Apparently, American expats feel just as safe as ever in Mexico.

Mérida, Mexico
Bill Engle is outside, sweating in work clothes while he oversees renovations to his colonial house in Mérida, Mexico. It sits on a street dubbed "Gringo Gulch," a pretty row of baby blue, violet, and mustard facades where expatriates outnumber Mexicans.

"It is not the climate," says Mr. Engle, explaining why he moved to the Yucatán Peninsula. "It is the people. It is the most welcoming place."

Americans scared off by violence in Mexico? Not here.

In towns far from the US border such as Mérida, Mexico's drug wars seem like another world. In fact, according to a recent survey by the International Community Foundation, violence reduced the frequency or duration of trips to Mexico for only 7 percent of American retirees who live or travel frequently to Mexico.

No one knows how many foreign retirees, entrepreneurs, and families relocated to Mérida in recent years, but judging from real estate deals, new members to the English-language library, and observations by locals, it is not a few – nor is it ebbing.
'As safe as Seattle'
"I feel more part of a community here and safer or as safe here as I did in Seattle," says Martha Lindley, a retired chaplain and lawyer who moved here three years ago.

Of 5.25 million Americans living abroad, 1 million are estimated to live south of the border. Some communities, such as San Miguel de Allende (a Heritage Site in central Mexico), seem virtual US suburbs. Mérida is becoming a magnet as transplants rush to buy old mansions and haciendas from the 19th century boom in henequen (a fiber used to make rope).

"I do not feel any violence here," says Dan Karnes, a retired lawyer from New Orleans who moved here last year. He purchased an 18th-century colonial mansion, last used as a warehouse, and on a recent day was overseeing workers digging a pool foundation and laying an oval courtyard. When done, Mr. Karnes will boast an 18,300-square-foot home.
Mérida housing market rebounds with retirees
Mérida became a hot destination five years ago, says Mitch Keenan of Mexico International Real Estate. He's sold homes here for 15 years. While the global recession hurt sales, he says the market is rebounding and sending in more well-heeled retirees.

With America's baby boomers retiring, potential for further growth is huge. The International Community Foundation found that Mexico remains their retirees' No. 1 travel destination. The possible extension of Medicare benefits to Americans who retire abroad could further fuel that.

Ellen Fields and her husband, Jim, run the site Yucatánliving.com and help expatriates settle here. "It is so neighborly," she says. She once left her keys in her door; instead of getting robbed, the keys got returned.
Locals say foreigners blend easily with the city's 1 million residents.

Alvaro Martinez and Sara Lopez, who moved to "Gringo Gulch" 70 years ago, long before it earned its nickname, are one of two Mexican families on the street. "They are good neighbors, there are never any problems," says Mr. Lopez, his arm draped around his wife. "They are moving in all around us."

How Immigrants Reduce Crime

2010-06-04T06:17:00.000-05:00

I recognize that it does little good to point out the obvious about immigrants and crime, but the numbers do speak for themselves here. Associating crime with immigration is a great way to alienate and demonize immigrant residents, but the fact is, they are good for our communities.

Migration and the Challenges of Global Belonging

2010-06-03T14:25:00.002-05:00

My latest essay on immigration and belonging:

I began working with immigrant communities in 1995, focusing primary on new destinations. New destinations are those communities that are experiencing significant immigration, but have had little or no prior history of being locations of migration and settlement. I began my work in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, the “Mushroom Capital of the World.” Mexican men had been migrating seasonally to and from Kennett Square for years to pick mushrooms. In the early 1990s, these Mexican men began settling permanently with their wives and children. When the project began, I assumed that most of my time would be spent with the Mexican nationals who were the center of my study, as was typical of most students of immigrant communities.

Within a few months of starting my project, I realized that if I wanted to understand the lives of immigrants, I would have to study their American-born counterparts as well. I did not realize that this simple act of inclusion would produce an innovative approach to the study of transnational migration. I was simply following up on something that several Mexican families had mentioned: that the American residents in Kennett Square had a significant influence on the lives of their immigrant neighbors, even in a social context where the two groups rarely interacted.

Central to the workings of any new destination are the feelings of belonging that immigrants and native-born residents associate with the places they call home. Although many migration scholars have worked to understand the lives and experiences of recent immigrants, few have seriously considered how immigration changes the lives of the citizen population. As immigrants from around the globe settle in new and diverse places in the U.S., the question of belonging has become more central to the debate on how we live together.

