1. Census projects 135 million more
2. L.A. adopts shelter regulations
3. Enforcement driving illegals home
4. Former 'slaves' gain citizenship

1.
Immigration: 'Demographic divide' on the rise
Whites fall faster from majority
By Stephen Dinan
The Washington Times, August 14, 2008

New U.S. Census Bureau numbers show a stark change in immigration and birth patterns has moved up by eight years the date at which whites will no longer be the majority of the U.S. population, to 2042 - and demographers said those numbers will push immigration to the forefront of this year's political debates.

The Census Bureau says the U.S. population will rise to 439 million by 2050, or 135 million more than today. But with falling birthrates among white non-Hispanic women, the white non-Hispanic population will begin shrinking in 2031, even as the number of Hispanics triples in the next four decades.

"It really is a demographic divide in what's happening with the white population in this country and what's happening with minorities, and it's mostly due to immigration," said Mark Mather at the Population Reference Bureau, a demographics research group.

"It'll feed into the immigration debate, first of all, and probably the election," he said. "Congress has been kind of slow to make decisions about immigration ... but these numbers I think will probably put this back on a lot of people's minds."

Combined with an aging population - those 65 and older will more than double from 38.7 million to 88.5 million - the numbers define the boundaries for some of the most pressing problems of the next four decades, including infrastructure, race relations and an aging society.

"This accelerates everything - it accelerates the diversity of the younger ages, the middle ages and even the senior ages," said William H. Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution and professor of population studies at the University of Michigan.

"We need to spend much more time dealing with the issue of diversity in the United States," he said. "Right now, we have diverse parts of our country, and it's spreading out. You see it's causing a lot of social confrontations in some places. I think part of that is we've not yet anticipated these demographic shifts."

Immigration is the driving factor, said Mr. Mather and other demographers, who said it's not just the foreign-born but the children they're having who account for so much growth.

"It's immigrants coming in, but it's the fact they tend to be younger, they're starting families, and they're creating population momentum," Mr. Mather said.

A Pew Hispanic Center report released last week said 19 percent of U.S. residents will be immigrants in 2050, topping the 15 percent record set during the last major wave of immigration, from 1870 to 1910. Today, the foreign-born account for 12 percent.

The Census Bureau predicted net immigration, which has averaged 1.1 million people from 2001 to 2007, will reach more than 2 million a year in 2050.

Steven A. Camarota, research director for the Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates stricter limits on immigration, said the issue isn't the racial makeup of the population growth as much as it is the overall increase of 135 million people, which he said should raise questions about the country's ability to build the schools, roads and housing units required.

"This is the equivalent of the entire population of Great Britain and France together. It's as if those two countries entirely moved to the United States," he said. "It means like 80 million more cars on the road.

"The point here is what does it mean for the quality of life, the quality of the environment - profound questions," he said. "It's not the weather - this isn't happening because Americans are choosing to have large families. It's happened primarily, not entirely, but largely because of a federal program, immigration - that is, the toleration of illegal immigration and very generous legal immigration."
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http://washingtontimes.com/news/2008/aug/14/immigration-wave-drives-a-de...

EDITOR'S NOTE: The 2008 population projections are available online at: http://www.census.gov/population/www/projections/2008projections.html

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2.
L.A. adopts day laborer rules for home improvement stores
The law could require such firms as Home Depot and Lowe's to build day-labor centers with shelter, drinking water, bathrooms and trash cans at new stores. Each site will be evaluated independently.
By Anna Gorman
Los Angeles Times, August 14, 2008

The Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved an ordinance Wednesday requiring certain home improvement stores to develop plans for dealing with day laborers who congregate nearby in search of jobs.

The ordinance mandates that proposed big-box stores obtain conditional-use permits, which could then require them to build day-labor centers with shelter, drinking water, bathrooms and trash cans.

Councilman Bernard C. Parks, who first proposed the ordinance four years ago, said that this was just the first phase and that he planned to address existing home improvement stores next. He said the businesses needed to be held accountable for their role in attracting dayworkers.

The vote prompted a standing ovation by dozens of day laborers in the council chambers. The move came after years of debate and negotiations among city leaders, Home Depot officials and dayworker advocates over who should be responsible for public safety and nuisance issues created by workers gathered in parking lots and on sidewalks and street corners.

"This is an important day," said Councilman Eric Garcetti. "This is an example for the nation."

Cities nationwide have taken different approaches to the issue. Some have tried to restrict where workers can gather, while others have built hiring halls.

Home Depot officials said they were disappointed by the L.A. council's vote and said they shouldn't be solely responsible for addressing the challenges presented by day laborers.

"This is a broader social issue that goes beyond Home Depot, and the solution is certainly more complicated than placing mandates on businesses," said company spokeswoman Kathryn Gallagher.
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http://www.latimes.com/business/careers/work/la-me-homedepot14-2008aug14...

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3.
Some groups of immigrants leaving Utah
By Pual Nelson
The KSL News (Salt Lake City), August 14, 2008

The country as a whole is seeing a mass exodus of illegal immigrants, but are these immigrants leaving Utah as well? Some groups are, but others are not.

In a recent Spanish radio talk show in Utah, one of the topics became, "Why are illegal immigrants leaving the country so quickly?" The Center for Immigration Studies says 1.3 million illegal immigrants have left the country since last year.

Tony Yapias with Proyecto Latino de Utah said, "A lot of families are afraid that one of the spouses is going to get arrested and that just disrupts the whole family."

Yapias says this fear, along with the pressures of living in the country illegally, are becoming too much to bear for some immigrants. He says he's getting calls from people in Mexico saying they don't want to risk crossing the border.
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http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=4009755

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4.
Thai slave laborers freed in El Monte become U.S. citizens
The women take part in ceremonies in Montebello. They were among 72 workers whose plight in 1995 captured the nation's attention.
By Teresa Watanabe
Los Angeles Times, August 14, 2008

Maliwan Clinton recalls her first taste of America with a shudder. In this fabled land of the free, she was enslaved behind razor wire and around-the-clock guards in an El Monte sweatshop, where she and more than 70 other Thai laborers were forced to work 18-hour days for what amounted to less than a dollar an hour.

When she was freed, a shocked public learned of slavery in its midst and flooded the Thai laborers with American generosity: Churchgoers offered shelter, community advocates proffered English lessons and job tips, lawyers fought for work permits and legal status for the group.

Exactly 13 years to the day the Thai laborers won their freedom, Clinton's American journey came full circle Wednesday as she acquired U.S. citizenship by taking the oath of allegiance to her new nation.

"I'm an American and this is my home now!" said Clinton, 39, as she waved a miniature American flag at the Montebello ceremony, where more than 3,600 citizens were scheduled to be sworn in by day's end.
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http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-thai14-2008aug14,0,389599.story