> Not unrelatedly, in that little commentary that Michael Perelman
> praised, I cited Pew survey data showing that people who live in
> areas with few immigrants are more hostile to immigration than those
> who live in areas with many.
I just downloaded the file and will listen to it shortly. Just a comment.
Given culture, development level, and degree of social equity, the pattern may be that of a bell-shaped curve, with proportion of immigrants on the horizontal axis and an index of bigotry on the vertical axis. When the proportion of immigrants is smallish, people can afford to be relatively generous and accepting. A larger proportion makes them feel like the competition for resources is sharper. Then a point is reached where bigotry plateaus and even declines.
An evolved and tolerant urban culture, a higher level of social development, and a thicker and more stable middle class shift the curve to the left. NYC has a lot of disparities, but that's somewhat offset by the other two factors. Some paisanos of Indian origin (I'm from Mexico) have told me that, in spite of the coolness of people in NYC, they feel much more respected here than they do in, say, Mexico City. (That doesn't stop them from viewing themselves as full Mexicans.) NYers treat them with the respect shown to the hard workers they are and that feeds back into their sense of self.
Julio
Senator Clinton:
This is to respectfully insist that you vote NO on HR 4437, the Sensenbrenner bill, Senator Arlen Specter's bill, or **any** other version that
Senator Schumer:
This is to respectfully insist that you vote NO on HR 4437, the Sensenbrenner bill, Senator Arlen Specter's bill, or **any** other version that may retain anti-immigrant provisions. I expect you to strongly support immigration policies that enable undocumented immigrants to immediately legalize their status with no ifs or buts, reunifies immigrant families, stops mandatory deportations and indefinite detentions, and supports the rights of all workers.
Sincerely,
Julio Huato