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FEATURED ARTICLES FROM VOLUME 4, ISSUE 3 (JULY 17, 2006)

Civil Rights

Dimming the Beacon of Freedom
By American Civil Liberties Union (June 2006)
Dimming the Beacon of Freedom provides a detailed description of human rights violations in the United States. In addition to the impact of these rights violations on other vulnerable groups in the United States, the report highlights how, in the wake on September 11, 2001, Arabs, Muslims, South Asians, and to some extent all immigrants, were victims of discriminatory targeting by the government. It draws attention to the erosion of the right to privacy, discussing expanded surveillance and the government's growing use of the states secret privilege to avoid accountability for abuses. To view, click: http://www.aclu.org/pdfs/iccprreport20060620.pdf

Democracy

Asian Americans and the Voting Rights Act: The Case of Reauthorization
By Phillip A, Olaya, Glenn D. Magpantay, Nancy W. Yu, and Margaret Fung, Asian American Legal Defense Fund (May 2006)
Much is at stake for the Asian-American community as Congress considers reauthorization of the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965. As one of the fastest growing populations in the United States, Asian Americans have utilized the VRA to register and vote in record numbers. In particular, the language assistance provisions of Section 203, when correctly implemented, have provided full access to the ballot for Asian-American voters who have yet to master the English language. This report explains how Asian Americans have used the VRA to their advantage and made their voices heard. To view, click: http://www.aaldef.org/docs/AALDEF-VRAReauthorization-2006.pdf

Asian Americans at the Ballot Box
By Asian Pacific American Legal Center (June 2006)
To inform efforts to increase political participation in Asian-American communities, Asian Americans at the Ballot Box provides a comprehensive look at Asian-American participation in the November 2004 General Election. Who votes? Who does not? What candidates and ballot measures do Asian Americans support? What assistance do Asian Americans need to become fully engaged in political life? The report presents a unique snapshot of this increasingly influential portion of Southern California’s electorate at an important moment in our country’s history. To view, click: http://apalc.org/demographics/wp-content/uploads/2006/07/04%20Report%20DRAFT%20PRESS%20REV%20060602.pdf

Voting Rights in Texas, 1982-2006
By Nina Perales, Luis Figueroa and Criselda G. Rivas (June 26, 2006)
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA) has been indispensable to guaranteeing minority voters access to the ballot in Texas. Texas has experienced a long history of voting discrimination against its Latino and African-American citizens dating back to 1845. The enactment of the VRA in 1965 began a process of integrating Latinos, African Americans, and more recently, Asian Americans, into the political structures of Texas. Infringements on minority voting rights persist and noncompliance with the VRA continues at the state and local level. The VRA has proven to be an essential tool for enhancing minority inclusion in Texas. The evidence discussed in this report makes clear that racially discriminatory and exclusionary practices continue to plague the Texas electoral system despite legal challenges and gradual progress. The reauthorization of Sections 5, 203, and the federal observer provisions, are of paramount importance to secure the fundamental right to vote for minority citizens in Texas.
To view, click: http://www.civilrights.org/issues/voting/TexasVRA.pdf

Economics

Banking Immigrant Communities: A Toolkit for Banks and Credit Unions
By Appleseed (February 2006)
This toolkit is designed to highlight areas of importance to potential customers in the immigrant market, explain how banks can offer or better offer services to attract that market, and give examples of banks and credit unions around the country that have successfully used the recommended practices to expand their customer base. To view, click: http://appleseeds.net/servlet/Publications

Civic Contributions: Taxes Paid by Immigrants in the Washington DC Metropolitan Area
By Randolph Capps, Everett Henderson, Jeffrey S. Passel, Michael E. Fix (May 2006)
This report provides estimates on federal, state, and local taxes paid by immigrant households in the Washington DC metropolitan region in 1999-2000. The region’s almost one million immigrant households comprised 21 percent of all households and had $29.5 billion in income, or 19 percent, of the income of all households. Immigrant households paid $9.8 billion, or 18 percent, of the region’s total taxes, even though they had lower incomes on average than non-immigrant households ($78,000 versus $88,000). They contributed almost a quarter of the local taxes collected in the region’s two largest jurisdictions: Montgomery County, Md., and Fairfax County, Va. To view, click: http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/411338_civic_contributions.pdf

Expanding Immigrant Access to Mainstream Financial Services: Positive Practices and Emerging Opportunities from the Latin American Immigrant Experience
By Appleseed (June 2006)
This paper aims to stimulate a discussion on how best to overcome challenges and build on successes to realize the important social and economic benefits of bringing immigrant communities into the financial mainstream. They outline positive market practices targeting Latin-American immigrants and the needs, opportunities, and next steps for expanding and improving financial services for low- and moderate-income immigrant communities. To view, click: http://appleseeds.net/servlet/Publications

Education/Youth

The Academic Achievement Gap in Grades 3 to 8
By Charles Clotfeller, Helen Ladd, and Jacob Vigdor (June 4, 2006)
The report discusses the reality behind immigration in the United States in reference to immigrant youth and children of immigrants. Studies show that Latino youth score far below non-Latino Whites on achievement tests. The report goes on to explain the reason why Latino youth are not excelling as rapidly. To view, click: http://papers.nber.org/papers/W12207

Families

Children of Immigrants: Facts and Figures
By The Urban Institute (May 2006)
While Congress and the administration debate the future of the 11-12 million unauthorized immigrants, it is important to look also at the more than five million children in families with unauthorized parents. Two-thirds of these children are U.S.-born citizens, a share that increases to 93 percent among those under age six. A new fact sheet presents a statistical portrait of the children of immigrants.
To view, click: http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/900955_children_of_immigrants.pdf

Gender

Anti-Trafficking Initiative
By Asian American Legal Defense Fund
AALDEF's Anti-Trafficking Initiative, launched in October 2005, provides free legal representation to trafficked women and youth to ensure survivors' access to human services. AALDEF's Anti-Trafficking Initiative currently has outreach and educational resources available in 12 languages: English, Bangla, Chinese, Hindi, Khmer, Korean, Lao, Punjabi, Tagalog, Thai, Urdu, Vietnamese. Brochures and quarter-sheet palm cards are available for download.
To view, click: http://www.aaldef.org/anti-trafficking.html

Immigrant Women in the United States: A Demographic Portrait
The American Immigration Law Foundation (Summer 2006)
The migration of women to the United States is characterized by two contradictory trends. On the one hand, over the past 20 years women have comprised a growing share of new legal immigrants admitted into the country, a trend which mirrors the feminization of migration in Europe, Africa, and Latin America. On the other hand, women have constituted a declining share of the U.S. foreign-born population as a whole since 1970. This most likely is due to the fact that the majority of undocumented immigrants entering the country are men, although the numbers of undocumented women are on the rise. This report examines the reasons for the two trends and analyzes the reasons for both. To view, click: http://www.ailf.org/ipc/im_women_summer06.pdf

