Since 2001, 3,000 Somalis have settled in Lewiston, an in-migration that receive

Since 2001, 3,000 Somalis have settled in Lewiston, an in-migration that received national attention and made Lewiston a poster child for rapid ethnic diversification, according to Phil Nadeau, deputy city administrator. Many Somalis have settled in a neighborhood they call The Village, formerly home to Franco-American immigrants. In seven years, the Lewiston schools have gone from a single English Language Learners instructor to 25, and the city was recently recognized as one of ten 2007 All-America cities by the National Civic League. Because most of the Somalis are secondary migrants, federal monies typically do not follow them to Lewiston, complicating existing cultural and logistical issues. Despite friction caused by the rapid influx of Somalis to the city, genuine integration is beginning to occur