Center for Immigration Studies
Small Farm Town in Central Illinois Embraces Immigrants and Prospers
In the aftermath of a state budget crisis, Tim Flavin’s government-funded immigration and minority service group, Mi Raza, almost had to shut down. But the Arcola, Illinois, organization stayed open thanks to a generous outpouring from the very community it served. Immigrants who took classes at Mi Raza donated to… Read More
With Longer Breaks, Foreign Students Do the Outer Banks Tourism Jobs that U.S. Students Can’t
Visit a Harris Teeter or a Food Lion supermarket on North Carolina’s Outer Banks this summer and your groceries might well be rung up by someone with an East European, Chinese, or Jamaican accent. Every summer, around 1,200 young internationals come to the sparsely populated region… Read More
Kansas Depends on Its Immigrant Population, Says Former Kansas Secretary of Agriculture
Walk into pretty much any farming, livestock, or agribusiness operation in Kansas, and you’ll find managers who are desperate to expand their workforce — and also plenty of immigrants who’ve come to the state in search of jobs, says former Kansas Agriculture Secretary Allie Devine. With population levels plateauing, and… Read More
City Planner Sees Iowa Towns Get an Economic Boost From Immigrants
While studying immigration as an undergraduate at Iowa State University, Madeline Sturms toured a Tyson Foods meatpacking plant in Perry, Iowa. She saw that Tyson Foods employed mostly Latino immigrants who worked long hours at difficult jobs, such as those slaughtering animals on the “kill floor.” She also… Read More
President of the American Planning Association’s Iowa Chapter, Says Immigration Reform Can Save Dying Towns
Over the past five years, Ben Champ, president of the American Planning Association’s Iowa Chapter, a national organization with more than 35,000 members involved in the planning profession, has fielded numerous requests from city and town leaders across the country—all them seeking advice on how to attract and… Read More
Immigrants Are ‘Natural Entrepreneurs,’ Says Indian-American Founder of Multinational Marketing Giant
Indian-born engineer Jay Kulkarni was one of the first employees of DoubleClick, an online ad-tech giant later acquired by Google for $3.1 billion, and he led the team that developed the firm’s flagship ad management platform in the late ‘90s and early 2000s. Now, after striking out… Read More
Educator Says that Without Immigration Reform Kentucky Schools Can’t Produce Enough Technical Workers
Dr. Ty Handy has been an educator for more than 16 years, during which time he’s worked with many immigrants and international students. As current president of Jefferson Community and Technical College in Louisville, located in Kentucky’s 3rd Congressional District, he oversees an annual operating budget of almost $50 million. Read More
Immigrants are the ‘Motor That Keeps This Community Going,’ Says Dodge City Finance Official
Ernestor is an undocumented immigrant — but also the Interim Human Resource Director and Assistant to the City Manager of Dodge City, where he helps oversee a $51.7 million budget, support local businesses, and coordinate with state and federal officials to advocate for city residents. “It’s very sad that someone… Read More
Conservative Texan Opens His Ranch to Kids Who Crossed the Border Alone
Walker family on the ranch. Ed Walker is a longtime political conservative and the owner-operator of Sabine Creek Ranch, a youth retreat center in Royse City, Texas. The ranch has hosted hundreds of children for church and school camps since 2003. But in 2015, it welcomed a new group: It… Read More
Immigrants Revitalize an Historically Dangerous Neighborhood in Pennsylvania’s Capital
For two decades, Maria Alejandra Hernandez and her family have attended St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, because it provides the only weekly mass in Spanish. The towering brick cathedral is situated in the historically dangerous Allison Hill, but as immigrants have steadily flocked to… Read More
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