Policing

Border Insecurity: U.S. Border-Enforcement Policies and National Security
By The American Immigration Law Foundation (Spring 2006)
The U.S. government's efforts to stem undocumented immigration by fortifying the U.S.-Mexico border have increased the profitability of the people-smuggling business and fostered greater sophistication in the smuggling networks through which a foreign terrorist might enter the country. U.S. national security would be better served if undocumented labor migration were taken out of the border-security equation by reforming the U.S. immigration system to accommodate U.S. labor demand. This report discusses the reasons for the increase in border protection and give suggestions on what should be done about the situation.
To view, click: http://www.ailf.org/ipc/border_insecurity_spring06.pdf

Engagement in a Time of Uncertainty
By Nicole J. Henderson, Christopher W. Ortiz, Naomi F. Sugie, Joel Miller (June 2005)
In the aftermath of Sept. 11, Arab-Americans have a greater fear of racial profiling and immigration enforcement than of falling victim to hate crimes, according to a national study financed by the Justice Department. The study also concluded that local police officers and federal agents were straining under the pressure to fight terrorism, and that new federal policies in this effort were poorly defined and inconsistently applied. The two-year study, released today by the Vera Institute of Justice, explored the changed relationship between Arab-Americans and law enforcement in the years since the 2001 terrorist attacks. The Vera Institute is a nonprofit policy research center based in New York. To view, click: http://www.vera.org/publications/publications_5.asp?publication_id=353

Forcing Our Blues into Gray Areas: Local Police and Federal Immigration Enforcement
By Appleseed (January 31, 2006)
The discussion about whether local law enforcement should be enforcing federal immigration law remains a heated public policy debate.And unfortunately, there is no clear legal answer. For decades it has been accepted law—and practice—that state and local police could not enforce civil immigration law (only criminal law). However, in the wake of 9/11, some in Congress have been arguing for an increased role of state and local police in immigration enforcement. Appleseed's report outlines the legal history behind local enforcement of federal immigration laws, and outlines why an increase in this activity is a bad public policy decision. Many police departments, local governments, and organizations around the country are opposing increased local police involvement in federal immigration laws.
To view, click: http://appleseeds.net/servlet/Publications

Race/Culture

California Speaks: Language Diversity and English Proficiency by Legislative District
By Asian Pacific American Legal Center (February 2006)
APALC’s report provides detailed information on language, limited English proficiency, and related characteristics for 20 racial and ethnic groups in every State Assembly, State Senate, and Congressional District in California. California Speaks helps policy makers understand how language barriers affect their constituents and aids in developing effective policy solutions. To view, click:
http://apalc.org/demographics/wp-content/uploads/2006/03/APALC_CALIFORNIASPEAKS.pdf

Hispanic Attitudes Toward Learning English
By Pew Hispanic Center (June 7, 2006)
According to this fact sheet compiled by the Pew Hispanic Center, Hispanics, by a large margin, believe that immigrants have to speak English to be a part of American society and even more so that English should be taught to the children of immigrants, according to recent surveys conducted by the Pew Hispanic Center. To view, click: http://pewhispanic.org/files/factsheets/20.pdf

Labor/Workers Rights

The Occupational Status and Mobility of Hispanics
By Rakesh Kochhar, Pew Hispanic Center (Dec 15, 2005)
This research report finds a worsening in the occupational status of Hispanics and a growing gap with respect to Whites during the 1990s. That is surprising because the decade was witness to the longest economic expansion in recent U.S. history. But even as unemployment was on the decline for all racial and ethnic groups, structural shifts in employment across industries contributed to a greater division in the occupational status of Hispanics and Whites. The occupations in which Hispanics are concentrated rank low in wages, educational requirements, and other indicators of socioeconomic status
To view, click: http://pewhispanic.org/files/reports/59.pdf

Legislation/Reform

Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders – Principles for Immigration Reform
By The Asian Pacific American Legal Center, May 2006
This fact sheet outlines the Asian Pacific American Legal Center’s (APALC) position on the current immigration reform. APALC declares their alliance with other immigrant groups and explains the importance of the unity of all immigrant communities. The fact sheet discusses issues such as families, backlogs, and civil rights. To view, click: http://www.apalc.org/pdffiles/aapi-immigrationprinciples.pdf

More Harm than Good
By The National Employment Law Project (March 2006)
Recently state legislative sessions have seen a large number of anti-immigrant worker legislative proposals, ranging from state level employer sanctions bills to legislation requiring employers of immigrants to register and pay fees. This guide describes some of the anti-immigrant worker provisions currently pending in state legislatures and talking points explaining why these provisions will be bad for workers, bad for communities, and bad for states. Finally, this guide provides some affirmative proposals of steps states can take to ensure that workers are not being exploited and that employers are complying with state labor and employment laws. To view, click: http://www.nelp.org/docUploads/MORE%20HARM%20THAN%20GOOD%2Epdf

Senate Approves Sweeping but Flawed Immigration Reform Bill: The Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006
By National Immigration Law Center (May 30, 2006)
This informative analysis explains how the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006 was passed by Senate and what it entails. The bill is one of the most comprehensive immigration reforms in history; however, some of its measures run contrary to core American values.To view, click: http://www.nilc.org/immlawpolicy/CIR/cir017.htm

Size and Characteristics of the Unauthorized Migrant Population in the U.S.: Estimates Based on the March 2005 Current Population Survey
By Jeffrey S. Passel, Senior Research Associate, Pew Hispanic Center (March 7, 2006)
The March 2005 Current Population Survey shows that there were 11.1 million unauthorized migrants in the United States a year ago. Based on analysis of other data sources that offer indications of the pace of growth in the foreign-born population, the Center developed an estimate of 11.5 to 12 million for the unauthorized population as of March 2006. Using a well-established methodology, this research report offers estimates for the size and certain characteristics, such as age and national origins, of the unauthorized populations. To view, click: http://pewhispanic.org/files/reports/61.pdf

U.S. Legal Permanent Residents: 2005
By Kelly Jeffreys and Nancy Rytina,The Department of Homeland Security (April 2006)
This Office of Immigration Statistics Annual Flow Reportpresents data on the number and characteristics of persons who became Legal Permanent Residents (LPRs) in the United States during 2005 . To view, click: http://www.uscis.gov/graphics/shared/statistics/publications/USLegalPermEst_5.pdf

Polls

America's Immigration Quandary: No Consensus on Immigration Problem or Proposed Fixes
By Pew Research Center for the People & the Press (March 30, 2006)
Americans are increasingly concerned about immigration. A growing number believe that immigrants are a burden to the country, taking jobs and housing and creating strains on the health care system. Yet the public remains largely divided in its views of the overall effect of immigration. Roughly as many believe that newcomers to the United States strengthen American society as say they threaten traditional American values, and over the longer term, positive views of Latin American immigrants, in particular, have improved dramatically. This report based on polls taken throughout the United States discusses analyzes each side of the immigration debate and possible solutions. To view, click: http://pewhispanic.org/files/reports/63.pdf

Immigration

BOOKS

A Nation by Design: Immigration Policy in the Fashioning of America
By Aristide R. Zolberg (2006)
In A Nation by Design, Aristide Zolberg explores American immigration policy from the colonial period to the present, discussing how it has been used as a tool of nation building. A Nation by Design argues that the engineering of immigration policy has been prevalent since early American history. Zolberg profiles the vacillating currents of opinion on immigration throughout American history, examining separately the roles played by business interests, labor unions, ethnic lobbies, and nativist ideologues in shaping policy. He then examines how three different types of migration--legal migration, illegal migration to fill low-wage jobs, and asylum-seeking--are shaping contemporary arguments over immigration to the United States. To view, click: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0674022181/qid=1151612045/sr=1-254/ref=sr_1_254/103-4353548-9955001?s=books&v=glance&n=283155

