Census Bureau asks immigration agents to put off enforcement raids

USA TODAY
The Census Bureau wants the Department of Homeland Security to put off conducting large-scale immigration raids while it is trying to count people -- including illegal immigrants -- in 2010, according to the Associated Press.

"We're supposed to count every resident. If you go out and ask, 'Are you here illegally?' they are going to run," Kenneth Prewitt, who ran the 2000 census, tells the wire service.

What do immigrants contribute to the economy

In the debate about immigration reform, $7 billion barely gets a mention.
Social Security officials estimate that undocumented immigrants contribute $7 billion a year to Social Security.
Whatever walls the U.S. builds on the border with Mexico, or guest worker programs restrictions the government imposes, there is one thing that's undeniable. The contribution that migrants make to the U.S. economy is enormous.
There are thought to be about 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States, and each year some 500,000 to a million more enter the country, mostly through the 2,000-mile southern border with Mexico.

Related:
News Headlines: Aug. 9, 2007 The New York Times: Minorities Now Form Majority in One-Third of Most-Populous Counties -- "In a further sign of the United States' growing diversity, nonwhites now make up a majority in almost one-third of the most-populous counties in the country and in nearly one in 10 of all 3,100 counties, according to an analysis of census results to be released today."

links:
Q&A | Immigration
this is a teaser video for this topic

Educating immigrant children?

Bakersfield California
Leonel Martinez's column asks: " Should a child be punished because the parents broke the law?" and muses: "I hope that's not the kind of society we live in."