Belonging is a basic human need (Baumeister & Leary 1995; Young et al 2004; Mulgan & Johnson 2007; Mulgan 2009); it is negotiated through interpersonal relations. It is a process through which “people reflexively judge the suitability of a given site as appropriate given their social trajectory and their position in other fields” of experience (Savage, Bagnall & Longhurst 2005: 12). The majority of academic discussions about belonging focus on how immigration is transforming the nation. Wider national debates on issues of multiculturalism, citizenship, and immigrant integration often dominate discussions on what it means to belong to a community or the nation. Based on my work in new destinations, I believe that questions of belonging should be considered from the point of view of local citizens rather than from the top down. From this perspective it is possible to examine local attitudes about community change and consider how migration affects local understandings of tradition, local history, and cultural norms.

In new destinations, issues of belonging often become a two-fold challenge. Local social contexts shift with the introduction of the new population, making new destinations “new” for newcomers and longer-term residents alike. Immigrant residents are understandably struggling to belong, but the same can be true for those who have lived their entire lives in what has become the new destination. In many instances, longer-term residents experience a type of localized displacement, a feeling that their “home” is no longer a familiar and predictable place, thus making it difficult to embrace the changes taking place around them.¹ Kennett Square’s longer-term residents reacted to the changes in their community with a sense of privilege. Because they were “here first,” they frequently assumed that their residential longevity justified local divisions of power and the subordinate position of recent immigrant settlers. As a group the longtime residents dominated social relations, controlled local resources and worked to control residents’ access to various places in town for recreation and socializing. They also had the ability to control the circumstances of that access.

The events in Kennett Square were not atypical. Indeed, I found a similar (albeit much more extreme) situation in Manassas, Virginia just three years ago. The social contexts of new destinations like Kennett Square and Manassas are interesting and complex. They are communities in transition where everyday life can be thrilling, but also often exasperating depending on a person’s tolerance for change. The longer-term residents in new destinations often complain that their communities have been permanently transformed by immigration, and they can no longer reliably expect that their new immigrant neighbors will speak English or share the same cultural beliefs and community values. When they feel displaced, native-born residents often find it difficult to embrace the changes taking place around them as their community transforms. In the most extreme circumstances, some longer-term residents find their changing communities threatening and frightening. This type of localized displacement is often expressed as through acts of intolerance and sometimes nativism. In the most extreme instances, new destinations have become virtual battlegrounds where long-term residents insist the must “take back” their communities.

Activities that are designed to “take back” a community can take many forms. In Kennett Square it involved community dialogues where the nature of community was discussed and plans for incorporating Mexican families took shape. In other locations, like Manassas, anti-immigrant citizens formed “Help Save Manassas,” and lobbied county supervisors to pass local ordinances that would apprehend and remove undocumented immigrants from the community.

In practice, these responses had very different effects. The anxiety that was associated with migrant settlement in Kennett Square during the 1990s has waned significantly. While there are still misunderstandings about migrants and occasional acts of intolerance toward Mexican residents, for the most part residents have come to terms with a new Kennett Square identity as a multi-ethnic community. In Manassas the county ordinances effectively alienated the immigrant population. While completing fieldwork there in 2008-2009, I found that many immigrant families decided to leave in response to the new laws, some abandoning their homes to foreclosure. Others remained, but were less likely to participate openly in the community. In the most extreme cases immigrants told me that they were reluctant to leave their homes and were mistrustful of their American neighbors.

Many new destination communities have emerged in the U.S. in the last twenty years, but only a handful have had notably intolerant responses to immigrant settlement. While it is possible that communities might eventually work through the disruptions and change without intervention, in circumstances where the transition has been antagonistic or hostile, there are ways to facilitate the transition in new destinations that are constructive and can foster community solidarity. As a folklorist I have advocated the initiation of cultural documentation projects that can be used to help communities with this process.

The first step is to recognize that adaptation to new migrant settlements involves change from newcomers and longtime residents alike, and adapting to these changes can be difficult. While this may seem obvious, when citizens speak out in opposition to immigration, they often complain that their fears about changes in their communities are not acknowledged and that they feel displaced. Unfortunately, the concerns about migrant settlement and community change are often couched in strong anti-immigrant and sometimes nativist discourse. The result is that when citizens express feelings of displacement they are disregarded because the broader message expresses intolerance and disregard for the needs of the immigrant community.

I do not advocate tolerance for the expression of racist or nativist sentiment, and I recognize that in every community there are individuals who oppose immigrant settlement because they abhor cultural difference. However, the residents of new destinations are people whose lives have been dramatically and irrevocably changed by immigrant settlement. The communities that they built, the world that was once familiar and predictable, is gone, and the anxiety that they feel about those changes is honest and understandable. It is important to distinguish between legitimate concerns and racist tirades. Racist statements and policies cannot be tolerated. Having worked in new destination communities for many years, I also know that discounting the concerns of citizen residents out of hand only serves to heighten their fears and often has the effect of polarizing the community.

