Hart Van Denburg, TC Daily Planet

A new report by University of Minnesota Prof. Katherine Fennelly suggests that, rather than seeing immigrants as little more than a drain on the state's economy, Minnesota ought to be welcoming them as a key positive economic influence. "School enrollments are declining, but things would be worse without immigrant children," she says. "Main streets are closing up, but new businesses are being bought and run by immigrants. " Fennelly, who teaches at the university's Humphrey Institute, is an internationally recognized expert on immigration, and how communities deal demographic changes.