Because I Don't Have Wings: Stories of Mexican Immigrant Life
By Philip Garrison (2006)
Garrison has taught in Mexico's central highlands and Washington's central valleys, and for the past decade he has helped run a food bank serving Mexican immigrants in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains. In telling their stories, he weaves together the centuries-old history of the immigrants' origins in Mexico. Garrison relates horrific tales of border crossings gone badly, but what he really wants to convey is the often hidden feelings of his friends who live a five-day drive away from their homeland. With trips home all but impossible due to border tightening after 9/11, this is really the only community these workers can count on. To view, click: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0816525250/qid=1151611943/sr=1-246/ref=sr_1_246/103-4353548-9955001?s=books&v=glance&n=283155

Being Chinese, Becoming Chinese American
By Shehong Chen (2006)
In this foundational study, Shehong Chen investigates how Chinese immigrants to the United States transformed themselves into Chinese Americans during the crucial period between 1911 and 1927. Chen documents how Chinese immigrants survived exclusion and discrimination, envisioned and maintained Chineseness, and adapted to American society. In addition to identifying the ideological elements of the Chinese American identity, Chen documents the building of permanent Chinese American communities, or Chinatowns. To view, click: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0252073894/qid=1151611550/sr=1-212/ref=sr_1_212/103-4353548-9955001?s=books&v=glance&n=283155

Corridos in Migrant Memory
By Martha I. Chew Sanchez (2006)
The everyday experiences and cultural expressions of Mexican-Americans and Mexican immigrants have not found their way into textbooks in Mexico or in the United States. Sanchez’s Corridos in Migrant Memory examines the role of corridos in shaping the cultural memories and identities of transnational Mexican groups. “Corridos” are ballads particular to Mexican traditions that are used to analyze or recall a particular political, cultural, and natural event important to the communities where they are performed. Many of the most popular corridos express the negative aspects of the immigrant experience: exploitation, surveillance, and dehumanization stemming from racism and classism of the host country. The corrido helps Mexican immigrants in the United States to humanize, dignify, and make sense of their transnational experiences as racial minorities. To view, click: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0826334784/qid=1151610826/sr=1-199/ref=sr_1_199/103-4353548-9955001?s=books&v=glance&n=283155

Democracy's Promise : Immigrants and American Civic Institutions
By Janelle Wong (2006)
The massive demographic changes in the United States during the past few decades have made understanding the place of immigrants in the public sphere more critical than ever. Democracy’s Promise examines both the challenges and opportunities posed to American civic institutions by the presence of increasing numbers of immigrants. To view, click: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0472069136/qid=1151612423/sr=1-8/ref=sr_1_8/103-4353548-9955001?s=books&v=glance&n=283155

Enrique’s Journey
By Sonia Nazario (2006)
Nazario's account of a 17-year-old boy's harrowing attempt to find his mother in America won two Pulitzer Prizes when it first came out in the Los Angeles Times. The story conveys the experience of immigration from Central America. It tells the story of Enrique whose mother leaves him in Honduras when he was five years old because she could barely afford to feed him and his sister. Twelve years later, his mother still living in the United States,Enrique became one of the thousands of children and teens who try to enter the United States each year. To view, click:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1400062055/104-9048155-7851135?v=glance&n=283155

From Immigrant to Naturalized Citizen: Political Incorporation in the United States
By Catherine Bueker (2006)
Bueker finds that naturalizing and voting are distinct processes. Levels of education, income, and length of eligibility predict both processes, but an immigrant’s country of origin frequently overrides these other characteristics and works differently in each. Immigrants from countries with the highest likelihood of naturalizing tend to have the lowest odds of voter turnout, while those immigrants from countries with the lowest odds of citizenship acquisition are the most likely to vote, once naturalized. Further, country of origin matters as much for how it interacts with other key characteristics, such as education and income, as for the independent influence it exerts on these two political processes. To view, click: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1593321376/qid=1151611155/sr=1-208/ref=sr_1_208/103-4353548-9955001?s=books&v=glance&n=283155

Legal Borderlands : Law and the Construction of American Borders
By Mary L. Dudziak, Leti Volpp (2006)
This collection focuses broadly on the role of law in the construction of U.S. borders and takes up an important question raised by the global turn in American studies scholarship: once territory becomes less critical to scholarship in the discipline, what constitutes the frame of American studies? Borders are created through formal legal controls on entry and exit, through the construction of rights of citizenship and noncitizenship, and through the regulation of American power in other parts of the world. Yet the law also extends the United States beyond its literal borders, through, for example, efforts to export democracy to the Middle East. This is the first collection to map the intersection of law and American studies, and it captures the excitement of interdisciplinary work at this intersection. To view, click: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0801884144/qid=1151611550/sr=1-213/ref=sr_1_213/103-4353548-9955001?s=books&v=glance&n=283155

Mexican Immigrants in the Labor Market: The Strength of Strong Ties
By Maria Luisa Amado (2006)
Amado examines the job seeking strategies of recent Mexican immigrants in Atlanta. She explores the resources available to job seekers within and outside their immigrant networks and the role of kinship during migration and settlement. Strong ties are primary sources of support and job information for new arrivals. Ties of kinship are effective work links among male workers involved in dense occupational networks of fellow immigrants. This is especially true among informal workers in industries that rely on abundant migrant labor. Women are less likely to benefit from these connections due to labor market and network segregation along gender lines. To view, click: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1593321333/qid=1151611155/sr=1-210/ref=sr_1_210/103-4353548-9955001?s=books&v=glance&n=283155

New Negroes from Africa: Free African Immigrants in the Nineteenth-Century Caribbean (Blacks in the Diaspora)
By Rosanne Marion Adderley (2006)
Adderley describes the formation of new African immigrant communities in territories which had long depended on enslaved African labor. Working from diverse records, she tries to tease out information about the families of liberated Africans, the labor they performed, their religions, and the culture they brought with them. She addresses issues of gender, ethnicity, and identity, and concludes with a discussion of repatriation. To view, click: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0253218276/sr=1-1/qid=1150485234/ref=sr_1_1/104-9048155-7851135?%5Fencoding=UTF8&s=books

One Hundred Years of Buying Care: Gender, Race, Immigration and Market Care Work in the Twentieth Century
By Mignon Duffy (2006)
Scholars have raised serious concerns about the disproportionate presence of women of color and immigrant women in low-wage care occupations, warning of the emergence of a new racialized and globalized servant class of women care workers. The analysis focuses on occupational shifts within care as well as the distribution of care workers by gender, race/ethnicity, and immigration status. While the immigrant makeup of the care workforce has shifted from primarily European to Mexican and Central American women, the subordination of women of color and immigrant women in the lowest paying care jobs has shown remarkable continuity. To view, click: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/049690972X/qid=1151612423/sr=1-9/ref=sr_1_9/103-4353548-9955001?s=books&v=glance&n=283155