My second recommendation is to institute programs that shift the focus of the community from the past, which is often idealized and viewed nostalgically, and to encourage residents to envision a shared future. I do not think it an accident that both Kennett Square and Manassas are communities that have storied pasts. Long-term residents in both communities often lamented that immigration was disrupting their historic identity. In these instances, any number of interventions might be employed, such as community dialogues to address local concerns. Shared projects that are designed to bring newcomers and long-term residents together with a common goal can also be useful. The strategies of cultural conservation, such as a community-wide oral history project, can help residents document and preserve the past that they once knew, but also chart a new direction for the future of the community.

Some communities will make the transition to becoming a new destination smoothly, while others will need assistance in order to process their transition in order to see their future differently. New destinations pose particular challenges as immigrants and their longer-term neighbors adapt to one another and their new home. Projects that work to foster a sense of belonging can help residents learn to accept and appreciate the community they have rather than pining for the one they have lost.

Debra Lattanzi Shutika is Associate Professor at the Department of English at George Mason University.

REFERENCES
Baumeister, Roy F., and Mark R. Leary. 1995. The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. In Psychological Bulletin 117, no. 3 (May): 497-529.
Mulgan, Geoff. 2007. Belonging–local and national. In Britishness: towards a progressive citizenship, ed. Nick Johnson, 60-68. London: The Smith Institute.
———. 2009. Feedback and Belonging: Explaining the Dynamics of Diversity. Migration Information Source. Washington, DC: Migration Policy Institute. http://www.migrationinformation.org/Feature/print.cfm?ID=718.
Savage, Michael. 2005. Globalization and Belonging. London: Sage.
Young, Anne F., Anne Russell, and Jennifer R. Powers. 2004. The sense of belonging to a neighbourhood: can it be measured and is it related to health and well being in older women? In Social Science & Medicine 59, no. 12 (December): 2627-2637.
ENDNOTES

Localized displacement is a term used to reference the nearby relocation of residents after a natural disaster has permanently altered the landscape (Levine, Esnard and Sapat 2007). I use the term here to signify the perceptions of displacement and loss expressed by longer-term residents in Kennett Square. [↩]

Prince William County and Arizona: kissing cousins

2010-06-02T07:16:00.000-05:00

These articles from the Phoenix Business Journal and Portfolio highlight the work that Carol Cleaveland and I have been conducting in PrinceWilliam County. The articles highlight the fact that these new immigration laws are intended to make immigrants feel unwelcome, and they do this regardless of whether the immigrant is documented or not.

GMU Research in today's Washington Post

2010-05-28T06:22:00.001-05:00

The article linked above references a study that I completed with my colleague, Carol Cleaveland on the perceptions of Latinos in Prince William County after the ordinances passed in 2007. We were specifically interested about community issues, such as were Latinos feeling the effects of the ordinances in their everyday lives. We did not ask about Police actions or racial profiling.

A link to the full press release can be found here.

NBC Poll: Americans are divided on Immigration

2010-05-27T08:20:00.001-05:00

And the divide is largely racial:

In the poll, 61 percent say they favor Arizona’s new anti-illegal immigration law, which would require local and state law enforcement officers to question people about their immigration status if they have reason to suspect a person is in the country illegally. The law would also make it a crime to lack the proper registration documents.

But there’s a divide among white and Latino respondents: 70 percent of whites support the law, versus just 31 percent of Latinos. In fact, 58 percent of Latinos say they strongly oppose it. That’s not the only chasm between White and Latino America. While 68 percent of Latinos believe that immigration strengthens the United States, just 43 percent of whites think that.

You can find a .pdf of the complete poll linked here.

NC Legislature wants Arizona-style immigration law

2010-05-27T08:16:00.002-05:00

The details are here. I wish someone would ask me about my work in Manassas before they do this. There are real consequences to these laws, on all members of the community.

Why does inaction trump problem-solving on Immigration?

2010-05-27T08:12:00.000-05:00

Ever wonder why more people don't ask this question?

I think there are several reasons why Washington has overlooked dealing with our immigration problem. The first has to do with politics. The second has to do with will.

This article in today's Washington Post examines the benefits of the recently proposed comprehensive immigration reform measures.The multifaceted approaches proposed by Senators Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), which would deploy new personnel and technology to the border, coupled with employment verification and a path to eventual legal status for undocumented immigrants already here. Their legislation remains in draft form, and will stand no chance unless they are successful at attracting a few Republican votes. Today that seems unlikely.

