Positions and Practices on Immigration: Choices for Local Governments

Increasingly in North Carolina and across the United States, people have stories to tell about how immigration has affected their lives. In a 2008 survey on immigration by the International City/County Management Association (ICMA), nearly half of the respondents indicated that their communities have experienced growth in immigrant populations. Beyond creating pressure to provide services, this growth presents some particular challenges to service delivery because of language and cultural barriers and the difficulty of determining immigrants’ legal status. This article summarizes local governments’ choices among positions and practices related to immigration.