Orange County Housecleaners
By Frank Cancian (2006)
Orange County Housecleaners documents the lives of seven women who make their livings cleaning houses in Orange County, Calif. Of the seven, five are Latina immigrants and two are Orange County natives. Each chapter combines a woman's life story told in her own words with Frank Cancian's recent photos of her family, work, and other activities. His introduction to the book gives background on domestic workers in Southern California and on the family situations of immigrant women who leave their children in their native countries while providing for them by working in the United States. To view, click: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0826336876/qid=1151611155/sr=1-201/ref=sr_1_201/103-4353548-9955001?s=books&v=glance&n=283155

The New Rural Poverty: Agriculture and Immigration in California
By Philip L. Martin, Michael E. Fix, and J. Edward Taylor (February 2006)
The New Rural Poverty examines the effect of rural immigration on inland agricultural areas in California, farm areas in coastal California, and meat and poultry processing centers in Delaware and Iowa. The authors examine the interdependencies between immigrants and agriculture in the United States, explore the policy challenges and options, and assess how current proposals for immigration reform will affect rural America. To view, click: http://www.uipress.org/Template.cfm?Section=Bookstore&Template=/Ecommerce/ProductDisplay.cfm&Productid=4708

Transforming Politics, Transforming America: The Political and Civic Incorporation of Immigrants in the United States
By Taeku Lee, S. Karthick Ramakrishnan, Ricardo Ramirez
In Transforming Politics, Transforming America, the authors bring together the newest work of prominent scholars in the field of immigrant political incorporation to provide the first comprehensive look at the political behavior of immigrants. With an emphasis on research that brings innovative theory, quantitative methods, and systematic data to bear, this volume presents a provocative evidence-based examination of the consequences that these demographic changes might have for the contemporary politics of the United States as well as for the concerns, categories, and conceptual frameworks we use to study race relations and ethnic politics. To view, click: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0813925452/qid=1151612423/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2/103-4353548-9955001?s=books&v=glance&n=283155

Working Toward Whiteness: How America's Immigrants Became White
By David R. Roediger (2006)
In Working Toward Whiteness, Roediger recounts how American ethnic groups considered White today—including Jewish-, Italian-, and Polish-Americans—once occupied a confused racial status in their new country. They eventually became part of White America thanks to the nascent labor movement, New Deal reforms, and a rise in home-buying. From ethnic slurs to racially restrictive covenants—the racist real estate agreements that ensured all-White neighborhoods—Roediger explores the murky realities of race in twentieth-century America. To view, click:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0465070744/sr=8-1/qid=1150484992/ref=sr_1_1/104-9048155-7851135?%5Fencoding=UTF8

BACK TO THE TOP

FEATURED ARTICLES FROM VOLUME 4, ISSUE 2 (APRIL 14, 2006)

VOTING
A Solution to Louisiana’s Post-Katrina Electoral Problems: Responsiveness, Voting Rights and Continuity in Congressional Representation
By FairVote (February 2, 2006)
Maintaining that Hurricane Katrina resulted in a “crisis of fair and responsive Congressional representation in southern Louisiana,” this paper explores the crisis in four dimensions: disproportionate representation, overload of constituent demands, liability under the 1965 Voting Rights Act, and ruptured representation. To view this study, click http://www.fairvote.org/media/documents/fairvote_katrina_report.pdf.

Louisiana's Electoral Disaster
By Rob Richie and Ryan O'Donnell, FairVote: The Center for Voting and Democracy (December 22, 2005)
Richie and O’Donnell, the executive and communications directors of FairVote, discuss New Orleans’ problems with democracy establishing who can vote and making it easy for them to participate. Originally published in the Washington Post, the article is available at http://www.fairvote.org/katrina/?page=9&articlemode=showspecific&showarticle=1208.

Transcript of “Voting After Katrina: Ensuring Meaningful Participation”
Hosted by the Center for American Progress and the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy (November 1, 2005)
Moderated by William Yeomans, program director of the American Constitution Society, this round-table discussion featured Rep. Artur Davis (D-AL); Al Ater, Louisiana Secretary Of State; Debo P. Adegbile, associate director of litigation, NAACP Legal Defense Fund; and Ronald Wilson, Esq., a New Orleans attorney.
To view the transcript, click http://www.americanprogress.org/atf/cf/%7BE9245FE4-9A2B-43C7-A521-5D6FF2E06E03%7D/VAK.PDF.

The Political Effects of Hurricane Katrina
By FairVote: The Center for Voting and Democracy (February 10, 2006)
According to this document, Hurricane Katrina so upset the size and demographics of Louisiana that voters may become disenfranchised and the voting strength of communities may be unjustly diluted or enriched. Presented is a synopsis of the political after-effects of Hurricane Katrina and proposed remedies. To view the document, click http://www.fairvote.org/media/documents/katrina_onepage.pdf.

IMMIGRANTS’ RIGHTS
Enrique's Journey
By Sonia Nazario (February 2006)
Nazario’s book tells the story of a 17-year-old boy and his attempt to locate his mother in America. Enrique’s Journey tells one story of the estimated 48,000 children and teens who attempt to enter the U.S. without BCIS authorization each year in search of mothers who left them behind to find economic opportunities to lift them out of poverty.

Hurricane Katrina-Related Immigration Issues and Legislation
By Ruth Ellen Wasem, Immigration Policy Specialist, U.S. Domestic Social Policy Division (September 19, 2005)
Wasem examines the “devastation and displacement” caused by Hurricane Katrina and the specific consequences for foreign nationals who lived in the Gulf Coast region, including legal permanent residents, non-immigrants, and undocumented immigrants. She also examines whether Congress should relax laws pertaining to foreign nationals who are victims of Hurricane Katrina. To view Wasem’s report, located on the State Department’s website, click http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/53687.pdf.

In The Eye of the Storm: How the Government and Private Response to Hurricane Katrina Failed Latinos
By Brenda Muñiz, National Council of La Raza (Feb 28, 2006)
This report finds that the federal government and the American Red Cross are unprepared to address the needs of Latinos and other diverse communities in the event of a disaster. Muñiz also makes recommendations to improve both the public and private response in future disasters. To view this study, click http://www.nclr.org/files/36812_file_Katrina_Report_FINAL.pdf.

Priorities for Immigrant Workers in the Gulf Coast
By the National Immigration Law Center (March 2006)
This brief by NILC focuses on preventing the exploitation of undocumented workers in the affected areas. Recommendations include preventing wage theft and requiring humanitarian assistance be provided to all immigrant workers who are survivors of Katrina. This brief is available http://www.nilc.org/disaster_assistance/priorities_imm_workers_gc_2006-3.pdf.

Undocumented Immigrants: Myths and Reality
By Randy Capps, Urban Institute, and Michael Fix, Migration Policy Institute (October 25, 2005)
Capps and Fix take on six popular myths about undocumented immigrants in the United States and provide evidence to dispel them. To view their fact sheet, click http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/900898_undocumented_immigrants.pdf.

WORKERS RIGHTS
Back to Work in New Orleans
By Harry J. Holzer, the Brookings Institution (October 2005)
Holzer focuses on how to employ young black men, already underrepresented in the workforce, in the rebuilding effort given their low rates of employment, and high rates of crime and incarceration. To view his report, click http://www.brookings.edu/metro/pubs/200510_backtowork.pdf.

