Author Analyzes Illegal Immigration In US

Published in the Dayton Daily News, June 29, 2011 — By Adele Koehnen, Contributing Writer

Nancy Diggs was on jury duty for a case involving the equal rights of two Costa Rican immigrants, not United States citizens. An interesting experience for any juror, but for writer Diggs it became the theme for a book.

“I wanted to learn more about today’s problem with unscrupulous employers who hire immigrant workers with no recourse to defend themselves against little wages and deplorable conditions. It’s illegal and unfair to companies trying to honestly compete, plus being unfair to American workers,” she said.

The book is titled Hidden in the Heartland; The New Wave of Immigrants and the Challenge to America. It puts a human face on the cold statistics of the 12 million illegal people in our country’s population.

Diggs stresses how the subject of immigration has become a major human rights issue and a threat to the unity of the nation.

With a master’s in humanities and a doctorate in Asian studies from the Union Institute in Cincinnati, Diggs has traveled the world, lived in France; volunteered in Ecuador, Romania and Haiti; and camped in the Mexican desert to personally know the rugged terrain that many immigrants cross. She is fluent in Spanish, French and German.

Diggs has authored many books including Steel Butterflies: Japanese Women and the American Experience; Looking Beyond the Mask: When American Women Marry Japanese Men, and co-authored A Look at Northern Ireland with Tanya Higgins and My Century with Dayton educator Evangeline Lindsley, who lived to be 105.

Diggs lives with her husband, Matt, in Kettering.

Hidden in the Heartland; The New Wave of Immigrants and the Challenge to America may be purchased at Books & Co. at The Greene and Town & Country locations.