ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, August 13, 1996 TAG: 9608130048
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
Montgomery County, largely because of its university communities, is among Virginia's ``hot spots'' where immigrants have had a significant impact, a study shows.
The Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington-based think tank, ranked more than 3,100 counties in its nationwide study, including 136 localities in Virginia.
``Immigration is not just sort of a local problem for California, Miami and New York,'' said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the center. ``The fact is, immigration is a national phenomenon.''
In Virginia, Krikorian said, Northern Virginia's strong economy has lured Southeast Asians and Salvadorans. Montgomery County, Albemarle County and Harrisonburg are attractive because they are near Virginia Tech, the University of Virginia and James Madison University, respectively. Harrisonburg's poultry industry also lures Hispanics, he said.
Foreign students come here primarily because of educational opportunities involving the sciences, technology and business offered by Virginia Tech and Radford University.
Locally the two schools have about 1,700 international students from more than 100 nations. In past years, one-third of Tech's graduate students have been foreign nationals.
In fact, there may not be enough housing for the number of foreign students planning to attend Virginia Tech's Language Institute this fall, officials said.
Foreign students who attend graduate school at Tech generally have children in the elementary school-age range, according to Jim Sellers, an assistant superintendent of the Montgomery County schools.
Because of that, one-fourth of the pupils at Gilbert Linkous Elementary, for example, are foreign born. Children from Asian nations comprise the largest group, with Hispanics as the second largest.
That can be a benefit, Sellers said, because most of the pupils come from homes that support education and are financially stable.
According to the study, the two hottest immigration spots in the nation are Starr and Presidio counties in Texas, which are located along the Mexican border.
Rounding out the national top 10 are Dade County, Fla.; Queens County, N.Y.; San Francisco, Imperial and Los Angeles counties in California; Kings County, N.Y.; Hudson County, N.J.; and Bronx County, N.Y.
Arlington County, a Washington, D.C., bedroom community, ranks first in Virginia and 18th nationally. More than 21 percent of the county's residents are foreign-born, according to the 1990 census.
Following Arlington in Virginia's hot spots are other Northern Virginia localities such as Fairfax city, Alexandria, Fairfax County, Falls Church, Manassas, Prince William County, Loudoun County and Manassas Park. Harrisonburg also ranks highly.
Virginia Beach, Montgomery County, Charlottesville, Henrico County, Albemarle County and Fredericksburg rank next.
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