League of Women Voters Minnesota Education Fund2015-10-192015-10-192002https://hdl.handle.net/11299/174945People come to our shores for a variety of reasons: to work; to study; to unite with family members; to pursue dreams; to leave behind wartorn homelands, desperate poverty, abusive dictatorships. Some come for short stays while others are immigrants, making America their new home. Though the reasons for coming are diverse, the goal for all is to build a better future for themselves and their families. Many "seek a few days without sadness, misery and injustice, for better times with new hopes and goals to carry them out" (Montero). They do not hate their homeland, and some hope to return when their country's particular situation improves. Many hope to be part of the rebuilding of their country by bringing back new ideas and skills. Minnesota is known as a welcoming state, and therefore many immigrants come here. California may have more Hmong, but our Hmong community is the largest in a single urban area. In Minnesota we have the largest number of Somalis in the United States, with estimates ranging from 20,000 to 50,000. How did they find Minnesota? Why did they come? One Somali man laughed as he said, "Not because of the weather!'' Nevertheless, at times the environment for immigration is less than ideal, and we hope to provide insight into some of the reasons why. We will not be able to change federal laws governing immigration with this study. We do hope to provide information that will enable our members to look at all sides of issues that are both complicated and relevant to our communities and state.enadult educationHispanicshistoryimmigrantslanguage barriersLatinoslegal systemlegislationminoritiesrefugeesSomalisSoutheast AsiansArticle