Derechos Salariales de Los Jornaleros
By the National Employment Law Project (November, 2005)
This Spanish language fact sheet is designed to provide Post-Katrina information on the rights of workers, both documented and undocumented.

Esta hoja informativa contiene información sobre los derechos de los trabajadores, documentados y indocumentados, incluyendo el derecho de recibir recompensación por horas trabajados sin tomar en cuenta el estatus de immigración del trabajador. Para leer esta hoja, visite: http://www.nelp.org/docUploads/DayLaborWaitingTimeDeductions%5Fsp%5Fjvedit2%2Epdf.

Employment Issues and Challenges in Post-Katrina New Orleans
By Harry J. Holzer and Robert I. Lerman, Urban Institute (February 2006)
Holzer and Lerman review some of the short- and longer-term challenges and uncertainties involved in tackling labor market issues in rebuilding New Orleans as well as present several policy proposals for addressing those issues. This paper evaluates the needs of those returning to New Orleans, as well as those who choose to remain or go elsewhere. Holzer and Lerman argue that for “fairly modest public expenditures, the labor market disadvantages of many current and former residents can be addressed and their long-term employment outcomes improved.” To access this paper, click http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/900921_employment_issues.pdf.

Estrategias Para Reclamar sus Derechos Salariales en Alabama, Louisiana y Mississippi
By the National Employment Law Project (November 2005)
This Spanish language fact sheet is designed to provide workers with information and strategies on how to exercise their right to be paid for post-Katrina work undertaken in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi..

Hay varias estrategias para reclamar sus derechos salariales y modos de recuperar los salarios sin pagar. Esta hoja informativa enfoca a los derechos de trabajadores trabajando en Alabama, Louisiana y Mississippi despues del huracán Katrina. Para leer esta hoja, visite: http://www.nelp.org/docUploads/DayLaborWaitingTimeDeductions%5Fsp%5Fjvedit2%2Epdf.

Good Work and Fair Contracts: Making Gulf Coast Reconstruction Work for Local Residents and Businesses
By the Gulf Coast Commission on Reconstruction Equity (Interfaith Worker Justice and Good Jobs First) (February 2006)
This report contains a ‘report card addressing the President’s, Congress’ and various federal departments’ response to the post-Katrina rebuilding effort. It examines the assignment of rebuilding contracts to private contractors, wage theft, and lack of wage-enforcement efforts by the Department of Labor. To access this report, click http://www.iwj.org/actnow/gccre/gccre_full_report.pdf.

Hurricane Katrina: Social-Demographic Characteristics of Impacted Areas
By Thomas Gabe, Gene Falk, and Maggie McCarty, Domestic Social Policy Division; Virginia W. Mason, Congressional Cartography Program, Library of Congress (November 4, 2005)
Gabe et al. discuss Hurricane Katrina’s varying characteristics of impacted areas, especially social and economic composition. A focus is on the plight of working-age adults, low labor force participation rates, and higher unemployment rates than the national average. To access this resource, click http://www.gnocdc.org/reports/crsrept.pdf.

New Start New Orleans: Good Jobs for a Better Gulf
By Hilary Pennington, Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress
Pennington’s brief addresses the importance of rebuilding the Gulf Coast without the chronic poverty of the people in affected areas. Stressing an approach of cooperation between the government and the private sector is, Pennington suggests, a way to bring back the Gulf Coast work force and their families while escaping poverty. To read the full brief, click http://www.americanprogress.org/atf/cf/%7BE9245FE4-9A2B-43C7-A521-5D6FF2E06E03%7D/CAP_RESPONSE_TO_KATRINA2.PDF.

EDUCATION
The Future of Public Education in New Orleans
By Paul Hill and Jane Hannaway, The Urban Institute (January 2006)
Hill and Hannaway discuss methods for rebuilding and improving the public education system in New Orleans, including how to attract quality school providers and screen out poor ones and how to attract a large, talented pool of applicants for jobs as teachers and principals. Their focus is how New Orleans can cope with uncertainty while providing quality education as well as providing a vision for long-term planning. Their report is available http://www.urban.org/uploadedpdf/900913_public_education.pdf.

An Unnatural Disaster: A Critical Resource Guide for Addressing the Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in the Classroom
By the New York Collective of Radical Educators (December 2, 2005)
With plenty of educational and discussion opportunities for students, this electronic document serves as an interactive guidebook through topics such as the government response to Katrina, inequality that was the fabric of New Orleans life, racism’s contribution to the response, as well the rebuilding process. To access the document, click http://www.nycore.org/PDF/AnUnnaturalDisaster2PDF.pdf.

“Katrina's Winds Integrate Two Tiny Mississippi Schools”
By KATC TV-3
KATC TV-3 reports on two Roman Catholic elementary schools – racially segregated for more than 100 years – that came together after Hurricane Katrina destroyed one school. Find the story http://www.katc.com/Global/story.asp?S=4048128.

“Hurricane-hit States Get More IDEA, NCLB Waivers”
Sarah Sparks, Stephen Sawchuk. Education Daily. Sept 23, 2005 v38 i170 p3(1).
In this article, Sparks and Sawchuk report on the Senate subcommittee hearing for helping K-12 schools that have enrolled displaced students. Waivers were requested on reporting requirements for Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi for the No Child Left Behind Act and Individuals with Disabilities EducationAct.

“Additional Support for Hurricane-Displaced Students”
Nicole Ashby, Editor, U.S. Department of Education, The Achiever. Volume 4, Number 12 (November/December 2005)
Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings and a group of mental health experts and school officials met in October and November 2005 for a series of roundtable discussions on how to help students and educators cope with the Hurricane Katrina disaster. To view this newsletter, click http://www.ed.gov/news/newsletters/achiever/2005/1105.html.

“Support for Families and Schools Affected by Katrina”
Nicole Ashby, Editor, U.S. Department of Education, The Achiever. Volume 4, Number 11 (October, 2005)
President Bush's proposed budget of $2.6 billion that will provide federal education funding to help families and school systems from the Gulf Coast region that have suffered through Hurricane Katrina as well as communities accepting displaced students.
To view this newsletter, click http://www.ed.gov/news/newsletters/achiever/2005/1005.html.

HOUSING
Rebuilding Affordable Housing in New Orleans: The Challenge of Creating Inclusive Communities
Susan J. Popkin, Margery Austin Turner, and Martha R. Burt (January 2006)
This paper examines the challenge of rebuilding affordable housing while avoiding old patterns of concentrating assisted housing and poor families in a few isolated communities. To view this study, click http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/900914_affordable_housing.pdf.

Rebuilding Homes and Lives: Progressive Options for Housing Policy Post Katrina
By Joel Horwitch, Jason Lakin, Lydia Bean, Andrew Jakaobovics, Jal Mehta, and Derek R.B. Douglas (October 12, 2005)
This brief offers options for policy-makers to use for meeting housing challenges post Katrina. The steps offered include providing shelter to the homeless and rebuilding the Gulf Coast in a way that will expand opportunity and build sustainable communities. Particular attention is paid to overcoming the legacy of concentrated poverty by offering a range of strategies to create mixed income communities. To view this study, click http://www.americanprogress.org/atf/cf/%7BE9245FE4-9A2B-43C7-A521-5D6FF2E06E03%7D/housing_brief.pdf.

