Canal Alliance

Some people say that immigrants do not contribute to the economy.  Some say that immigrants do not pay taxes. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

Did you know?

On average, immigrants pay $539 more taxes per household than U.S.-born households (a total of $5.2 billion in state taxes in 2009)

Immigrants comprise more than one-third of California’s labor force (34 percent)

Immigrants contribute 32 percent of the state’s Gross Domestic Product, particularly in core industries such as farming, fishing, forestry and textile production.

Immigrants are more than one and a half times more likely to be self- employed.

More than half of California’s 10.3 million immigrants became homeowners after 18 years of residence in the United States.

Tom Wilson

Sources

*Looking Forward: Immigrant Contributions to the Golden State, California Immigrant Policy Center, 2, http://www.caimmigrant.org/ publications.html.
 
*Dowell Myers and John Pitkin, Assimilation Today: New Evidence Shows the Latest Immigrants to America are Following in Our History’s Footsteps, Center for American Progress, 6, Sept. 1, 2010, http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2010/09/immigration_assimilation. html.

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College of Marin seeks to raise graduation, transfer rates - Marin IJ article

Interesting article about what community colleges are doing to support black and Latino  students.

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The purpose of the Development, Relief and Education of Alien Minors Act, also called the DREAM Act, is to help those individuals who meet certain requirements, have an opportunity to enlist in the military or go to college and have a path to citizenship which they otherwise would not have without this legislation. Supporters of the DREAM Act believe it is vital not only to the people who would benefit from it, but also the United States as a whole. It would give an opportunity to undocumented immigrant students who have been living in the U.S. since they were young, a chance to contribute back to the country that has given so much to them and a chance to utilize their hard earned education and talents.

Who would qualify?

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San Rafael, CA – January 7, 2010.  San Rafael Police are asking for the public’s help in identifying two people who may be witnesses to the November homicide of a young man shot and killed outside his apartment.

On Monday, November 30th at 9:05 p.m. police responded to multiple reports of gunshots heard in the area of 100 Larkspur Street.  Arriving officers found a man down on the ground in the courtyard of the apartment complex.  The 22 year man had been shot and was pronounced dead at the scene. The victim, later identified as Donald Espinoza-Ordonez, had just moved into the building that same day.

Investigators have learned that a man and woman seen in a nearby liquor store one hour prior to the shooting may be witnesses and have information vital to the case.  The surveillance photos were taken at 8:00 p.m. in Al’s Liquors at 36 Medway Road.  The store is about 2 blocks from the shooting scene.   

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From 2006 to 2008, internet use among Latino adults rose by 10 percentage points, from 54% to 64%.  In comparison, the rates for whites rose four percentage points, and the rates for blacks rose only two percentage points during that time period.  Though Latinos continue to lag behind whites, the gap in internet use has shrunk considerably.

For Latinos, the increase in internet use has been fueled in large part by increases in internet use among groups that have typically had very low rates of internet use.  In particular, foreign-born Latinos, Latinos with less than a high school education, and Latinos with household incomes of less than $30,000 experienced particularly large increases in internet use. Whereas Latinos gained markedly in overall internet use, the pattern of home internet access changed very little.  In 2006, 79% of Latinos who were online had internet access at home, while in 2008, this number was 81%.  White and black internet users show a similar leveling off.  In 2006, 92% of white internet users had a home connection, compared with 94% in 2008. In 2006, 84% of African American internet users had a home connection, compared with 87% in 2008.

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