http://www.aspendailynews.com/section/home/128789 Basalt's Barrio

Not all immigrant experiences are negative. A story in the Aspen Daily News focuses on a small and growing Mexican community in Basalt, Colorado. A mobile home park, it is what the paper refers to as an "epicenter" (Travers) News of the growing Hispanic community. The article interviews Jose, an immigrant with three children. Jose ended up in Basalt because he heard there were many job opportunities there. While Jose does not have papers, he does pay taxes. He is proud of being a good citizen and the threat of "being deported by Immigration authorities is worth the benefits my family is reaping here" (Travers). Parts of those benefits include a close-knit community.

The community is not without tensions, however. Not long ago, an attempted shooting of a 7-Eleven clerk wearing a U.S. Border Patrol Cap made Basalt residents...

The community is trying to work beyond race issues to create bridges instead of walls. Basalt Town Councilman Chris Seldin was invited to participate in an endeavor to focus on cultural acceptance in the community. One such effort is the Basalsa Dance Party, an event that attracted all races. Seldin sates, "A commonly identified source of racism is not having enough experience with people from another walk of life... So when you can create events and circumstances where people can just rub shoulders and interact, it can go a long way to create mutual understanding." The community also supports a language tutoring program to overcome to language barrier that plaques the community. Other events include an oral history project.
Works Cited

Travers, Andrew. "Basalt's Barrio." Aspen Daily News Online. Site Accessed August 18, 2008. http://www.aspendailynews.com/section/home/128789