Autism Forensic Science Immigration Trends Teaching Recipe for ...

spotlight
D.C.-area immigrants
live in suburbs, have
higher levels of
education, and are
entrepreneurial,
rising to prominence
in a number of
business sectors.
d.c. reveals shifting patterns
While most immigration studies focus on los Angeles, New York, Miami, and
Chicago, Price and Chacko have gained attention for their research on
Washington. Their findings indicate that a significant proportion of D.C.-area
immigrants live in the suburbs, have higher levels of education, and are
entrepreneurial. Many have risen to prominence in a number of business
sectors—from taxi and parking companies to restaurants, construction, and
telecommunications. Similar patterns are emerging in Atlanta, Dallas-Fort Worth,
and other urban areas seeing recent waves of immigrants.
Price, who recently received the Preston E. James latin American Careerist
Award, has concentrated her research on inflows of Bolivians and the robust
soccer leagues that link latin America immigrants to the communities where
they settle. During D.C.’s construction boom, it was not uncommon to find latin
American immigrants who arrived and, within a day, had both found a job
and joined an amateur soccer league.
www.columbian.gwu.edu immigration page 26
Marie Price, left,
shares a photo with
Bolivian villagers.
The Washington metropolitan area is the
biggest U.S. destination for Bolivians. The
first wave arrived in the 1960s and 1970s—
when other latin Americans were settling in
places like Miami, los Angeles, and New
York—because there was less competition
for jobs. Political upheaval and Bolivia’s
30,000 percent hyperinflation in the 1980s
brought additional Bolivians. Today they fit
into D.C.’s growing latino community,
which also includes Salvadorans, Mexicans,
Peruvians, and Guatemalans.
“Bolivians as a group have done quite well,
and they tend toward entrepreneurship,” Price