Recovering States? The Gulf Coast Six Months After the Storm
By Oxfam America (February 2006)
This report reveals that poor households are being left behind in the disaster recovery effort, examining the economic status of the displaced residents, the ability of displaced residents to return to their former neighborhoods, and the need to ensure that housing recovery and rebuilding takes those living in poverty into consideration. To access this report, click http://www.oxfamamerica.org/newsandpublications/publications/briefing_papers/recovering_states.

The Impact of Katrina: Race and Class in Storm-Damaged Neighborhoods
By John R. Logan, Professor of Sociology, Brown University; Director, Spatial Structures in the Social Sciences (January 2006)
Logan presents an analysis of FEMA storm damage data, revealing that the region’s Black community, people who rented their homes, and the poor and unemployed disproportionately endured the storm’s impact. His study also includes a discussion of post-Katrina policy choices that leave New Orleans susceptible to losing more than 80% of its pre-Katrina Black population. To view Logan’s study, click http://www.s4.brown.edu/Katrina/report.pdf.

Housing Families Displaced by Katrina: A Review of the Federal Response to Date
By Bruce Katz, Amy Liu, Matt Fellowes, and Mia Mabanta, the Brookings Institution (November 2005)
This analysis discusses why, despite a substantial spending allocation, the government's policy response has not been cost-effective and why the government under-invests in Section 8 housing vouchers. To view this paper, click http://www.brookings.edu/metro/pubs/20051114_CostofHousing.pdf.

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
Can We Save New Orleans?
By Oliver Houck, Professor of Law, Tulane University (Spring 2006)
Published in the Tulane Environmental Law Journal, Houck raises the question of whether we can save New Orleans in a post-Katrina environment. To view his study, click http://kerrn.org/pdf/Houck_CanWeSaveNewOrleans.pdf.

Contaminants in New Orleans Sediment: An Analysis of EPA Data
By Gina M. Solomon, M.D., M.P.H., Miriam Rotkin-Ellman, Natural Resources Defense Council (February 2006)
When the waters of Katrina receded, they left behind a caked layer of muck on streets, yards, porches, and playgrounds across the region. Solomon and Rotkin-Ellman’s analysis of EPA data shows that most districts in New Orleans contain concentrations of arsenic, lead, diesel fuel, or other industrial carcinogens above levels that would normally trigger investigation and possible soil cleanup in the state of Louisiana. To see what implications this data has on rebuilding New Orleans, http://www.nrdc.org/health/effects/katrinadata/sedimentepa.pdf.

Draft Environmental Assessment: Port of Lake Charles Industrial Park Property Emergency Temporary Housing Site, Lake Charles, Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana
By the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
Results of the environmental review process, including an impact analysis on water quality, vegetation and wildlife, as well as the details of public involvement in developing the plan. To view this report, click http://www.fema.gov/pdf/ehp/lakecharles_ea_draft.pdf.

An Unnatural Disaster: The Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina
By the Center for Progressive Reform (September 2005)
This report addresses the historical roots of the Katrina disaster, emergency response planning, discrimination and social justice ramifications, and the competing conservative and progressive responses to the disaster. Also included is an examination of the environmental problems Katrina left in her wake, including flooded and contaminated drinking water supplies, multiple oil spills, leaking underground fuel and chemical tanks, and flooded sewage treatment plants, in addition to other problems. To view, click http://www.progressivereform.org/Unnatural_Disaster_512.pdf.

Cleanup after Hurricane Katrina: Environmental Considerations
Robert Esworthy, Linda Jo Schierow, Claudia Copeland, and Linda Luther, Resources, Science, & Industry Division, Congressional Research Service (October 13, 2005)
Esworthy et al. provide an overview of the immediate and intermediate cleanup tasks and the federal role supporting these tasks. To view, click http://ncseonline.org/nle/crsreports/05oct/RL33115.pdf.

HEALTHCARE
MSU Researchers Say Black Mold Toxins Could Affect Sense of Smell
By Zahidul Islam, Jack R. Harkema, and James J. Pestka (February 2006)
Researchers have found that certain toxins produced by black mold, a fungus found everywhere in thousands of buildings in New Orleans and the U.S. Gulf coast, are capable of killing nerve cells, essential for the sense of smell, that are located in the nasal passages of mice. What are the implications for humans breathing this toxic air? Their study and findings are described in brief, http://www.newsroom.msu.edu/site/indexer/2673/content.htm and in full, http://www.ehponline.org/members/2006/8854/8854.pdf.

Initial Health Policy Responses to Hurricane Katrina and Possible Next Steps
Stephen Zuckerman, Teresa A. Coughlin, Urban Institute (February 2006)
Zuckerman and Coughlin examine the effects of Hurricane Katrina's destruction of much of New Orleans' health care system, especially in the low-income uninsured population. This paper discusses the many difficult health care challenges in Katrina’s aftermath. To view, click http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/900929_health_policy.pdf.

Disaster Health Risks Weighed
By Susan Kim, Disaster News Network (March 4, 2006)
Disaster responders weigh whether post-disaster illnesses need to be better tracked, especially in the wake of Katrina survivors and returnees contracting illnesses. Meanwhile, OSHA officials say technical assistance, not health preparedness, is the first line of defense in an emergency. To view Kim’s article, click http://www.disasternews.net/news/news.php?articleid=3075.

Environmental Health and Hurricane Katrina
Henry Falk, Grant Baldwin. Environmental Health Perspectives. Jan 2006 v114 i1 pA12(2).
Falk and Baldwin give a brief overview of the environmental health problems still facing those living in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, including housing, debris removal, toxic chemicals, sewage treatment, safe drinking water, and occupational health.

BOOKS

Hurricane Katrina: Response and Responsibilities
By John Brown Childs, Editor. (January 2006)
This book compiles responses to the hurricane from more than 30 contributors, including community activists, sociologists, writers, and musicians. Some have been displaced by the hurricane and write about what they have lost. Others write from a distance, seeing patterns in the response to the hurricane that reflect a cultural bias of race and class. Together they offer not only critical assessments of what went wrong, but also hopeful conjecture about possibilities for the future of New Orleans, the Gulf Coast, and the United States.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0971254621/qid=1142877728/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-5521779-9808742?s=books&v=glance&n=283155

Come Hell or High Water: Hurricane Katrina and the Color of Disaster
By Michael Eric Dyson (February 2006)
While Dyson chronicles the hurricane and its aftermath, he also argues that the nation's failure to offer timely aid to Katrina's victims indicates deeper problems in race and class relations. Dyson’s ultimate assertion is that Katrina exposed a dominant culture pervaded not only by "active malice" toward poor blacks but also by a long history of "passive indifference" to their problems.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0465017614/qid=1142875001/sr=1-18/ref=sr_1_18/104-5521779-9808742?s=books&v=glance&n=283155

2005 Complete Guide to the Hurricane Katrina Disaster – Federal Reports, Government Response, Science Reports, Devastation to Louisiana, New Orleans, Mississippi, Alabama (DVD-ROM)
By U.S. Government (January 15, 2006)
This electronic book is a collection of American government documents on the Hurricane Katrina disaster. Included is material from 26 federal agencies and departments, with in-depth national reports, technical and scientific data, and images. The more than 38,000 pages reproduced using Adobe Acrobat PDF software comes from privately compiled collections of official, public domain U.S. government files and documents.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1422004686/qid=1142875001/sr=1-12/ref=sr_1_12/104-5521779-9808742?s=books&v=glance&n=283155

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FEATURED ARTICLES FROM VOLUME 4, ISSUE 1 (JANUARY 18, 2006)

MLK & NONVIOLENCE
At Canaan’s Edge: America in the King Years, 1965-1968
By Taylor Branch (Simon & Schuster, January 2006)
The eagerly-awaited third volume of Taylor Branch’s history of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the civil rights movement has just been published. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author began his trilogy with Parting the Waters in 1989, followed by Pillar of Fire. Branch’s books are considered among the classics of civil rights literature, and organizers consistently rank them as indispensable resources.

