As the country witnesses the start of the Obama Presidency, Latino USA inaugurates its own new beginning: a new radio series. It’s called “New American Voices” and it’s designed to give voice to the immigrant experience in America. We have done a lot of reporting over the past 15 years on the issues that swirl around the topic of immigration. Sometimes, there’s been the lurking sense that we were never quite putting our finger on the heart of the matter. We hope that by devoting some time in the months ahead, we’ll be able to give voice to some of the issues that may have eluded us in the past.

Our interest is not just in the immigration of Spanish-speaking peoples to the United States, but the broader question of immigration: how do we, as a nation of immigrants, welcome newcomers? How are immigrants changed in coming here? How are we changed by their arrival? We’re interested in economics, in policy, in legislative reform, in law enforcement, in cultural experiences, in education, and in all the amazing ways new Americans learn, sing, dance, write, play, earn a living, and live out their dreams.

And we begin our series with a little history.

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