When Minnesota was a new state, thousands of settlers arrived, many of them from Europe. But in recent decades, the state has attracted large numbers of Hmong and Somali refugees. There are also thousands of people from India, Ethiopia, the Philippines, Mexico and the People’s Republic of China living in Minnesota.
The state has become more racially diverse in the last 10 years, and demographers said that's especially true among children. About 83 percent of Minnesotans were white, non-Hispanic for the 2010 census, compared to 88 percent in 2000.
August 30, 2000 -
September 1, 2000 - Minneapolis resident Jose Filonel Mendoza lost a 12-year legal battle with the Immigration and Naturalization Service, which last week notified him that barring an act of Congress he's being deported to his native Philippines in September. The agency says Mendoza engaged in a sham marriage to evade immigration law in the early 1980's. Since that time, however, Mendoza has remarried, had two children, and -- he says -- been a model citizen. Members of his family's church in Plymouth held a prayer vigil Thursday, protesting his planned deportation. Minnesota Public Radio's Amy Radil reports.
September 6, 2000 - MPR’s Tim Pugmire reports on the opening of more than a dozen new charter schools in Minnesota, bringing the state's total to 64. This year's batch of schools includes some that are targeting specific racial and ethnic groups -- an approach that worries some education leaders.
September 7, 2000 - A new study says that undocumented immigrants play a critical role in Minnesota's economy. The study was sponsored by a Hispanic advocacy group and supported by the University of Minnesota's Center for Urban and Regional Affairs. Researchers estimate that undocumented workers contribute 3.8 billion dollars to the state's economy each year. Jim Kielkopf is an economist and the author of the study. He says his numbers are based on interviews with insiders in several key industries.
September 8, 2000 - Saint Paul will throw a party tomorrow (Sat) for its newest park, which is also one of its oldest parks. A fourteen million dollar face lift of Harriet Island Regional Park has revived a century old gathering place on the Mississippi River. The park renovation - combined with this summer's news that new housing and jobs are coming to the river flats - is creating a new momentum for Saint Paul's West Side. Minnesota Public Radio's William Wilcoxen reports...
October 6, 2000 - A Minneapolis apartment building which has been a magnet for criminal activity is undergoing a facelift. 1818 Park Avenue South has new owners and many new tenants. And, with the help of the city's Weed and Seed program, neighborhood residents are hopeful that the building will no longer be a trouble spot. MPR's Brandt Williams reports.
October 12, 2000 - The banking practice called "microlending" started nearly 30 years ago in Bangladesh as a way to help the poorest people in developing countries find their way out of poverty. Now some Minnesotans are focusing on microlending and how it can help women in the state's minority communities.
October 13, 2000 - It's been four years since U.S. immigration officials began jailing everyone seeking political asylum. Nationwide, thousands of asylum seekers may await a decision on their status from a cell. Because relatively few try to enter the country through Minnesota, the number who end up in our county jails and state lockups is small -- only nineteen. But Minnesotans who have worked on the cases say they illustrate the problems with the system.
October 24, 2000 - When author Michael Chabon, wanted to find a way to write about an era that he treasured he turned to comic books: All his life, he has been drawn to the fashion, music, writing, politics and social history of the late thirties and forties known to comic book fans as "The Golden Age" when Superman, Batman and others became American icons. "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay" is Chabon's ode to this often disparaged artform. His heroes are two cousins, an American hoping to make it big in comics, and a Czech immigrant fleeing the Nazis. Together they invent , "The Escapist", a masked hero battling evil across the world. The horrors of Nazi Germany effect them directly, but also fuel their creative fires as they use "The Escapist" to convince the public that the US needs to join World War Two.
October 24, 2000 - Governor Jesse Ventura has completed the first official day of his 6-day trade mission to Mexico. Ventura met outgoing Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo at the Mexican Presidential Palace and Later gave a speech to the American Chamber of Commerce in Mexico City. He and many Minnesota company representatives who've joined him on the trip finished off the evening at a reception at the residence of the ambassador to the United States. Minnesota Public Radio's Andrew Haeg is travelling with Ventura, and has this report.