Election 2008: What’s At Stake?

Though the election dominated last week’s news and will likely dominate next week’s as well, other things have been happening in the world of immigration. Here are a few:

The head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement resigned without explanation, effective November 15. Julie L. Myers, who was appointed to the position in 2005, oversaw high-profile raids [...]

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Here’s a run-down of the races we were watching. In some, the immigration issue played a role—or failed to; in others, immigrant voters’ voices were heard. More details to come later on some of the major stories. (All results from NYTimes.com, unless linked elsewhere.)

Texas 22: Republican Pete Olson beat Democratic incumbent Rep. Nick Lampson, [...]

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Two days before the election, the immigration issue and/or immigrant voters are playing a big role in a handful of Congressional races. Here’s what we’re watching:

Texas 22: Democrat Nick Lampson hopes to fend off a challenge from Republican Pete Olson with the help of South Asian voters. A Zogby poll has the Republican substantially ahead, [...]

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Texas House candidate Sandra VuLe (campaign photo).
The Dallas Morning News reports on a local race where the changing faces of America are facing off against each other. In Texas’ 112th state house district, Taiwanese-American Republican Angie Chen Button is running against Democrat Sandra Phuong VuLe, who was born in Vietnam. Both naturalized citizen advocate for [...]

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Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Lathan Watts (City of Lewisville)

The city council of Lewisville, Tex., last week rejected a measure to make English the only language allowed on government documents.
Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Lathan Watts (R) had put the measure on the council’s agenda, citing the need to save money on translating documents into many different [...]

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Several of the congressional races News 21 has been following are on a new ranked list of 50 House races to watch. In some of these districts, immigration is an issue; in others, immigrant voters may tilt the election.

6. Texas 22 - Republican Pete Olson challenges Democrat Nick Lampson, who won this very Republican district [...]

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When Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents raided a San Francisco home earlier this month, they arrested all of the adults and may have left a 15-year-old child to fend for herself. Now, San Francisco officials are expressing outrage over the situation.

England, which has its own immigration controversies, also has immigration raids, though not on the [...]

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The Washington Post looks at how Shenandoah, Pa., is coping with the aftermath of Mexican immigrant Luis Ramirez’ murder. Ramirez was beaten to death by a group of white teenagers in June.

State Rep. Russell Pearce won the Republican primary for the Arizona state Senate. Pearce is a fierce anti-immigration hardliner, and he has been accused [...]

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On Thursday, a federal judge overturned a Dallas suburb’s anti-illegal immigration ordinance (Word doc), ruling that Farmers Branch, Tex., could not require landlords to verify tenants’ immigration status. The ordinance, passed in 2006, was similar to one passed by Hazleton, Pa. in 2006 and overturned the following year. Hazleton is still appealing that decision.
But Farmers [...]

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Residents of Sugar Land, Texas, know they have something special. Considered the fittest and the safest city in Texas, it’s also a symbol of the increasing diversity within the Lone Star State. Its population is composed of almost equal quarters of Hispanics, blacks, whites and Asians.
Sugar Land’s South Asians, in particular, are the focus of [...]

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