That's too bad, because the approach they proposal, while has its admitted shortcomings, offers a reasonable approach to addressing our immigration problems. The Schumer bill (Mr. Graham has since withdrawn his support) extensively outlines how the law would tighten enforcement and allegedly stop the entry of undocumented immigrants. This includes more Border Patrol officers would keep an eye on the nation's frontiers, and more agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement would battle smuggling and check workplaces. The Pentagon would be called on to deploy equipment to shut down illegal crossings, along with helicopters, speedboats, night-vision equipment, unmanned drones and high-tech surveillance systems. These efforts, while seen by too many as the only way to win support for any immigration reform, comes close to creating U.S. equivalent of the Berlin Wall. This insanely wasteful use of resources is believed to be the necessary compromises to attract the small number of GOP senators whose support is needed to pass the bill.

Schumer's proposal also proposes a new high-tech Social Security card that would include biometric data to be used exclusively to check employment eligibility. Employers, who theoretically constitute the most effective checkpoint in terms of shutting down undocumented immigration, would no longer be able to use the excuse of ignorance or a porous system to justify their hiring of people who are in the country illegally. The problem here is that there are inadequate penalties for employers who DO hire undocumented workers. This was a major problem with the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act, and has been largely ignored in every immigration reform measure since.

The best news here is that the measure would clear the backlog of some 2.6 million relatives of U.S. citizens who are awaiting visas -- a process estimated to take eight years -- and stop a self-defeating brain drain by offering visas to highly educated immigrant scientists, mathematicians and engineers who receive advanced degrees from American universities.

In addition, undocumented immigrants in this country who registered and passed background checks would be allowed to stay and work in the country. They would have to wait until the backlog was cleared and the border security benchmarks were met before they could apply for permanent resident status. While this may seen like a problem for many immigration advocates, I think offering temporary visas to the current undocumented is a great way to undercut the labor market's strong desire for
undocumented labor.

In this midst of all this sane, reasoned approach to immigration, what have we initiated?

This gets me back to my first question: why are we more likely to do nothing than something that will actually address our immigration problem? (answers soon)

As I blogged yesterday evening, the Obama administration has initiated a massive increase in border security, which is discussed in this article in the NYT:

The President has decided to deploy up to 1,200 National Guard troops to bolster security at the Mexican border, and in my opinion, is pandering to the nativists and wasting an opportunity to attempt reform a-la Schumer.

The administration has said that the troops are being sent ONLY to combat drug smuggling, and in part because of the recent murder of an Arizona rancher who was murdered by narcos. By focusing on border security, however, the president may be undercutting his own efforts at immigration reform by:

"giving up his best leverage for winning approval of broader but more politically contentious steps to address the status of the millions of immigrants already in the United States illegally, and the needs of employers who rely on their labor.

“I’m trying to reconcile the stated belief of this president when he was a candidate, what he has said publicly — as recently as a naturalization ceremony last month — and what his actions are,” said Angela Kelley, vice president for immigration policy at the Center for American Progress, a left-leaning organization that is a close ally of the Obama administration. “I think there’s a big gap there.”

Mr. Obama’s decision to send the National Guard focused attention on the intense political pressures facing him as he wades into the issue during this midterm election year. Republicans are demanding that he improve border security before they cooperate on an immigration bill. Some moderate Democrats facing difficult re-election races are also demanding tougher action at the border.

There is no doubt that many have questioned the President's intentions regarding immigration reform. Although I can see why border enforcement *may* help win the support of some Republicans, I have to ask: Has the President be paying attention during the last two years? Has he not seen that they're willing to fight him on just about everything simply to deny him a victory?

I think that increasing border security works to mollify the nativists and others who are simply freaked out by the changes they've seen in their communities regarding immigration. Enforcing the border gives some of fellow citizens the false sense of security that they can "take back America" from the newcomers. This is complete fiction, certainly, but it makes them feel better.

I also think that Democrats need to have some political will to actually fight this fight. They may lose. That would be terrible. But if our leaders refuse to have a rational debate about the issues, including issues of racism and nativism that are so prevalent and yet so rarely acknowledged, addressed, or even called out, the nation is bound to continue on the path of believing that throwing enough people and money at the border will somehow take us back to the 1950s.

Dream on.

What will more border security do?

2010-05-26T20:43:00.001-05:00

This link will take you to a PBS Newshour report on Obama's Border Enforcement Strategy. Both guests, from the Border Patrol and Homeland Security, both feel that this effort will be largely fruitless.

