Immigration Reality and Politics: Latino Population Increase Reshapes Election Districts

Latino Population Increase Reshapes Election Districts - NYTimes.com: "LAS VEGAS, NEVADA--The swelling ranks of Latinos here are a big reason Nevada will win a new seat in Washington. And so, as part of the once-a-decade redistricting process, leaders here are sketching out a new Congressional district that would give Latino neighborhoods more sway over their representative in Washington.

But that simple goal is turning out to be anything but. The efforts are complicated by the many different ways people interpret laws governing redistricting. Politicians are also using the redistricting battles to advance their own agendas — ones that often have nothing to do with the Latino population....

The remarkable growth of Latinos nationwide — they accounted for more than half the nation’s population jump over the last ten years and they now make up more than 16 percent of the population — means that similar political calculations, debates and legal considerations are playing out across the country, much as they did in decades past with the shifting population of African-Americans. ...

The issue is center stage as maps are being drawn in states with large Latino populations like Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois and Texas. But it also is playing a role at the local level elsewhere, in political maps for state legislatures, town councils, and even school boards."