Thread: Latinos see backlash to growth in South

http://news.yahoo.com

Latinos see backlash to growth in South
By Annette Fuentes
Fri Jul 15, 7:38 AM ET



Latinos are not only the largest minority, they are also the fastest growing segment of the U.S. population. Most of that growth is coming from children born to Latino parents - not from immigrants.


Behind the dry statistics, though, are the real life experiences of Latinos. Some of the recent stories surfacing from the newest centers of Latino population - many in the South - are troubling tales of anti-immigrant backlash and government institutions' unpreparedness to speak the language and understand the cultures of their newest residents.


Exhibit A is the ongoing saga of Felipa Barrera, an immigrant whose 11-year-old daughter was placed in foster care by a judge in Lebanon, a suburb of Nashville. Barrera was accused of hitting her daughter. But Judge Barry Tatum overstepped his authority when he ordered her to learn English or risk losing custody permanently. Barrera, who has been in the country for a decade, is one of 400 Mixteco Indians in Lebanon who speak their own language. Her attorneys argued that being a good parent has nothing to do with what language one speaks.


Though the judge relented on his language order, Barrera's due process rights were violated, say her lawyers, because there was no interpreter during the first hearings. That isn't unusual, according to attorney Melody Fowler Green, of the American Civil Liberties Union: "I did many cases in Arkansas, and there was just one certified interpreter for the federal court. The laws aren't keeping up with the population growth."


The case has stirred controversy beyond Lebanon and spotlighted the burgeoning Latino communities in the South. Nashville had 7,000 Latinos in 1990 and today has more than 40,000, according to The Pew Hispanic Center. Atlanta's Latino growth rose from 55,000 to more than a quarter of a million in that period.


Barrera's case is not an aberration but a chapter in an anti-immigrant backlash in the South that prompted the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund to open an office in Atlanta three years ago.


"We were hearing stories of a lack of interpreters and violence," says Nina Perales, MALDEF's regional counsel in San Antonio. In Norcross, Ga., MALDEF defended a Mexican store owner who was fined for having a Spanish sign. In North Carolina, it intervened when a challenge was filed against voters with Spanish surnames in an effort to disqualify them. "The backlash bleeds into different areas, like voting rights," she says.


In a region where race relations historically have been painted in black and white, the emerging Latino South is posing challenges to local and state governments. But whatever their color or language, the new Southerners are entitled to equal justice under the law.


Annette Fuentes is an adjunct professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

government institutions' unpreparedness to speak the language and understand the cultures of their newest residents.

Excuse me, but we speak ENGLISH here. It is up to YOU to understand OUR culture.

Barrera, who has been in the country for a decade

Been here for ten years and can't speak any ENGLISH.
ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS!!!!

"I did many cases in Arkansas, and there was just one certified interpreter for the federal court. The laws aren't keeping up with the population growth."

Like I said, we speak ENGLISH here. Learn it.

But whatever their color or language, the new Southerners are entitled to equal justice under the law.

Illegals have an equal right to deportation--regardless of their country of origin.

Latinos are not only the largest minority, they are also the fastest growing segment of the U.S. population. Most of that growth is coming from children born to Latino parents - not from immigrants.

Behind the dry statistics, though, are the real life experiences of Latinos. Some of the recent stories surfacing from the newest centers of Latino population - many in the South - are troubling tales of anti-immigrant backlash and government institutions' unpreparedness to speak the language and understand the cultures of their newest residents.

Lemme see... if most of them are coming from latino parents who are citizens, and not from immigration, what is with the need for government institutions to speak the language and understand the culture of their newest residents? What culture and language? Most babies I know of born here have no culture other than American and basically say "goo goo gaa gaa".

I think when we are talking about understanding languages and cultures, it is obvious we are talking about IMMIGRANTS.

The laws aren't keeping up with the population growth."

But whatever their color or language, the new Southerners are entitled to equal justice under the law

The 14th Amendment guarantees that "No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States" – "aliens" are not "citizens" of any state and therefore are not entitled to any "the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States."

There is no immigrant backlash.

There is an ILLEGAL immigrant backlash!!!

I wish these reporters would distinguish between the two.

As for voting rights. If you are not a legal citizen you have no voting rights. MALDEF should be battling the corruption in Mexico.

As for voting rights. If you are not a legal citizen you have no voting rights

they don't have voting rights but they affect our elections by electoral votes -- California has 55 electoral votes and 55 reps in Congress -- I believe the other states lost 14 of each to California based upon their "population"

I know they don't have voting rights but MALDEF likes to think that they do. Most states, don't require ID for voter registration or require ID at the voting booth so there is no way to stop illegals from voting. At least that is the way it is here in California.

Originally Posted by TheWatchdog

I know they don't have voting rights but MALDEF likes to think that they do. Most states, don't require ID for voter registration or require ID at the voting booth so there is no way to stop illegals from voting. At least that is the way it is here in California.

I'm sorry, I didn't mean that you did -- I was just saying they can't vote but with that many illegals it affects our elections