June 29, 2000 - MPR’s Lynette Nyman details the experience of Hmong veterans and widows of veterans as they start their path to citizenship. The veterans are using a new law which exempts them from the English language requirement for naturalization. Still, it's not a free pass to become an American; rather one with other obstacles.
July 6, 2000 - MPR’s Lynette Nyman reports on how immigration officials and attorneys are trying to help untangle the confusion around the recently passed Hmong Veterans Naturalization Act. The act signed into law in late May 2000 eases citizenship requirements for those who served in Laos on behalf of the United States during the Vietnam War.
September 25, 2000 - MPR’s Lynette Nyman reports on preserving the history and culture of the Hmong through the mission of an established archives in St. Paul, called Hmong Nationality Archives. Organizers hope to collect, catalog, and make available materials about or by Hmong in Minnesota, and eventually around the world.
October 31, 2000 - The strong economy has pretty much put to rest the anti-immigration talk some politicians were using just a few years ago. In the Minnesota U.S. Senate race, Republican Rod Grams supports more visas for in-demand workers while D-F-Ler Mark Dayton wants to address bureaucratic backlogs that hurt legal immigrants. But some of Minnesota's newest arrivals say they feel largely ignored in the current campaign and don't hear politicians addressing issues important to them. Some are getting involved as citizens and voters, in hopes of wielding some political clout and someday being courted more avidly by the candidates.
November 6, 2000 - MPR’s Lorna Benson interviews Yer Moua, a Hmong woman about her concerns and views as a voter. Speaking through her daughter, Mai Ning Moua, Yer said that although this will be her first U.S. election, this wont be her first time in a voting booth.
March 29, 2001 - MPR’s Art Hughes reports on 2000 U.S. Census data that shows people of Asian decent now outnumber African Americans in St. Paul. Nearly nine percent of Ramsey County's population is Asian. Many of the counties surrounding the Twin Cities also had significant growth in Asian populations in the past decade.
May 23, 2001 - MPR’s Art Hughes reports on the results of Minnesota’s U.S. census figures. Highlights include the state’s population is older than it was ten years ago; Minnesotan's are much more likely to own their homes than residents in the rest of the nation; and the dramatic increase in the state's Hispanic population is made up largely of people of Mexican heritage.
August 1, 2001 - MPR’s Kaomi Goetz reports that some members of Minneapolis immigrant communities are asking whether they're getting undue scrutiny from city inspectors.
August 1, 2001 - U.S. Census figures released indicate the state's Hmong population grew almost 150% since the 1990 census, growing to nearly 42,000 residents. Some community leaders, though, think many Hmong people in Minnesota remain uncounted by the census. MPR’s Art Hughes interviews numerous individuals to get their reaction to government numbers.
August 14, 2001 - Mainstreet Radio's Laurel Druley reports on housing struggles some migrant workers find themselves in while working in the southern Minnesota town of Plainview. Four months out of the year, the population of 3,190 grows by more than 200 residents. Migrant workers come to town to can peas and corn at Lakeside Foods. But while the work is there, housing is not, leaving many temporary workers searching for a place to call home.