Census: Hispanic Power in NC is young and future voters
Published: 03/31/1911 at 7:30 AM

Patricia Ortiz Writer
AOL News



Charlotte, NC- Hispanic power North Carolina would focus on young people in the coming years, they represent the new face of this community and the future workforce and voting in the state, according to data based on the latest United States.

In the last decade, the Latino population doubled in this state from the 378,963 counted in the census from 2000 to 800,120 last year, indicating a population increase of 111 percent.

Although this community has been the engine of development and growth of the state over the past 20 years, yet is not regarded as an important voting bloc for politicians because a small percentage of them participated in the ballot or is eligible to vote.

However, this population is on average very young with a mean age of 23.
According to Moore Angeles Ortega associate specialist Census Bureau for the Charlotte Region, the total of 307,790 Hispanics are under 18 years and about 100,000 are children under five years old.

"These data can not be ignored. Our community is young and represents the future of this state resulting in workforce and future voters," said Moore to AOL Latino.

North Carolina is a reflection of what happens at the national level where almost one quarter of the 50 million Hispanics in the United States are under 18 and one in four births were Hispanic babies.

According to D'Vera Cohn, a writer in Pew Hispanic Center in Washington, the birth rate rather than immigration is the main factor of increasing Latino.

The numbers a double-edged sword

Precisely the increase of Hispanics in some states like North Carolina where they represent 8.4 of the total population and a large number of them are immigrants without "papers" can be a weapon to attack opponents on several fronts.

"We began to argue they should stop using the numbers to apply its anti-immigrant policies," said AOL Latino Juvencio Rocha Peralta, community leader of the state and member of the Mexican Association of North Carolina (AMEXCAN).

"We will be a people who have voice and vote early and if we do not have in mind will cost them at the polls," said community leader.

For its part, the Germain De Castro Hispanic Voters League of Charlotte believes that the time has come that "minorities do not continue sitting in the back of the bus."

"Every month we have 50,000 new voters. They are young Latinos come of age. Soon, very soon, we will become the majority of the country," he said De Castro to AOL Latino.

Anti-immigrant wave of projects

Currently in the State Legislature move about 15 bills that directly affect the community with irregular immigration status, including HB 343 that emulates the controversial law SB 1070 Arizona.

The proposal includes several restrictive provisions from making it a felony to transport illegal immigrants and empower police to investigate the immigration status of a person in a traffic stop, to prevent illegal access to state colleges and universities.

In turn, the Lower House on Tuesday rejected the matricula consular delivering the Mexican consulate as a document acceptable to dealings with the police, the judiciary and the government of North Carolina.

De Castro said that these measures are a sign that lawmakers are "ignoring" the economic contribution that immigrants make to the state.

"We also help not to lose political power and maintain our state's 13 congressional districts," said the activist.

In this regard, in the coming weeks the state General Assembly will be studying information 2010 Census to remake the political map of North Carolina, for which take into account the number of people and the process includes public councils.

"We are very aware of this process, because if we are so many we must demand that we considered when making the redistribution and we have more Hispanic representation," de Castro.

http://noticias.aollatino.com/2011/03/3 ... -votantes/

(Google translate)