"Take Back America" Tour

2010-05-21T11:14:00.000-05:00

Leave it to comedians to provide apt, cutting social commentary. This is pretty offensive, but it pokes fun of a social context that is very troubling.

Immigration Reform 2010--To be, or not to be?

2010-04-23T14:00:00.000-05:00

There is a lot of talk around Washington today about immigration reform. Tamar Jacoby wrote another thoughtful plea for reform, published today in the Washington Post. Here she sites the two major positions about whether or not reform will happen this year. One claims that Democrats will attempt to work out a thoughtful bi-partisan bill with the GOP, the other suggests that Dems should use immigration reform as a means to draw out Republicans and expose them as the anti-immigrant they appear to be. Jacoby's position is that the latter approach might be a good political move, but would be devastating for cause. She believes that a failure this year put immigration off the table for a long time.

I talk to immigration reform advocates all the time, and from what I can tell, there is little hope for major reform. Instead, many of us hope that some modest measure, like a DREAM Act, will pass.

Regardless of what plan may (or may not) be in the works, it's clear that the President is making his opinions known. Just this afternoon the NY Times reports that the President took an opportunity to slap Arizona's latest immigration law, and made a call for comprehensive reform:

Mr. Obama said the Arizona bill threatens “to undermine basic notions of fairness that we cherish as Americans, as well as the trust between police and our communities that is so crucial to keeping us safe.”

He also said that he is monitoring the Arizona bill for civil rights and other implications.
“If we continue to fail to act at a federal level, we will continue to see misguided efforts opening up around the country,” Mr. Obama said.

He did not offer a timetable for reform, but such calls are not overly useful (as we have so painfully witnessed with the health care debate). Nevertheless, immigration is back on the table. How long wil it remain there? That IS the question.

The New Immigration Raid: Get the Shuttle

2010-04-15T18:40:00.000-05:00

From today's NY Times:

PHOENIX — With sweeps on both sides of the border Thursday, American and Mexican authorities delivered what they called their most serious blow toward dismantling human smuggling organizations that have brought thousands of illegal immigrants to the United States.

The investigation, which used 800 law enforcement officers, the largest deployment in a human smuggling investigation, singled out what the authorities said were suspicious companies running shuttle vans provide a key link in the chain that carries illegal immigrants from the border to cities across the United States.

But the sweep was also the biggest example of whatimmigration agency officials said was a ramped up effort to curb illegal immigration by focusing more on breaking up the criminal organizations that transport people and the businesses that facilitate these networks than on simply making mass arrests of illegal immigrants and deporting them.

“What we are trying to do is rip this thing out by the roots,” John Morton, the director of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, said in an interview here. “We are taking out the whole industry and giving such a shock to individuals that they won’t recover as they have in the past.”

While some 47 people were arrested Thursday, including some in Mexico in what officials called unprecedented cooperation with officers there, only about 17 were illegal immigrants being smuggled, and some of them will be granted permission to remain in the United States to serve as witnesses in the case, Mr. Morton said. A similar raid in Houston in February included the arrest of 80 illegal immigrants found when the businesses were raided.

Mr. Morton said the arrests would not end smuggling. That would be an ambitious goal: more people are ferried across the border here than in any other state. But Mr. Morton predicted the raid would disrupt a pipeline that has accounted for a “significant amount” of the illegal immigrants traveling deeper into the United States.

The announcement of the arrests, which focused on four shuttle van businesses in Tucson and one in Phoenix, comes at a time when the federal government has been under fire over its role and performance in immigration enforcement.

Two weeks ago, a rancher near the border was killed on his property, and the police suspect he encountered a smuggler. Since the killing, an outcry has risen over whether the federal government was doing enough to secure the border. This week, the Arizona Legislature moved closer to adopting what is widely believed to be the most stringent immigration enforcement bill among the states, giving local police agencies broad powers to check people’s legal status.

Immigrant advocacy groups on Thursday denounced what they called a climate of fear, deploring the ICE operation for coming at the same time as the legislation. A handful of protesters outside the United States attorney’s office here chanted, “We are going to beat back John Morton’s attack.”

In response to their concerns, Mr. Morton said the agency’s activity often generated “rumors and wild conjecture” but that no intimidation was intended.

Mr. Morton said the crackdown on the shuttle service industry had been stretched back more than a year and was not related to the legislation or the anger over the rancher’s killing.

But he reiterated the Obama administration’s promise to take up an overhaul of immigration law and said the arrests represented an effort to “step up our game” and attack smuggling organizations by going after the leaders.

“That is what this is all about, border security,” Mr. Morton said.

For nearly a decade, federal immigration authorities have been stymied by a fleet of shuttle vans, similar to those that carry people to airports and the like, that they say have operated under a veil of legitimacy.

