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Population of Hispanic Children Surges
by B. Jay Johnson

New information has been released that is sure to set off new debate in the battle over illegal immigration here in the southeast.

Tennessee and Georgia had double-digit percentage increases in their populations of Hispanic children between 2000 and 2005. The new numbers come from a report released on July 25 by the nonprofit Annie E. Casey Foundation.

"We live in a global society now," said Pam Brown, Tennessee state director for the Kids Count project.

The new report shows a 58 percent increase in the population of Hispanic children in Georgia between 2000 and 2005. It reveals a 49 percent increase in Tennessee for the same time period.

Ms. Brown said the influx of Hispanic children into schools and the broader community will help non-Hispanic children prepare to work and live around people of all backgrounds.

But educators and health professionals in both states said the influx of Hispanic and immigrant children also has sparked a need for more health and social services for Spanish-speaking children and their parents.

"We need to look at those children as we would any other group that has special needs," said Brown.

Ira Mehlman has a different point of view. "There is a high cost to taxpayers when so many children of immigrants, particularly those who don't speak English, arrive in a community," he said.

Mehlman is the national director for the Federation of American Immigration Reform. The organization is a national non-profit, nonpartisan group that advocates stricter enforcement of illegal immigration laws.

"This large influx of immigration, in part, has provided a form of subsidized labor for some industries," said Mehlman. "Then everyone else has to pay for the education and for the health care.

The Kids Count report ranked both Tennessee and Georgia better than last year in terms of the well-being of all children. Tennessee moved from 46th to 43rd out of 50 states, while Georgia jumped from 44th to 41st. The Annie E. Casey Foundation is based in Washington, D.C. It is a nonpartisan organization with a mission of assisting and supporting vulnerable children and families.

The population of Hispanic children was one of a number of measures in the Kids Count report, including infant mortality rates, teen pregnancy rates and the number of children in each state living in poverty.

Efrain Cintron came to north Georgia from Puerto Rico to work as a Hispanic project coordinator 18 years ago when the Hispanic population in the area was just a few thousand. Now he is a lab technician at the Whitfield County Health Department.

Cintron says he spends much of his time helping Spanish-speaking families at the health department navigate vaccinations, exams and translating for other staff members. "Today, more than half the families coming through the Children's Access Clinic are Hispanic," said Cintron.

"In 1990 they didn't have a bilingual program, but now it is almost a must," he said. "We have to help direct the Hispanic families to the resources that are out there."

Nowhere is the surge in population of Hispanic children more evident than at schools in the region.

East Side Elementary School principal Emily Baker remembers when Dalton's Hispanic and immigrant populations were far smaller than today. She recalled years when only 10-15 children were enrolled in English-as-a-second-language classes. "Last year's ESL enrollment at the school was 256," she said.

"The diversity the school has with the student population is tremendous," said Baker. "It's a good experience for children from another country to see children from the U.S. and the other way around."

She said most of the non-English speaking children are Hispanic, but the school also has students from Sudan, Liberia and Somalia.

Ms. Brown said the influx of Hispanics helps children "begin to understand how other cultures work."

This year's Kids Count report included a special section devoted to examining how children in state custody fare in each state. The report's authors examined how often children in foster care are placed with permanent families, and an essay accompanying the report highlighted some states' successful programs placing children with families.

Tennessee has seen a dramatic improvement in that area, Ms. Brown said.

Both Tennessee and Georgia are close to the national average in the number of children who were in foster care in 2004, according to the report.

About nine children in Tennessee were in foster care for every 1,000 children younger than 18, and 10 in every 1,000 were in foster care in Georgia, the report found.

On another subject related to illegal immigration, local law enforcement in northeast Tennessee, for the most part, are not enforcing federal immigration laws, even though the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration Customs Enforcement have developed a means for them to help keep track of illegal immigrants by way of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

Kingsport Police Deputy Chief Dale Phipps says his department doesn't typically bother enforcing federal immigration laws because illegals "are not a major concern" in that area.

He said the problem would have to be a sizeable one to warrant spending such a large amount of money and time - roughly $520 per officer for five weeks of training, learning how to properly enforce federal immigration lawns.

The Bradley News has reported in recent weeks on 287 (g) the program that provides the training to local law enforcement.

The Bradley County Sheriff's Office wants to implement 287 (g). Sheriff Tim Gobble says his department is currently in the application process of attaining 287 (g).

Many residents in the Kingsport area are upset with police departments in their area. One man said, "This is the problem now! No enforcement of laws. If immigrants don't have to obey the law of the land, why should we?"

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http://www.bradleyweekly.com/news.cfm?id=5371

Jeremiah 29:11