Census estimates show big gains for US minorities

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• www.CensusScope.org/2010Census

BY HOPE YEN

ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON -- Racial and ethnic minorities accounted for roughly 85 percent of the nation's population growth over the last decade - one of the largest shares ever - with Hispanics accounting for much of the gain in many of the states picking up new House seats.

Preliminary census estimates also suggest the number of multiracial Americans jumped roughly 20 percent since 2000, to over 5 million.

The findings, based on fresh government survey data, offer a glimpse into 2010 census results that are being released on a state-by-state basis beginning this week. New Jersey, Mississippi, Virginia and Louisiana were the first to receive the census redistricting data, which will be used in the often contentious process of redrawing political districts based on population and racial makeup.

(Posted by Haley Gordon)
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/02/03/2049430/census-estimates-show-big-gains.html#ixzz1E5C2PGkP

President Obama’s Better Buildings Initiative Holds Promise for Latino Workers, Says NCLR

Washington, DC—President Obama’s Better Buildings Initiative to improve energy efficiency in commercial buildings has the potential to create significant new job opportunities for many Latino workers, according to NCLR (National Council of La Raza), the largest national Latino civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States. An NCLR analysis released today reveals that nearly 400,000 Latinos work in occupations that could see significant job growth under this program.

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[posted by: Blanca Chavez - Herrera]

Illegal immigrant drop houses on rise in Inland area

Illegal immigrant drop houses on rise in Inland area

09:45 PM PST on Friday, February 11, 2011

By DAVID OLSON
The Press-Enterprise

Inland homes are becoming increasingly popular sites for illegal-immigrant drop houses, places where people smuggled across the border are held until family members can pay for their release, federal officials say.

The drop houses often bring violence to Inland neighborhoods. Two smugglers were shot to death last year in Moreno Valley. Last week, federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials arrested four men who threatened to kill or cut off the feet of an illegal immigrant being held captive in a dark room in a Rubidoux house unless his sister paid a $3,500 ransom.

Captives are sometimes kept in squalid surroundings. ICE agents found 37 illegal immigrants packed into a locked bedroom in a Riverside house in September 2010, lying on the floor without mattresses, stripped of their shoes so they couldn't run away and some deprived of food for days.

http://www.pe.com/localnews/stories/PE_News_Local_D_drophouse12.c12bbc.html

[Posted by Catherine Macan]