When stopped, even if the passengers were found to be illegal immigrants, drivers would profess not to know the legal status of their passengers, and prosecutors doubted a case would stick.

“That has been a very hard defense to overcome,” said Matthew Allen, who directs ICE in Arizona. “Now we have been able to get past that and show they do know.”

Smugglers would guide people, typically on foot, across the border. A car or sport utility vehicle would pick them up and take them to Tucson, where in “very quick handoffs,” an ICE official said, the migrants would board the shuttle vans to Phoenix. From there, after having paid fees of several thousand dollars — $75,000 in the case of some Chinese immigrants — to be taken into the United States, they would transfer to private cars and head to destinations across the United States.

Mr. Allen said that agents had made extensive use of surveillance, technology and leads from people in the United States and Mexico to build the case, which began about a year ago.

He said agents had recovered extensive records, including fake tickets the passengers would show law enforcement officers in case the van was stopped for an immigration check. In those situations, it has been difficult to prosecute the drivers because it was nearly impossible to prove they were aware their passengers were in the country illegally.

Agents on Thursday morning searched the offices of Sergio’s Shuttle on a busy street lined with mechanic shops, bodegas and small businesses. Two vans, with a tiger emblem on the side, sat in front of an office that advertised a schedule to several cities on both sides of the border.

No one answered the phone number listed on the side of the van or the office.

Alfonso Quintero, who owns a muffler repair shop a few doors down, said he often saw people coming and going from the vans at all hours but nothing raised his suspicions.

“I didn’t see anything illegal,” Mr. Quintero said. “Looked like they just wanted a ride."

Arizona's new get-tough anti-immigration laws

2010-04-15T18:36:00.001-05:00

When local jurisdictions take on immigration, they claim to do so because the federal government has failed to take action. These moves, along with calls from Latino voters and immigration advocates, increase the stakes on the Obama administration for a long-requested and much-needed overhaul of the nation’s immigration laws.

Yesterday Arizona became the latest state to move ahead with tough anti-illegal-immigrant legislation. It is widely considered to be the most stringent in the states. The legislation would allow Arizona's police to have broad powers to check the legal status of people they reasonably suspect are illegal immigrants.

As we in Virginia have observed, "reasonably suspicious" can be interpreted differently. It can include any person DWL (driving while Latino) or the result of an arrest for a distinct offense. It also opens the possibility that Arizona residents will suffer violations of their civil rights.

Under the new law, Arizona police would be authorized to arrest immigrants who are unable to show documents authorizing their presence in the country. It would also leave drivers open to sanctions in some cases for knowingly transporting an illegal immigrant, even a relative. Most troubling, the legislation expressly forbids cities from adopting “sanctuary” policies that restrict the police and public workers from immigration enforcement (though it is a matter of debate if any cities have such policies).

It's a scary time to be an immigrant in the U.S. If state and local laws like the ones passed in Arizona aren't reason enough for Congress to get moving on immigration reform, I don't know what is.

Whispers of Immigration Reform

2010-04-13T06:51:00.000-05:00

Over the last week there have been stirrings across the country that perhaps immigration reform is finally at hand. Senator Harry Reid has promised reform as a legislative priority for 2010, and Democrats are paying attention to the fact that Latinos are starting to cool toward them--a sure sign that something needs to be done.

My hope is that Reid and his colleagues will consider something small and reasonable to start. My opinion is that modest reform is better than none at all. The DREAM Act would be a good place to start. After all, who can legitimately argue against legalizing children who were brought to the U.S. by their parents and want to go to college?

I often ponder the risks and benefits of attempting all out reform. Would we have another health care debate (long, drawn out, tedious)? Or would this simply never get off the ground? I think it would be politically good for immigration reform supporters to force their opponents to take a public stand on their position.

Bilingual Higher Education

2010-04-08T07:42:00.000-05:00

The news that two U.S. universities are starting advanced degree programs that allow students to receive advanced degrees in Spanish and English is bound to be a limited trend. Nevertheless, it is a big step forward for the advancement of bilingual education in the U.S.

Puerto Rico’s Sistema Universitario Ana G. Méndez attracted thousands of adult students to an accelerated degree program, AHORA, by stressing the kind of flexibility and practicality that one would expect from a program called “now.”

But when administrators and faculty started considering how to expand into the continental United States they realized it wouldn’t work to simply shift their program a few hundred miles north.

“Offering a program all in Spanish wouldn’t do the best for our students and there are plenty of English programs out there,” says Luis J. Zayas, the university system’s vice president for U.S. and Latin American affairs. “We had to think about how to serve a Spanish-speaking population living in a predominantly English-speaking place.”

