Editor's remarks.

On the eve of administrative change in the White House, American citizens--and people all over the world affected by U.S. policy--anticipate the critical decisions that await the nation's future leader. During the presidential candidate nominating process in 2008, national polls indicated that voters' chief policy concerns included the economy, the Iraq War, and homeland security. While these issues dominated discussions during candidate debates throughout the year, immigration reform was often the elephant in the corner. Immigration policy has direct implications for two of the three issues U.S. voters find most pressing, but it remained an issue the candidates steered away from, lest their positions be deemed unpopular.

Consistent with our tradition since 1984, the Harvard Journal of Hispanic Policy presents relevant, timely, and thoughtful work to enrich the discussion of policy issues of importance to the U.S. Hispanic population. I am pleased to introduce the work featured in volume 20, which contributes valuable perspective to the ongoing debate surrounding U.S. immigration policy reform. This year's featured articles, commentaries, interviews, and book reviews consider the effects of immigration and immigration-related policy on areas that often fall outside the national public discourse but are nonetheless valid and illuminating.

Saru Jayaraman of Brooklyn College and Aarti Shahani of New York University explore the role of race and immigration status in the labor market in New York City, and discuss the implications for multiethnic coalition building. Research by Jill Esbenshade and Barbara Obzurt of San Diego State University questions the logistical, fiscal, and civil rights impacts of the growing trend of local ordinances enacted throughout the country pertaining to undocumented immigrants.

As president of Miami Dade College, the largest college in the United States, Eduardo J. Padron offers his views on the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act (the DREAM Act). Chicano/a studies professor Robert F. Castro of California State University, Fullerton, provides commentary on post-September 11 law enforcement methods by U.S. Border Patrol agents and their deleterious effects on noncriminal residents in colonias along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Volume 20 includes interviews with Emilio T. Gonzalez, director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and undersecretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and David Hall, the executive director of Texas RioGrande Legal Aid Inc. Gonzalez discusses his perspective on the challenges and opportunities facing USCIS and DHS with the impending change in ...