Jamie Longazel is a scholar whose book Undocumented Fears documents the arrival of a wave of Latinx immigrants to Hazelton, his hometown.

I have yet to read it, but knowing Jamie and the topic, it seems clear this is a key study to understand community, politics, race and racism, and the long shadow of coal mining.

A blurb on the book:

“Undocumented Fears offers an incredibly rich and insightful analysis of how the political dynamics in a struggling former coal mining town resulted in its becoming ground zero in the raging national debate over immigration. Longazel provides a bird’s-eye view of the politics—racial and otherwise—that led Hazleton, Pennsylvania, to enact laws designed to punish undocumented immigrants, with Latino migrants in the crosshairs. The clash of Latino immigrants with the ‘small town America’ ideal is a gripping story that deserves the scholarly attention offered by Longazel. As some might say after reading Undocumented Fears, ‘Only in America.'”Kevin Johnson, Dean and Mabie-Apallas Professor of Public Interest Law and Chicana/o Studies, University of California–Davis School of Law, and author of The “Huddled Masses” Myth: Immigration and Civil Rights

Fun fact: Jamie was the facilitator of the original meeting that led to the mission for the HUB for Progress.