Election 2008: What’s At Stake?

Newly released census data predicts that non-Hispanic whites will be a minority in the United States by 2042, largely due to immigration, both legal and illegal.
Anti-immigration groups have long pointed to an increase in population as a reason to tighten our borders, and this data has added fuel to that cry. Ira Mehlman, FAIR’s […]

[Read more →]

A Chinese immigrant died of cancer in a detention facility after authorities ignored his excruciating pain for months.
More immigration raids: ICE arrests 42 suspected illegal immigrants working at Dulles Airport in suburban Washington, D.C. and 57 at a parachute plant in Asheville, N.C.
Deportations are up 40 percent in the Pacific Northwest, due to the […]

[Read more →]

Over the past two years, towns and suburbs around the country (Hazleton, Pa.; Farmers Branch, Texas) have cracked down on illegal immigration with local ordinances. These laws are usually designed to make it hard for illegal immigrants to find jobs or rent homes, and they have had mixed success. Now, it looks like the Washington, […]

[Read more →]

Yes, if that mayor is Lou Barletta.
Barletta, the Republican mayor of Hazleton, Pa., has built a reputation as an anti-immigration hardliner, and now he is running against Democrat Paul Kanjorski in Pennsylvania’s 11th District. This should be a good year for Democrats, but Kanjorski may have a fight on his hands.
Check out my […]

[Read more →]

View Larger Map
In Pennsylvania’s 11th district, Congressman Paul Kanjorski (D-Nanticoke) faces a serious challenge from Mayor Lou Barletta (R-Hazleton), who has earned a reputation as a crusader against illegal immigration since the Kanjorski last faced him in 2002.
The map above shows a few points of interest in the 11th, including major cities, historical landmarks […]

[Read more →]

Newly-naturalized citizens register to vote in Denver
A key factor in a Barack Obama victory in Colorado, New Mexico, or Nevada will be his ability to turn out Latino voters.
One segment of the Latino population specifically targeted in registration drives is newly naturalized citizens. Grace Lopez Ramirez, director of the Colorado chapter of Mi Familia Vota, […]

[Read more →]

Over the past several years, Hazleton, Pa., has attracted thousands of Hispanic immigrants, most of them from the Dominican Republic. This influx lead to conflict over illegal immigration in 2006 and 2007, thrusting Mayor Lou Barletta into the national news. This year, Barletta is running for Congress, his campaign based largely on that issue. “I […]

[Read more →]

At the Columbia News21 project on immigration and elections, we began our reporting this summer with many story ideas and a whole country to work with. To help focus our efforts, we put together a Google map (see below) where we indicated electoral races that might be useful in our coverage of immigration (blue pins), […]

[Read more →]

When Arizona citizens supported Proposition 200 (pdf) in 2004, they became the first state in the nation to require proof of citizenship in order to register to vote. Grassroots voter registration groups like Project Vote say the requirement has barred them from signing up one in nine eligible citizens who lack necessary documents, including 97-year-old […]

[Read more →]

The Congressional seat in the 22nd District of Texas has been much in the news in recent years. Former Republican Majority House Leader Tom DeLay held it for 11 years, until his indictment in 2006 (for campaign finance violations) triggered a bizarre chain of events, that included a general election with a Republican write-in candidate […]

[Read more →]