All stories were reported in the New York City area and appeared in The Washington Post. Links are to pdf versions of the reports.

NYC_Latinos_CAFTA For some Latinos with financial and familial connections in CAFTA countries, the trade agreement inspires optimism that open markets will create business opportunities and jobs, and reduce the need for immigration to the north. But opponents see a far grimmer future. They fear that if promised well-paying jobs fail to materialize, more of their salaries will go to subsidize families abroad through money transfers known as remittances. They warn that the agreement will wreck micro-businesses in Latin America and lead to a profusion of yet more low-wage jobs, which would in turn fuel migration northward.

Long Island’s Economy and Culture Shapes Views “I can see the reaction, the lack of respect, if you come to their houses,” Lippolt says with a sigh.“You’re definitely looked down upon, especially on Long Island. You’re looked upon as a day laborer to these people, as their servants.”
White men on Long Island in the financial and banking industries outnumber those in construction and the trades by 3 to 1, according to a recent Census study. And the blue-collar work has browned. Spanish-speaking immigrants — legal and illegal — now take on manual labor jobs. But if they are needed, they are not always welcome.

Irish Immigration Slips Into Reverse

The green is draining out of the Irish immigration boom that revitalized neighborhoods across New York over the past two decades.Fear of getting caught in a post-Sept. 11 net coupled with the booming economy in Ireland is drawing thousands of Irish back to the Emerald Isle. Numbers vary on how many have left…

Remittances-Funds Sent to Needy Families Exact a Price  Millions of immigrants make weekly or monthly pilgrimages to money-transfer storefronts where they send small fortunes—called remittances—to families in places from Eastern Europe to the tip of the Americas. Modern technology and a global economy have tethered immigrants more closely than ever before to their distant homelands. But as parents send money back to their homelands, their U.S.-raised children grow up balancing an allegiance to a distant family with immediate wants and needs.