When I speak to Jewish audiences about the contemporary politics of immigration, I often lean on the historical parallels between contemporary migrations and Jewish experience of diaspora, in which Jews have so often been the strangers.
Continue reading "What I'm Reading: The Yiddish Policemen's Union and Comparative Migrations" »
Are Americans ever emigrants or immigrants? As part of my dissertation project, I have been reading about Americans who have opted to leave their home country and make their home abroad.
By Halyna Myroniuk, IHRC Senior Assistant Curator
Many Ukrainians who came to the United States after the Second World War as Displaced Persons were survivors of Holodomor, the great famine of 1932-1933. Some came as children with memories; others heard about it from their parents or the elders in their respective communities.
Continue reading "Ukrainian Americans commemorate 75th Anniversary of Holodomor" »
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
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?
By Daniel Necas, Immigration History Research Center
Reading some of the latest journalistic accounts of the various sides of the immigration issue, one would almost begin to feel that immigration is the single most important question in current U.S. developments. Immigration is being portrayed as the number one issue that Republicans entering the presidential race have recently had to deal with
By Andy Urban, PhD candidate in History at the University of Minnesota. IHRC Affiliated Faculty
So much for a bit of a vacation. In recent months, to use an apt cliché, trouble seems to follow President George W. Bush wherever he goes. His weeklong visit to various Central and Southern American countries that ended on March 14, was not a trip marked by Guatemalans, Mexicans, and so on, greeting him with open arms. To begin with, Bush’s entire relationship to this region has been troubled by an unfulfilled promise – that his presidency would pay greater attention to Central and Southern American countries than his predecessors in the Clinton administration. After September 11, this promise went out the window. In addition, Bush’s trip to the region was shadowed by a strategically timed jaunt undertaken by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Chavez took the opportunity to bash Bush as it were, whenever the opportunity presented itself. Although I am personally no fan of Chavez’s recent acts of censorship over the Venezuelan media, it is nonetheless enjoyable to see him dog the President and ruin the staged visits he was making. Add to all of this the protests that accompanied Bush’s visit – some of which ended in violence and perhaps excessive police force against demonstrators (as the very last paragraph of this LA Times article describes [link]), and you can see why the man often chooses to squirrel himself away in Texas.
By Louis Mendoza, associate professor and chair of the Department of Chicano Studies at the University of Minnesota. IHRC Affiliated Faculty.
Last fall’s triumph at the polls by Democrats signaled possible action on a number of legislative fronts that had been stalled by a Republican Party divided against itself. Among the many issues which people hope to see meaningful action taken on is comprehensive immigration reform. Early indicators seem to suggest that despite the combination of a Democratic majority and a president favoring action on immigration, the topic will continue to lend itself to divisive politics among political representatives in Washington and around the nation.
Continue reading "More Than a War of Words: Playing Political Football with Immigration" »