Lisa Sun-Hee Park - The Slums of Aspen: Immigrants vs. the Environment in America’s Eden

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The Slums of Aspen

NATION OF NEWCOMERS
Immigrant History as American History

General Editors: Matthew Jacobson and Werner Sollors

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The Slums of Aspen : Immigrants vs. the Environment in Americas Eden
Lisa Sun-Hee Park and David Naguib Pellow

LISA SUN-HEE PARK AND DAVID NAGUIB PELLOW

Immigrants vs. the Environment in Americas Eden

NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS
New York and London
www.nyupress.org

2011 by New York University
All rights reserved

References to Internet websites (URLs) were accurate at the time of writing. Neither the author nor New York University Press is responsible for URLs that may have expired or changed since the manuscript was prepared.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The slums of Aspen : Immigrants vs. the Environment in Americas Eden / Lisa Sun-Hee Park and David Naguib Pellow.
p. cm. (Nation of newcomers: immigrant history as American history) Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 9780814768037 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN 9780814768044 (ebk.) ISBN 9780814768655 (ebk.)
1. Aspen (Colo.)Emigration and immigrationGovernment policy.
2. Emigration and immigrationEnvironmental aspects.
3. Environmental policyColoradoAspen. 4. EnvironmentalismPolitical aspectsColoradoAspen. 5. Aspen (Colo.)Race relations.
6. ImmigrantsColoradoAspenSocial conditions.
I. Park, Lisa Sun-Hee. II. Pellow, David N., 1969
JV6930.A76S58 2011
305.9069120978843dc23 2011017988

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First and foremost, we would like to thank the immigrant residents of the Roaring Fork Valley who participated in this project by sharing their time and wisdom with us. We also greatly appreciate the thoughtful contributions of the many people and organizations in the Roaring Fork Valley who helped make this book possible. They include the Aspen Historical Society, Catholic Charities in Glenwood Springs, Scott Chaplin and the staff of the Stepstone Center, Peter Jessup, Alice Hubbard Laird, Mike McGarry, Marie Munday, Terry Paulson, Luis Polar, George Stranahan, and Felicia Trevor.

At the University of ColoradoBoulder, where we began this project, we thank our friends and colleagues in the departments of Ethnic Studies, Womens Studies, and Sociology. We were also fortunate to work with a wonderful group of student researchers: Sonya Maria Johnson, Alex Urquhart, and Traci Brynne Voyles. We would like to extend a special note of gratitude to Traci and Alex for their invaluable research assistance and enthusiasm for this project. At the University of CaliforniaSan Diego, Ethnic Studies Department, we continued this project with the student research assistance of Gloria Angelina Castillo, Miya Saika Chen, Monica Cornejo, Mohan Kanungo, Juliana (Jewels) Smith, and Angelic Willis. We completed the book at the University of Minnesota, Department of Sociology, thanks to the time and other key resources we were generously provided there.

Along the way, there were a number of scholars and archivists who provided key support, including Cawo Abdi, Julian Agyeman, Ron Aminzade, Richard Delgado, Kenneth Gould, Teresa Gowan, Michiko Hase, David Hays, Lynn Hudson, Patricia Limerick, Alanna Aiko Moore, Jennifer Pierce, Jane Rhodes, Malcolm Rohrbough, Allan Schnaiberg, Rachel Schurman, Rachel Silvey, Duane Smith, Stephen Snyder, Jean Stefancic, Leanne Walther, and Linda White.

Finally, we are grateful for the enthusiastic support of Eric Zinner, editor in chief, NYU Press, and Ciara McLaughlin, assistant editor. Our book benefited tremendously from David Lobenstines careful editing, and we are honored to be a part of Matthew Frye Jacobson and Werner Sollorss book series.

Alternatives for Community and Environment (ACE)

merican Indian Movement (AIM)

American Smelting and Refining Company (later renamed ASARCO)

Asistencia Para Latinos (Assistance for Latinos/APL)

Aspen Valley Community Foundation (AVCF)

Bureau of Land Management (BLM)

Californians for Population Stabilization (CAPS)

Carbondale Council on Arts and Humanities (CCAH)

Colorado Alliance for Immigration Reform (CAIR)

Committee on Women, Population and the Environment (CWPE)

Conservation International (CI)

Criminal Alien Program (CAP)

Earth Liberation Front (ELF)

Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR)

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

Immigration and Nationalization Service (INS)

International Monetary Fund (IMF)

Locally Unwanted Land Uses (LULU)

National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium (NAPALC)

North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)

Political Ecology Group (PEG)

Roaring Fork Area Adult Literacy Program (RFAALP)

Roaring Fork Legal Services (RFLS)

Sierrans for U.S. Population Stabilization (SUSPS)

Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC)

Zero Population Growth (ZPG)

On December 13, 1999, the City Council of Aspen, Coloradoone of the countrys most exclusive recreational sites for some of the worlds wealthiest peopleunanimously passed a resolution petitioning the U.S. Congress and the president to restrict the number of immigrants entering the United States. The language of the resolution suggests that this goal could be achieved by enforcing laws regulating undocumented immigration and reducing authorized immigration to 175,000 persons per year, down from the current annual level of between 700,000 and one million. One of their primary reasons for encouraging tougher immigration laws was the purported negative impact of immigrants on the nations ecosystems.