Chinatown’s Reinvented Economy – New Businesses, New Immigrants, New Growth
Chinatown’s economy is in transition as bus companies, wedding services and food production soar, serving communities across the northeast.
Chinatown’s economy is in transition as bus companies, wedding services and food production soar, serving communities across the northeast.
A new report from the Brookings Institution shows that as the U.S. population ages, the labor force will increasingly depend on immigrants and their children to keep the economy moving.
With Greece’s economy reeling and its unemployment rate about 18 percent, some Greeks are trying their luck in the U.S. — especially true in the stronghold of Astoria, Queens. Listen to this radio story from Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska that aired Friday on WNYC radio.
A new report shows that immigrant women are much more likely to be entrepreneurs than U.S.-born women, a trend especially visible over the last decade.
Immigrant-owned food businesses play an important role in the NYC’s economy. The first City-sponsored food expo aimed to connect food entrepreneurs to the rest of the food business chain.
At first, immigrants were underrepresented–some say excluded–at the protests on Wall Street, but now they are arriving in droves.
Ten years ago, the U.S. political system was poised for major immigration reform. Then came the tragic events of 9/11/2001, and the national mood shifted towards fear of the immigrant, as opposed to an embrace.
Fi2W columnist Erwin de Leon says Georgia’s new immigration law isn’t just affecting undocumented farmworkers, it’s having a negative impact on the lives and well-being of ordinary citizens, including those who supported the get-tough policy.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is leading a coalition of mayors and powerful businessmen to push for immigration reform, as a way to stimulate the U.S. economy.
By Diego Graglia, FI2W web editor
Support for Barack Obama in the presidential election among Hispanic voters may have been even higher than exit polls have indicated. According to a new poll released Thursday by ImpreMedia, the country’s largest Spanish-language newspaper chain, and the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO), Obama’s margin over John McCain may have exceeded the 2-to-1 ratio indicated by earlier surveys.
Seventy-two percent of Latino voters chose the Democrat, said the poll, which surveyed 800 Latino registered voters between November 7 and 14 “in the 21 states with the largest Latino voter populations, and accounting for 93 percent of the Latino electorate,” according to NALEO’s press release.
That figure is higher than the 67 percent announced after Election Day — the difference, according to La Opinion‘s Pilar Marrero, lies in the fact that this survey included early and absentee voters who accounted for “forty percent of Latino voters.”
The poll also seems to confirm that turnout among Latinos was high: 92 percent of registered Latinos surveyed said they voted in this election. Arturo Vargas, Executive Director of the NALEO Educational Fund said in the press release,
The record turnout among Latinos solidifies this emerging electorate as an important voting bloc among U.S. voters. The survey also finds that naturalized immigrant voters and first time voters played a significant role in shaping the Latino vote.
However, the Democratic Party should heed the message of Latino voters in our survey: with their strong support of President-elect Obama and his party, come high expectations.