During the last decade of the 20th century, the percentage of foreign-born Americans has surged to levels not seen since the early part of the century, reaching almost 11% of the total population. One-third of the increase in the U. S. population, from 249 million in 1990 to 285 million in 2000, was growth in the number of foreign-born residents. These national trends, together with a decade’s experience with refugee resettlement, led Baltimore community leaders to ask whether attracting immigrants to Baltimore could reverse the five-decade decline in the city’s population.