April 29, 2008

Near the Beltway and Beyond

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.

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April 22, 2008

The 2008 U.S. Presidential Candidates’ Stances On the Reform of Immigration Law

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

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April 13, 2008

Chinese language programs and immigrants: new opportunities and challenges

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.

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April 01, 2008

Families and Immigration

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.

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March 24, 2008

Becoming American

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.

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March 17, 2008

St. Patrick's Day and Irish Immigration

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.

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March 10, 2008

Vietnamese immigration to Poland

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.

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February 28, 2008

Exploitation of a Tragedy

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.

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February 11, 2008

Immigrants and Election Year Politics

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?

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February 04, 2008

Minnesota Immigrants and the “Minnesota School”

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.

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December 17, 2007

Times are a-changing!: “Home” for the Holidays in the EU

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.

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December 10, 2007

Foreign-born Parents; Citizen Children

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.

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December 03, 2007

Let Them In

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.

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November 19, 2007

Migration for Labor or Love?

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.

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November 13, 2007

The Media's Unbalanced Portrayal

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.

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