Thread: North Carolina leaders to visit Mexico

http://www.news-record.com/apps/pbcs.dl ... /609210303
Article published Sep 21, 2006

Leaders to visit Mexico to learn

By Jennifer Fernandez
Staff Writer

Who’s going?
Margaret Arbuckle, executive director, Guilford Education Alliance

Tom Bonney, executive director, Family Services of the Piedmont

Cmdr. Lawrence Casterline, High Point Police

Tania Castillero, director, Latino Family Center of Catholic Social Services

Kris Cooke, Guilford County Board of Education

Kathy Hinshaw, N.C. Center for New North Carolinians

Maggie Jeffus, N.C. House

Anthony Newkirk, chief diversity officer, High Point Regional Health System

Donna Newton, Greensboro Neighborhood Information Center

Maj. Tom Sheppard, Guilford County Sheriff’s Office

Bernita Sims, High Point City Council

Debbie Cole, assistant director, Christians United Outreach Center

Diane Frost, Asheboro City Schools superintendent

David Jarrell, Asheboro mayor

Denny Mecham, executive director, Seagrove Pottery

Lt. Ralph Norton, Asheboro Police

Juan Rios, president, Latino Coalition of Randolph County

Kimberly Williams, plant manager, Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co.

June Atkinson, state superintendent

Axel Lluch, director, N.C. Office of the Governor, Hispanic/Latino Affairs

Melissa Edwards, Latino Initiative program manager, Center for International Understanding

Matty Lazo-Chadderton, director of Hispanic/Latino Affairs, Office of the President Pro TemporeLocal leaders want to learn more about their newest residents, the rapidly growing Hispanic population, to serve them better.

So nearly a dozen officials, representing government, education and nonprofit agencies from Greensboro and High Point will leave Tuesday for Mexico. They'll visit schools, hospitals and government agencies in Mexico City and Puebla, a city 60 miles southeast of Mexico City.

They'll also take day trips and visit with individual families, said Kris Cooke, a Guilford County Board of Education member.

The trip, which also includes representatives from Randolph County and the state, is part of the Center for International Understanding's Latino Initiative and is funded through grants.

The center last sent a group of Guilford officials to Mexico in 2002. The group included Robert Newton, president of the Moses Cone-Wesley Long Community Health Foundation.

"It's just a real awakening, if you will, to the cultural issues that affect our relationships and how we as a community can be more responsive (to immigrants)," he said.

Since then, the foundation's support of the Center for New North Carolinians has helped create a pool of foreign-language interpreters to help immigrants communicate their needs, he said.

Cooke said this year's group plans to come up with ways to help when they return from their seven-day trip.

One idea they're exploring is to improve access to services, maybe creating a central location to get information, she said.

Founded in 1979, the Raleigh-based Center for International Understanding is a public-service program of UNC. The Latino Initiative is an effort to help policymakers better serve the growing Latino population.

Census data show that from 1990 to 2000, Guilford County's Hispanic population grew from 2,900 to about 16,000. In an eight-county area including Guilford, that population grew ninefold, from just under 6,900 residents to more than 62,200.

In Guilford County Schools, Hispanics make up the largest portion of students in the English as a Second Language program. Many have ties to Mexico.

Margaret Arbuckle, executive director of the Guilford Education Alliance, hopes the trip will provide insights into Hispanic culture and lead to a better understanding of what Latinos' needs are here.

"I'm really excited about it," Arbuckle said. "I think it's a great opportunity."

Since 1998, nearly 300 policy leaders from 18 counties have participated in the Latino Initiative, the center said.

Contact Jennifer Fernandez at 373-7064 or jfernandez@news-record.com


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Copyright © 2006
The News & Record
and Landmark Communications, Inc.

Axel Lluch, director, N.C. Office of the Governor, Hispanic/Latino Affairs


Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. So the chief law enforcement officer sends
his lap dog down to Mexico to kiss a little Fox booty. It makes me want to
puke!

