Thread: Leaders detail Latino issues

Leaders detail Latino issues

March 13, 2007
By Ben Lefebvre SUN-TIMES NEWS GROUP
CHICAGO -- Nearly 100 suburban civic leaders and government officials convened at the Latino Suburban Roundtable on Wednesday night to discuss how to better assimilate the immigrant residents in their communities.

Mayors, religious leaders, educators and activists came from Aurora, Carpentersville, Elgin, Joliet, Roselle and other communities for the discussion. The University of Notre Dame and the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus, which organized the event, invited these particular suburbs because of the recent increase in their Latino population.

"There's a major demographic and cultural shift going on," said Frank Beal, executive director of Metropolis 2020, a business policy group that advises governments in the Chicago area. "Not everyone in metro Chicago understands that."

More than 1.3 million Latinos live in the Chicago area, according to U.S. census numbers, and new migrants increasingly are bypassing Chicago and moving directly to its suburbs. By 2030, Beal predicted, Latinos will account for more than one-third of the region's population, filling the void of white and black residents who leave the area.

"It was interesting to hear how important the Latino population is in the Chicagoland area," said Carpentersville Trustee Linda Ramirez-Sliwinski, who attended the event with Village President Bill Sarto. "We need them for economic growth. Basically, we'd be lost without them."

Communities like Carpentersville, where Hispanics account for more than 40 percent of the population, and Elgin, where it's 34 percent, are struggling to accommodate the relative newcomers, both in government services and politically. Education and affordable housing are problems, and sparks sometimes fly between the Latino community and older residents. Civic leaders said they hoped to learn from each others' experiences.

"With the growth we've experienced in the past few years, it's good to know how other communities are doing," said Elgin City Councilman Juan Figueroa, who attended the forum with Mayor Ed Schock.

The influx of Latinos is fueling a lot of the growth in the suburbs, according to the Notre Dame report. Latinos accounted for almost half the growth in owner-occupied homes between 2000 and 2003, the report stated, and Latino-owned businesses in the region generated more than $7.5 billion in revenue.

Despite that, Beal said, segregation is a problem. Some Latinos tend to form separate enclaves within a city, sometimes encouraged by older residents. Communities with segregated immigrant communities were doing themselves a disservice, he said.

The Notre Dame report estimates that 55 percent of adult Latinos in the Chicago area are U.S. citizens, with about 20 percent of the rest being undocumented.


http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/hera ... S1.article

The Notre Dame report estimates that 55 percent of adult Latinos in the Chicago area are U.S. citizens, with about 20 percent of the rest being undocumented.

Now I'm no math whiz......but this doesn't add up. What are the other 25 percent of latino adults if they aren't legal or illegal?

More than 1.3 million Latinos live in the Chicago area, according to U.S. census numbers, and new migrants increasingly are bypassing Chicago and moving directly to its suburbs. By 2030, Beal predicted, Latinos will account for more than one-third of the region's population, filling the void of white and black residents who leave the area.

Now it's not people dying....it's people being run out.

Originally Posted by crazybird

The Notre Dame report estimates that 55 percent of adult Latinos in the Chicago area are U.S. citizens, with about 20 percent of the rest being undocumented.

Now I'm no math whiz......but this doesn't add up. What are the other 25 percent of latino adults if they aren't legal or illegal?
[quote:q7fljmhk]More than 1.3 million Latinos live in the Chicago area, according to U.S. census numbers, and new migrants increasingly are bypassing Chicago and moving directly to its suburbs. By 2030, Beal predicted, Latinos will account for more than one-third of the region's population, filling the void of white and black residents who leave the area.

[/quote:q7fljmhk]


You got it Crazybird, thats how I see it, and do you notice any concern for the people being run out of the towns they were probably born and raised in. I don't think so, you never hear about them!!

And to think....Chicago used to be an "all-American city".

This demographic change is a national tragedy.

Despite that, Beal said, segregation is a problem. Some Latinos tend to form separate enclaves within a city, sometimes encouraged by older residents. Communities with segregated immigrant communities were doing themselves a disservice, he said.

Hispanics DO NOT want to assimilate into the American culture known as the "melting pot". None of them desire to adopt America as their homeland. They want to build their make-shift barrios all over the place to resemble their home countries. It is devisive, racist, and makes it a sound reason why Americans are starting to resent these "new arrivals".
Hispanics are the ones who wish to segregate themselves from other people. IMO, Hispanics really feel they are superior to Americans.