Area immigrants top 1 million http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/14/AR2006081401225.html?nav=rss_technology More foreign-born calling Indy home http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060815/NEWS01/608150456/-1/ZONES04 NPR: Pennsylvania Town Takes Stand Against Immigrants [Real Player] http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5649838 Census Bureau Data Show Key Population Changes Across Nation http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/american_community_survey_acs/007287.html Pew Hispanic Center [pdf] http://pewhispanic.org/ Forum: How has the influx of immigrants to the U.S. changed the political and cultural landscape? http://news.blogs.nytimes.com/?p=22#respond From the Mayor's Desk http://www.hazletoncity.org/illegal_immigration_petition.htm Immigration to the United States continues to be a highly contested topic in classrooms, political life, and everyday conversation. For every study that shows that immigrants with minimal or no formal education are displacing native-born workers, there is a study that argues the converse side of this argumentative coin. This week, another interesting nuance was revealed as a result of the American Community Survey conducted under the auspices of the U.S. Census. This particular nuance happens to be spatial in nature (and perhaps economic as well), as the survey found that immigrants tend to be bypassing traditional "incubator" areas for new arrivals, such as New York and California, and heading straight for such places as South Dakota, Delaware, and Indiana. Audrey Singer, a fellow at the Brookings Institution, noted, "What's happening now is that immigrants are showing up in many more communities all across the country than they have ever been. And a lot of these are communities that are not accustomed to seeing immigrants in their schools, at the workplace, in their hospitals." While the situation has not exactly resulted in a widespread kulturkampf, as some critics have predicated, there have certainly been tense moments. Recently in Hazelton, Pennsylvania, the town's mayor, Louis J. Barletta, has been adamant about passing a local ordinance that would punish companies that hire illegal immigrants, among other things. Other politicians in the state have criticized Barletta's efforts, including Governor Ed Rendell, who called the ordinance "mean-spirited" and stated that such measures "feed off hatred and divisiveness". The first link will take users to a piece about the recent report from the Census Bureau that appeared in this Tuesday's Contra Costa Times. Moving to the second link, visitors will find a nice bit of reporting on how this new immigration trend has transformed Washington DC and Northern Virginia in recent years. The third link leads to a piece from National Public Radio that reports on the recent ordinance regarding illegal immigrants in the town of Hazleton. The fourth link leads to a news release from the Census Bureau that provides some summary information culled from the recent survey, along with a selection of data tables. The fifth link whisks users to the very fine Pew Hispanic Center website, where users can download recent reports that detail various aspects of the Hispanic experience in the United States. The sixth link leads to an interesting forum on the New York Times website that allows users to comment on the ways in which immigrants, new and old, have transformed the country. The final link takes visitors to a letter written by Mayor Louis J. Barletta regarding his town's efforts to curb the arrival of illegal immigrants to his corner of Pennsylvania.