KATRINA
Black Psychologists Respond to Hurricane Katrina
By Robert Atwell, Psy.D., National President, Association of Black Psychologists (September 6, 2005)
“What happens to a people who have been dispossessed, despised, and disinherited when tragedy occurs?” This document answers that question with a discussion of the economic and social stratification of, and discrimination against, Black Hurricane Katrina survivors. http://www.abpsi.org/hurricane.htm

Katrina Leaves Widespread Depression in Her Wake
By Amanda Gardner
This article examines one of the psychological after-effects of Hurricane Katrina: depression. One survey found that 53 percent of Louisiana residents reported feeling depressed in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=56975

New Orleans: Drowned City Cuts Its Poor Adrift
By Peter Beaumont (December 11, 2005)
This article exposes how mainly Black, low-income citizens of New Orleans are now the victims of rising rents, forced evictions, and reconstruction plans that favor those with money. http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1664630,00.html

Roundtable: Black Colleges and Katrina
By Ed Gordon (September 8, 2005)
What effect has Hurricane Katrina had on Louisiana’s historically Black colleges and universities? Ed Gordon's guests include Michael Lomax, president and CEO of the United Negro College Fund; Elnora D. Daniel, president of Chicago State University; and Norman Francis, president of Xavier University in New Orleans. To hear the audio version of this discussion, visit: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4837203

EDUCATION
Demanding Change
By Communities for Quality Education
This set of interactive maps details states’ growing movement to fix the No Child Left Behind law's expensive rules and regulations. Communities for Quality Education has identified efforts in all 50 states to fix the federal law since 2003. http://www.qualityednow.org/reports/revolt/

NCLB Revolt Spreading
By Ellen R. Delisio, Education World
Delisio examines the growing nationwide revolt against the federal No Child Left Behind Act. Delisio also includes information about how some states are challenging NCLB. http://www.educationworld.com/a_issues/issues/issues418.shtml

Status and Trends in the Education of Blacks
By the National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education
This report makes statistical information about the educational status of Blacks easily accessible to a variety of audiences and uses statistics published by NCES in a variety of reports. http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2003/2003034.pdf

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
America's Poor and Blacks Suffer Greater Health Risks on Account of Pollution
By Bharat Rathode, Earth Times (December 15, 2005)
Rathode examines findings that black and poor Americans are 79 percent more prone to residing in neighborhoods polluted by industrial emissions, which pose the greatest risks to their health. http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/4673.html

Environmental Justice Geographic Assessment Tool
The Environmental Protection Agency has provided a mapping tool that citizens can use to determine the level and types of contamination to any geographic area. http://www.epa.gov/enviro/ej/

Thirsty for Justice: A People’s Blueprint for California Water
By the Environmental Justice Coalition for Water
The Environmental Justice Coalition for Water is a network of more than fifty grassroots and intermediary organizations and empowers community members to become strong voices for water justice in their communities. This document is an overview of the environmental justice issues in California water.
http://www.ejcw.org/ or http://www.ejcw.org/Thirsty%20for%20Justice.pdf .

LIVING WAGE
Failing Jobs, Falling Wages: The 2005 North Carolina Living Income Standard
By John Quinterno and Elizabeth Jordan, North Carolina Justice Center (2005)
This document examines the 2005 North Carolina living income standard, describes who falls below the living income standard, and shifting tax burdens from the poor to the wealthy as an agenda for change. http://www.ncjustice.org/media/library/551_livingincome2005.pdf

The Living Wage Movement: Gaining Momentum
By the Employment Policy Foundation
This report details: growth of the living wage movement; characteristics of low-wage earners; effects of low wages on nonprofit organizations and social services; and penalties imposed on employers. It also documents the 106 living wage ordinances enforced by 98 counties and cities, 3 universities, and 4 other local jurisdictions in 31 states. http://www.livingwageresearch.org/factsheets/overview.asp

PRISON COMPLEX
Felony Disenfranchisement Laws in the United States
By the Sentencing Project (November 2005)
The Sentencing Project is a non-profit organization that promotes “reduced reliance on incarceration and increased use of more effective and humane alternatives to deal with crime.” This document presents an overview of felony disenfranchisement laws in the U.S. It also includes states’ policy changes regarding felons’ ability to vote and a chart detailing the categories of felons who face disenfranchisement in each state. http://www.sentencingproject.org/pdfs/1046.pdf

NJ Racial Profiling Archive
By the Drug Reform Coordination Network
The archive contains 91,000 pages of documents from the New Jersey Racial Profiling Archive. These documents were released to the public by the Office of the Attorney General of the New Jersey Department of Public Safety and have since been the subject of intensive scrutiny and media coverage. http://stopthedrugwar.org/njprofiling/archive.shtml

JUVENILE JUSTICE
Alternatives to the Secure Detention and Confinement of Juvenile Offenders
By James Austin, Kelly Dedel Johnson, and Ronald Weitzer, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Protection (September 2005)
This document promotes the court’s reliance on detention and confinement through administrative reforms and special program initiatives informed by an objective assessment of a youth’s risk level. http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/208804.pdf

MISCELLANEOUS
Blurring the Lines: A Profile of State and Local Police Enforcement of Immigration Law
By Hannah Gladstein, Annie Lai, Jennifer Wagner and Michael Wishnie for
The Migration Policy Institute of New York University School of Law (December 2005)
Throughout any given year, thousands of police officers at the local level rely on the FBI’s National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database to provide possible additional information on the criminal background of arrestees and detainees – including potential immigration violations. This report finds that as many as forty-two percent of NCIC immigration violation “hits” were in fact false positives. To access the full report, visit: www.migrationpolicy.org/news/2005)12_08.php .