What they created is what Zayas and his colleagues believe to be the first-ever discipline-based, dual-language postsecondary degree program. Both languages are used equally in instruction and assignments; faculty and staff are all bilingual; and, Zayas says, “the courses are designed so that you can have a native English speaker or a native Spanish speaker go through with the same level of comfort."

In its sixth year of operation in Orlando and its fourth in the Miami suburb of Miramar, the mainland AHORA program has an enrollment totaling 1,700 and has awarded 373 bachelor’s degrees and 303 master’s degrees. Enrollment numbers continue to grow, and a third location, in Tampa, is set to open in the fall. Online courses are also in development.

The effort is the result of an unusual partnership. Ana Méndez, a private nonprofit university system, teamed up with Regis University, a nonprofit in Denver with extensive experience in online education for adults, to create AGMUS Ventures, a for-profit unit through which they run these programs. It is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, which doesn't normally oversee programs in Florida, but which is the accreditor for Puerto Rico.

Almost all classes are scheduled for nights or weekends, and students are almost exclusively working adults over the age of 23. Most are more comfortable speaking and writing in Spanish than in English. Though they may have earned college credit or even a degree in their home countries, Zayas says, they “don’t know the language well enough” to do well in courses that are offered exclusively in English.

Deborah A. Santiago, vice president for policy and research at Excelencia in Education, could point to only one program like Ana Méndez’s – a dual-language associate’s degree in Miami Dade College’s honors college. But the students in that program, which enrolled its first class in 2006, are generally traditional-age and headed toward transfer.

While rare in higher education, the dual language model of instruction is more established in American elementary and secondary schools, where it’s sometimes used to help students whose families speak another language learn English, but is often used to develop fully bilingual students.

Ana Méndez’s Spanish-language and dual-language courses are based on Regis University’s modular curriculum for accelerated adult learning. Regis’s New Ventures arm -- which helps other colleges and universities adapt to their cultures and course offerings – worked with Ana Méndez officials in the mid-1990s to create the Spanish-language program used on its home campuses. It now enrolls more than 8,000 students.

The two universities each made an initial investment of $500,000 and share profits equally. The operation’s annual budget has grown to $13 million.

The chair of AGMUS’s board of directors, Thomas R. Kennedy, who is also CEO of New Ventures and Regis’s vice president for institutional partnerships, describes the program as “not just a bilingual program where you help Spanish-speaking people learn English” but “a wonderful way to bring people along in both languages.”

The campuses offer degrees that are awarded by Ana Méndez’s three universities – Universidad del Este, Universidad del Turabo and Universidad Metropolitana. There are offerings in education, criminal justice, psychology, business, nursing and hotel management, among other fields.

Kennedy said that the average student is about 35 years old. In Orlando, the enrollment is 70 percent female. In Miramar, it’s about 60 percent female. These students, like so many other adult learners, are “really pulling themselves up, to create a better life,” Kennedy says. “They’re fulfilling a dream.” In all, 93 percent of students receive financial aid of some kind.

For native Spanish speakers, the dual-language curriculum helps ease them into English. For native English speakers, the curriculum helps them ease into Spanish. Courses generally meet for five weeks and the four-hour class sessions alternate languages each week. When a week’s class is in English, all the reading and other assignments to prepare are in English. When a class is set to be in Spanish, all work is in Spanish.

Students aren’t required to buy books or other materials; they receive a module booklet that includes their reading and assignments. Other resources are available through course Blackboard sites and a web-based virtual library where students can access journal articles and e-books. Many modules are in the process of being revised.

Syndia Nazario-Cardona, director of the Miramar campus, describes the adjunct instructional workforce as “facilitators, because what they’re doing is facilitating the learning process” rather than simply lecturing for the entirety of a four-hour class session. Many have day jobs as high school or college teachers or professors.

Alexander Easdale, a facilitator who teaches social sciences and history courses, worked as a high school teacher and college-level tutor before joining Ana Méndez but still went through extensive training before entering the classroom two and a half years ago.

“This university does a very good job screening and training professors before sending them out there,” he says. “Unlike a lot of the other people, I haven’t been a teacher my whole life, so I went through numerous workshops before leading a class.” His day job is in fundraising at a Hispanic-serving nonprofit.

His classes “are in many ways similar to a graduate school seminar,” he says. “As opposed to a traditional format of the lecture, where you stand in front of the class and teach, this is a mix of activities.” Though he may lecture a bit at the start of a session, classes generally include discussions, group projects and oral presentations.