Hey, all you "Leaders" from North Carolina. Do U.S. a favor and stop by Vicente Fox's house. Sneak into the closets and tell us if his wife really has thousands of pairs of shoes......while Mexican children go barefoot !!

Oh, by the way, tell us approximately how many it looks like she has via the media when you get back !! Thanks and have a nice trip.

Oh, by the way, didn't the State Department just issue warnings to Americans traveling to Mexico ? Better not tell anyone that you're from America. Just pretend you're from Venezuela.

Better yet, why don't they just STAY THERE?

TemporeLocal leaders want to learn more about their newest residents, the rapidly growing Hispanic population, to serve them better.

What the hell does this mean???? You might be able to serve the legal residents if you would deport all the illegal leeches. These idiots act like they are some kind of missionaries. I'm sure they will all come back with their hearts "laden" with sympathy and will start giving away our money by buckets! They are going to pander themselves into a titter!!

And to think i voted for Guvna Mike Take-it-Easley.

What a collosal trainwreck that boy has been wrt
to illegal immigration.

You know we had around 100 construction workers run
away from Carter-Finley stadium when the state poe-leese
showed up to arrest one guy? The state patrol called them
back to work with a bullhorn after the the contruction
company complained about the work interruption. Not a
peep from the guvna. When I was a kid, we were scared
to death of the state policeman. Who'd a thunk all you had
to do was break some federal laws to scare the guvna &
the state police? Gawd, it's just embarrassing.

Matty Lazo-Chadderton, director of Hispanic/Latino Affairs, Office of the President Pro TemporeLocal leaders want to learn more about their newest residents, the rapidly growing Hispanic population, to serve them better.

Don't become to attached Matty, because we're going to send the illegal ones home to Mexico! Perhaps you can find room on your flight to take a few with you.

It's estimated that 75% of the Hispanic population in North Carolina are illegal immigrants.

It's estimated that 75% of the Hispanic population in North Carolina are illegal immigrants.

Of course they are illegal. If they were "legal", they wouldn't need help with "access to services". They would be here to fill a specific job need; have a legal wage; and wouldn't need "language" interpretors; wouldn't need "free health care"; and most wouldn't have their families and "extended familites" with them.

NO TAXPAYER MONEY, state or federal or local or tax-exempt should be used for these types of Junkets To End The United States.

Grrrrrrr!!

I just sent Ms. Fernandez an email informing her of what I thought of the planned trip.

Hey, I received a response from Ms. Fernandez.

Here's my email to her:

It is estimated that the Hispanic population in North Carolina is 75% illegal immigrant. For the life of me, I can't understand why anyone would want to pander to criminal law-breakers. I certainly hope this is not a taxpayer funded trip! I am hopeful that that our elected representatives on Capitol Hill will soon come to realize that securing our borders and following the rule of law should be our first priority. I strongly believe that illegal immigration undermines our security and written laws. All illegal immigrants should return to their homeland and follow the required legal procedures necessary to enter the country correctly. Above all else, we should not pander to or encourage them, which is exactly what is happening as addressed in your article.


Here's her response:

Thanks for your comments. If, as you note, 75 percent of immigrants to N.C. are illegal, then 25 percent are here legally. There are also many migrant workers who come to North Carolina for seasonal work, then go work in other parts of the country and then back home, which many times is Mexico.

Perhaps those legal immigrants and migrant workers will benefit from whatever officials glean from this trip.

You can read more about the program at http://ciu.northcarolina.edu/content.ph ... /index.htm under the "Latino Initiative" link on the left hand side. Perhaps they'll have more information on whether they distinguish between illegal and legal immigrants, although I don't remember seeing anything like that on their site.

Thanks again for your interest.

Sincerely,



Jennifer Fernandez

Education reporter

News & Record

(336) 373-xxxx (office)

(336) 302-xxxx (mobile)

For privacy reasons, I removed her phone numbers.