Hate Crime Statistics: 2004
By the Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Department of Justice (November 2005)
This document aims to raise national awareness about bias-motivated crimes. It accounts the 7,649 criminal incidents that law enforcement agencies reported and includes information on 9,035 offenses, 9,528 victims, and 7,145 known offenders. The report includes information about hate crime incidents, the types of offenses committed, and some aspects of the victims and the offenders. Tables contain hate crime data aggregated by state or agency type. http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/hc2004/tables/HateCrime2004.pdf

Results of the 2005 National Latino Survey
By: The Latino Coalition (January 2006)
This survey demonstrates that two very different segments exist within the Latino community – recent immigrants and those who have been here for many years – and their views on political issues are frequently at odds. The debate over immigration reform is a perfect example of the diverse opinions within the Latino community. Access top-line results and PowerPoint presentation on the survey at: http://www.thelatinocoalition.com/

The Economic Impact of the Hispanic Population on North Carolina
By: John D. Kasarda and James H. Johnson, Jr. (January 2006)
This study documents the nature and magnitude of North Carolina’s Latino population change and estimates the economic impact of her Latino residents on individual counties, metropolitan areas, and the state as a whole, along with their associated costs and benefits. The report finds that Latinos now live in every one of North Carolina’s one hundred counties. It is expected that by 2009, the Latino population will contribute as much as $18 billion to the state’s economy, doubling the current contribution, while the net cost to the state in education, health care, and corrections is a mere $102 per Latino resident.
http://www.kenan-flagler.unc.edu/assets/documents/2006_KenanInstitute_HispanicStudy.pdf .

BACK TO THE TOP

FEATURED ARTICLES FROM VOLUME 3, ISSUE 4 (OCTOBER 17, 2005)

Barriers to Employment facing young Black and White Men with Criminal Records
By Devah Pager and Bruce Western, Department of Sociology, Princeton University (2005)
Successful prisoner re-entry has long been recognized as one wrought with barriers and inequities. Does race have a bearing on the opportunities afforded to the formerly incarcerated; will a white person with a criminal conviction be extended a job offer before a black person with a criminal conviction? Visit: http://www.princeton.edu/~pager/auditnyc_offenders_draft.pdf or http://www.princeton.edu/~pager/pager_ajs.pdf.

Closing the Gap: Solutions to Race-based Health Disparities
By Applied Research Center and Northwest Federation of Community Organizers (Summer 2005)
This report documents the persistent problems experienced by communities of color attempting to access health care services across the nation. With a review of the latest research on health disparities, in-depth field research, and comprehensive case studies, Closing the Gap reinvigorates the debate over what may be the nation's greatest public health challenge--the persistent racial divide in access to comprehensive, quality health services. To access this report visit: http://www.arc.org/Pages/pubs/closinggap.html.

Ethnic Disparities in Education: North County San Diego - A series of fact sheets and profiles
By the National Latino Research Center at Cal State San Marcos (Spring/Summer, 2005)
Nationwide, minority students lag behind their White counterparts at all levels of education. Latino students, in particular, experience disparities in educational opportunities (e.g. gifted education and college preparatory curriculums) and outcomes. These fact sheets examine ethnic disparities in North County Sand Diego, CA. To access these fact sheets visit: http://www.csusm.edu/nlrc/publications/Fact%20Sheets/Fact_Sheet_Educ_Disparities_NCounty.pdf.

Latinos and Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act: Beyond Black and White
By Juan Cartagena, National Black Law Journal, Volume 18, Number 2 (Summer, 2005)
Because it is generally assumed that Latinos are primarily interested in the language protections of Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA), this article examines the instrumental role of New York's Puerto Rican community in shaping the VRA's policies toward Latinos through both Section 5 and Section 203 protections; the connection between the VRA and Mexicans in Texas; and the broader discourse over majority minority districts.

Letter in Support of the Movement in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast - Notes on Strategy and Tactics
By Eric Mann (September, 2005)
The author of this article, has been involved in the Civil Rights Movement since 1964 and is now the director of the Labor/Community Strategy Center and a member of the Bus Riders Union Planning Committee. This article promotes the idea of publishing more strategy papers that will push the left closer to the goal of achieving unity by enjoying and employing winning strategies and tactics. To access this article, visit: http://www.frontlinespress.com/Letter_in_Support_web.pdf.

National Healthcare Disparities Report
By the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (December, 2004) This report is a comprehensive national overview of healthcare disparities among racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups in the United States. This report also tracks the nation's progress toward eliminating disparities in health care. To access the full report, visit: http://www.qualitytools.ahrq.gov/disparitiesreport/browse/browse.aspx.

New Jersey Voter Protection Laws in a Nutshell
By Advancement Project (2005)
This publication is part of a series intended to distill complex election law for lawyers, advocates, voter registration campaigns and "Get Out the Vote" campaigns. It combines state election law with state regulations, rules, attorney general opinions and other election materials to provide a comprehensive interpretation of the law and practices that impact elections. While this publication does not cover every provision of state election law, it highlights those provisions which in our experience have most impacted the voting rights of minority voters. To access this report, visit: http://www.advancementproject.org/publications.html#pd.

Racial Profiling: Don't Mind If I Take a Look Do Ya? An Examination of Consent Searches and Contraband Hit Rates at Texas Traffic Stops
By Dwight Steward, Ph.D, Steward Research Group and Molly Totman, Texas Criminal Justice Coalition (TCJC) on behalf of ACLU, NAACP, LULAC & TCJC of Texas (February, 2005)
This study examines the statistical reports of 1,060 Texas law enforcement agencies. This document represents the largest set of racial profiling data ever collected and analyzed. Key findings include: Texas law enforcement agencies continue to search Blacks and Latinos at higher rates than Anglos; consent searches - performed without any legal basis to search - were used most often with Black and Latinos following traffic stops; patterns of over-searching Blacks and Latinos are consistent; and racial disparities in search rates appear to be growing. To access this report visit: http://www.criminaljusticecoalition.org/racial_profiling.html.

The Shame of a Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America
By Jonathan Kozol (Summer, 2005)
Has integration in our public schools taken one step forward and two steps back? It appears to be so; today the likelihood that a Black child will attend a segregated school is higher than it was in 1968. Kozol's book exposes the conditions he found while visiting a number of schools in eleven states over a five year period.

The State of the Dream: Black-White Gaps Still Wide - Some Even Widening- Since Dr. King's Death
By Dedrick Muhammad, Attieno Davis, Meizhu Lui and Betsy Leondar-Wright for United Fair Economy (UFE) (January, 2004)
This report finds that the racial gap in the United States has widened since the 1960's. Findings include: Black unemployment is higher today than in 1972 and it is double the rate of White job-seekers; today the typical Black family has 58% as much income as a White family, down from 60% in 1968; Black infants are twice as likely as White infants to die before reaching the age of one, up from 1970 estimates. To access this report, visit: http://www.faireconomy.org/press/2004/StateoftheDream2004.pdf.

Virginia Voter Protection Laws in a Nutshell
By Advancement Project (2005)
This publication is part of a series intended to distill complex election law for lawyers, advocates, voter registration campaigns and "Get Out the Vote" campaigns. It combines state election law with state regulations, rules, attorney general opinions and other election materials to provide a comprehensive interpretation of the law and practices that impact elections. While this publication does not cover every provision of state election law, it highlights those provisions which in our experience have most impacted the voting rights of minority voters. To access this report, visit: http://www.advancementproject.org/publications.html#pd.

We Are All Suspects Now - Untold Stories for Immigrant Communities After 9/11
By Tram Nguyen (2005)
This book puts a human face on the "war on terror" by bringing together the stories of individuals affected by the growing anti-immigrant sentiment in the aftermath of September 11th. It uncovers the story of Mohammad Butt, for example, the first to die in detention after 9/11 and it sheds ligh