Though he alternates between Spanish and English from week to week, “because most students are Latino and most are immigrants, and their stronger language tends to be Spanish,” Easdale says he “tends to have to push them a lot harder when it’s English week.” He’ll occasionally have a student whose English is stronger than his or her Spanish.

Students’ language struggles are most apparent “when you have a student one week and they can’t shut up and the next they’re not talking at all.” It’s his job, he says, “to help students lose that fear of speaking the language.”

The vast majority students at the Orlando campus are of Puerto Rican heritage. The Miramar campus has students and faculty from 25 countries.

Most students, Kennedy says, “would never have gone to another college or university … where it’s all English or just a smattering of Spanish and not a welcoming situation for them.” The dual-language program offers them an opportunity to develop language skills while learning subject area content, rather than having to first spend months or years in a non-credit ESL class before being able to work toward a degree.

Though there are some students who are more comfortable with English than with Spanish, he concedes they’re a very small group. “We don’t have very many people at all who are English speakers trying to bring up their Spanish,” he says. “We have a very high percentage of students who speak Spanish at home.”

Roxanna Pietri, associate director for corporate relations, thinks the major factor deterring students with strong English skills from enrolling at Ana Méndez is price. “If a student in Orlando or South Florida is comfortable speaking English, it’s easier and cheaper for them to go to a state university than [it is] to pay more for a credit with us,” she says.

Undergraduate credits cost $310 and graduate credits are $360 each. At Miami Dade, for instance, associate's degree credits are $67.60 and bachelor's degree credits cost $74.95 each.

Applicants are generally required to have attempted at least 24 college credits, but if a student were to take the full 126 credits needed to earn an Ana Méndez bachelor’s degree at the institution, it would cost a total of $39,060. That's more than a degree from a Florida public institution, but less than full freight at many other privates. Students without prior college experience or who are under the age of 23 can start out by taking eight eight-week transitional courses.

Easdale says that the focus on developing language skills has yielded some “unbelievable” results in just the five- or eight-week period of a semester. “I give my students good, honest feedback. I tell them, don’t expect roses in the feedback I’ve given,” he says. “And it makes a difference in the end.”

Zayas says he’s received “lots of anecdotal feedback from the students that it was really the only way they could have done it – they couldn’t have done a whole degree in English.”

Despite its success, AGMUS has resisted rapid expansion. “We’ve been approached by some investors but so far we’ve not done anything along those lines,” Kennedy says. “They see dollar signs. But the number one priority is not just making money. The number one priority is serving our students.”

But Kennedy and Zayas have met with administrators at colleges in New York, Illinois, Texas, Pennsylvania, Texas and the Washington, D.C., area who might want to work with AGMUS to introduce their own dual-language programs. “We know there are universities that would benefit from the possibility of turning some of their own programs into dual-language,” Zayas says. “There really has to be a strong desire of students, a way to reach out to students who aren’t being served, a space – not only a building but also a space within the college -- for these programs, and hiring or having a bilingual staff.”

Kennedy adds that while AGMUS sees “so many opportunities, we need to pick and choose what’s going to make the most sense. We can’t reach all the students out there who need us.”

He’s expected to see competitors crop up, but none have. “By now, we thought the University of Phoenix or someone would’ve picked up on this,” he says. “I don’t think they know how to fully reach out to the Hispanic population yet, but there's a whole lot of it that needs to be served."

Whose Country is it?

2010-03-29T06:34:00.001-05:00

This is the second of several Op-eds focusing on changing American demographics and the anger brewing across the U.S. (see post below as well).

American Rage? It's not all about Health Care

2010-03-29T06:32:00.000-05:00

For many months I have been writing about the disproportionate rage that has been expressed by people, particularly here in Northern Virginia, but also around the nation regarding immigration and immigrants. More recently, I've been watching the response to the health care debate with s similar curiosity. Surely this cannot be about increasing health coverage for 30 million Americans. And c'mon folks, we all know that the call Social Security "social" because it is a form of wealth redistribution, or (heaven help us) socialism.

This Op-Ed from the NYT is one of several posts that I'm going to post here today that addresses the issue of rage and it causes. As I have long speculated, the author argues that the recent eruptions are based more on white America's fear of being replaced as the majority population.

Seeking Healthcare in Mexico

2010-03-24T08:20:00.000-05:00

This is an outstanding story on Mexican Americans who travel back to Mexico for health care. The story features young women who return for dental care, but it also discusses the rather large number who do so for very ordinary conditions. It also suggests that this practice will continue even after the new health care regulations are in place.

What will become of the Immigration Debate?

2010-03-23T08:52:00.000-05:00

From the Immigration Rally on Sunday: