In The News

Univision Gives Citizenship Drive an Unusual Lift

Miriam Jordan May 15, 2007
More than 8 million legal permanent residents are eligible for citizenship in the US. Univision Communications is working with activists to encourage such green-card holders to collect their citizenship papers and participate in the 2008 presidential election. Such a large voting bloc could help Latino candidates and also influence the ongoing debate on immigration reform. The largest Spanish-...

End of the Melting Pot?

Ashley Pettus May 14, 2007
Seeking jobs and opportunity in a new country, immigrants often head for communities where family members, friends or acquaintances have already settled. The practice creates pockets of ethnic groups, changing demographics and culture in many US towns, often raising questions about the ability for immigrants to assimilate. This article in “Harvard Magazine” compares immigration throughout the...

The Strange Death of Multiculturalism

Ian Buruma May 1, 2007
European society once was organized according to religion. People headed to neighborhoods, schools, hospitals and even jobs based on religious affiliation and word of mouth from fellow congregants. Muslims began immigrating into European communities after secularization took hold, and secular society became alarmed about a religious pillar rising alone in integrated communities. “In the end, the...

Eastern Europe Becomes a Center for Outsourcing

John Tagliabue April 30, 2007
Be careful what you wish for, goes the old saying. People in Western Europe once grumbled about immigrants from Eastern Europe seeking work. But instead of people moving about, more Western European firms shift jobs to Eastern Europe, reports journalist John Tagliabue in “The New York Times.” The global outsourcing market is worth almost $400 billion this year. Eastern European nations like the...

Free Markets Need Free People

Gordon H. Hanson April 23, 2007
Even as US politicians and consumers decry any illegalities associated with immigration, the US economy is hooked on the conveniences that accompany cheap labor. For unskilled workers, illegal immigration is easier and provides more immediate awards than legal immigration, argues Gordon Hanson of the Center on Pacific Economies. Rigid guest-worker policies combined with strict enforcement drive...

Australia and US to Swap Refugees

Barbara McMahon April 23, 2007
Australia and the US have agreed to a program for exchanging each other’s asylum seekers, with the hopes that geographic distance will discourage dangerous voyages and illegal immigration. The US will handle Australia’s asylum seekers from places like Sri Lanka and Burma; Australia will handle the US detainees from Haiti and Cuba. Though the program, the US and Australia will process and resettle...

Is France Cooling Toward Its Arab Friends?

Pascal Boniface April 18, 2007
During the Cold War, France emerged as a Western advocate for the interests of the Arab world. Although conventional wisdom ascribes this special relationship to economic and political calculations, foreign affairs specialist Pascal Boniface argues that France’s motivations are more complex. A number of strategic concerns have been at the root of the French-Arab alliance since 1967. Good...