By Joel F. Wurl, Former Head of Research Collections & Associate Director, IHRC
The evolving dynamics of immigration and its impact in this area are fascinating to observe. Taking a ride on the local bus system in Alexandria, Arlington, Falls Church, or Annandale is like shuttling between events at the United Nations.
By Matteo Pretelli, Fulbright Scholar Researcher at the IHRC
The Latino vote will be very influential in the election for the next President of the United States. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/10/us/politics/10hispanics.html; http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080303/young-latino-voters-on-the-rise.htm; http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/07/us/07immig.html?scp=13&sq=immigration&st=nyt
Continue reading "The 2008 U.S. Presidential Candidates’ Stances On the Reform of Immigration Law" »
Lisong Liu is a PhD Candidate in the History Department at the University of Minnesota
In recent years American media have paid a lot of attention to the surging public interest in the Chinese language and the increasing Mandarin Chinese language programs in the US.
Continue reading "Chinese language programs and immigrants: new opportunities and challenges" »
Dan Detzner, Professor College of Education and Human Development, University of Minnesota
Researchers, policy makers, immigration lawyers, and social service providers often focus on the issues confronting individual immigrants while overlooking how embedded each individual is within communally oriented transnational families, tribal groups, and clans.
Rachel Ida Buff is an Associate Professor at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee and the History
Coordinator in Comparative Ethnic Studies.
Responding to the ongoing controversy about his minister, Jeremiah Wright, Barack Obama in his speech, “A More Perfect Union” last Tuesday opened up a teachable moment about race and American history.
By Andy Urban, PhD candidate in History at the University of Minnesota. IHRC Affiliated Faculty
Although the media coverage leading up to this year’s St. Patrick’s Day has highlighted how Catholic leaders have tried to make sure that the holiday’s festive nature and secular activities do not interfere with start of the more somber occasion of Holy Week, those interested in immigration history might think about the significance of ethnic holidays in relationship to the larger story of migration and assimilation.
Continue reading "St. Patrick's Day and Irish Immigration" »
Anna Mazurkiewicz Ph.D, University of Gdansk, Kosciuszko Foundation Fellow at the IHRC
While Americans know that Vietnamese migrate, few imagine Poland as an important destination for them.
By Katherine Fennelly, Professor at the Humphrey H. Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota, IHRC Affiliate
A tragic traffic accident this week has provided yet another opportunity for an outpouring of anger directed toward undocumented immigrants.
Donna R. Gabaccia, Director, Immigration History Research Center
When it comes to elections, immigrants have opinions too. Over one third of the foreign-born in the U.S. are citizens. How does this election year look to them?
Donna R. Gabaccia, Director, Immigration History Research Center
Minnesota’s foreign-born population has always been somewhat distinctive. So are the scholars who have studied immigration and refugees at the University of Minnesota.
Continue reading "Minnesota Immigrants and the “Minnesota School”" »
By: Anna Mazurkiewicz, Ph.D., University of Gdansk and Kosciuszko Foundation Fellow in Residence at the IHRC
Prompted by the approaching holiday air travel season (still a new thing for most Poles), I began to wonder about the people first traveling home to Poland for Christmas from their new homes elsewhere in Europe before returning again to New Year’s parties with their new friends in London, Stockholm or Madrid.
Continue reading "Times are a-changing!: “Home” for the Holidays in the EU" »
By Donna R. Gabaccia, Director, Immigration History Research Center
Aliens can be deported; citizens cannot. In a “nation of immigrants,” families routinely include both aliens and citizens. That’s why deportation so often raises troubling issues.
By Andy Urban, PhD candidate in History at the University of Minnesota. IHRC Affiliated Faculty
The last two weeks, I was in the Washington, DC area, visiting my family for the Thanksgiving holiday and making trips to the downtown National Archives in order to do research. The immigration records I was interested in are housed in basement of the same building that showcases the United States constitution. Upstairs, where the constitution is on display, everything moves efficiently and tourists are herded through in an affable manner. The security guards even smile. Downstairs it is another story. The researcher must navigate a byzantine system of security checks, complete a complicated process in order to request records, and overcome other various barriers that can easily drive all but the most dedicated away.
By Johanna Leinonen, PhD candidate in History at the University of Minnesota.
In scholarly and public discussions on immigration issues, as well as in immigration legislation, a distinction is usually made between work-related and family-related migration.
By Dan Ott, IHRC Blog Coordinator.
Media portrayals of immigration issues frequently dehumanize the actual migrants by presenting them as cultural parasites or transforming them into statistics.