Alabama

The debate over immigrant workers - both legal and illegal - is exploding across Alabama. Some warn immigrants are taking jobs from locals in tough economic times, but some employers say they’re desperate to find unskilled, manual labor. Now, a state bi-partisan commission is pushing a new set of suggested rules that could change the face of Alabama’s workforce.

People on both sides of this debate feel like their livelihoods, safety and future security depend on how this issue is sorted out. According to the Pew Hispanic Center, more than 20 million foreign born Hispanic workers are here in the US - both legally and illegally. For many on the front lines of this debate - it’s a double edged sword.”*

Hispanic immigrants who enter the American job market are often targets for criminals because they carry large amounts of cash and are less inclined to put their money in a bank or go to the police, law enforcement officials say.

Hispanics are often robbed on the weekends after they’ve been paid, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Sgt. Randy Christian said.

Sheriff’s investigators say most of the robbery victims in Lipscomb and Brighton - both majority black cities - are now Hispanic, rather than black. Recent incidents bear that out. Sergio Romero Cuevas, 26, died March 1 at UAB Hospital after he was shot during a robbery at Holiday Mobile Home Park in Brighton.”*

*From: http://www.al.com

A civil rights suit against Brighton Police Chief Anthony Farley and the city contends Farley got angry over a prank, then had several vehicles belonging to some Hispanic men illegally towed and held for months.

The incident took place Nov. 3 at the Holiday Mobile Home Park in Brighton, near Birmingham.

Farley, who was a Brighton police sergeant at the time, had stopped to talk to a group of men gathered outside, according to the suit filed March 5 in Jefferson County by Alvis Garcia of Pelham.”*

*From: http://www.al.com
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

After years of growth, enrollment in Hoover City Schools’ program for stu­dents with limited English pro­ficiency has dropped for the first time.

School officials say it’s an in­dication that some immigrant families may be moving out of the city in search of jobs or more affordable housing.

Hoover’s English Language Learners program, which pro­vides instruction to students who are not proficient in Eng­lish, is among the largest state­wide. The number of students in the program has increased ev­ery year since the school sys­tem’s inception in 1988. Between the 2002-03 and 2006-07 school years, ELL enrollment in­creased 77 percent in Hoover, compared with 63 percent state­wide.”*

*From: http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

A Birmingham man received a five-year prison term today for his role in a string of robberies that targeted Hispanics, including one in which a man was killed.

Gregory Bester received a lighter sentence than his three co-defendants because he provided the information that led them to plead guilty, said Allen Goodwine, the prosecutor in the case.”*

*From: http://blog.al.com
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

Guerra, who was a co-owner of Showcase Realty, bought Alabama’s franchise rights to Connecticut-based Casa Latino last week and plans to hire as many as 15 bilingual agents in the next six months.

Casa Latino’s local office opens as many real estate agents and service providers across the country are responding to a new crop of homeowners and first-time buyers in the growing Hispanic communities.”*

*From: http://www.bizjournals.com
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

Created last year by the Legislature, the commission was asked to hold public hearings and offer a list of recommendations to lawmakers that would unify the state’s conflicting policies on immigration.

That made sense. However, one of the people who proposed forming the commission now says privately that its work has bogged down as special interests have dominated it.

The commission is expected to report next month to the Legislature. Until it does, we’ll keep an open mind about the quality of its recommendations.”*

*From: http://www.tuscaloosanews.com
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

The head of the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States on Monday called on blacks and Hispanics to unify against hatred that she said both communities battle.

“In this 21st century, we must make sure that hope wins over hate,” said Janet Murguia, president and chief executive officer of the National Council of La Raza and the first Hispanic ever to give the keynote speech at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Unity Breakfast in Birmingham.

“We have that opportunity if we work together,” she said. “This is our moment.”*

*From: http://www.al.com
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

When Christmas holidays come around, so does a tradition to which some Alabama school systems have become accustomed: the departure of some of their Hispanic students before the holidays begin in December and their return in the new year after classes have already resumed.

“It goes on every year,” says David Uptain, principal at Crossville High School in DeKalb County, where about a third of the 800 students are Hispanic. “It’s just an established fact that they’re going to go. They’re going home.”"*

*From: http://www.al.com
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

What is not confused, however, is the emotion the issue of illegal immigration has generated, an emotion that’s reached down into Alabama. The other night nearly 300 people packed a public hearing in Huntsville to tell the commission what they thought. Commissioners got an ear-full.

The audience was mostly white and mostly middle-aged; some people were upset, reports said. They were opposed to illegal immigration, opposed to businesses hiring illegal immigrants, and opposed to spending tax money to pay for health care and social services for illegal immigrants.”*

*From: http://www.annistonstar.com/
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Sgt. Susanna Capps doesn’t look any different from other state troopers, but she’s had special training that makes her part of a federal effort to crack down on illegal immigration.

And Gov. Bob Riley wants more like her.

Capps was in the first group of Alabama state troopers to be trained by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to enforce immigration laws in 2003. Two more classes have received training since then. And now the governor is asking for training for a fourth class.”*

*From: http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

A state senator who is vice chairman of a panel studying immigration issues in Alabama said Monday he will introduce legislation to require the state driver’s license exam be given in English only.

The legislation from Sen. Scott Beason, R-Gardendale, would go against the national trend because most states, including Alabama, give the test in multiple languages.”*

A state task force developing recommendations about illegal immigration heard pleas from business owners who can’t find enough American workers and an Alabama construction worker who can’t find a decent paying job.

The Joint Patriotic Immigration Commission was created by the Legislature to come up with recommendations by February. Its first public hearing Wednesday was filled with emotional stories from business owners who want a guest worker program and others who say illegal immigrants are taking American’s jobs by working for depressed wages.

Construction worker Thomas Lawrimore of Falkville complained that he used to make $18 to $20 per hour, but now is unemployed due to companies hiring illegal immigrants willing to work cheaper.”*

“A task force formed to study the effects of illegal immigration on Alabama and to come up with suggestions for dealing with the problem heard from state officials today.

Members of the Joint Patriotic Immigration Commission said they would be able to make recommendations to legislators by the third day of the 2008 regular session.

State health officer Don Williamson told the task force that Hispanic immigrants are bringing additional cases of communicable diseases into the state.”*

” But for many Hispanic high school students, these often-heard phrases are not trite, said Hernan Prado, a speaker for a Hispanic student outreach program.

Speaking Friday at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, Prado urged dozens of Hispanic high school students in Alabama to get an education, even if they don’t enjoy the classes.

“It’s about being successful, not about liking something or not,” Prado said.”

“Wanting a better life for their children has led numerous Hispanic families to Marshall and DeKalb counties, many working for poultry plants. Their children have become recognizable fixtures within many schools on Sand Mountain, in Marshall, DeKalb and Etowah counties.

While the true, most accurate number of Hispanic families living within the area may never be known, Crossville Elementary can prove it has a majority-Hispanic enrollment – the first such majority in the state.”

“The children are part of the English as a second language program in the Tuscaloosa County Schools.

The number of students with a non-English speaking background has steadily grown in county schools in the past decade, with 101 new students this school year.

There are 425 students in the system with a non-English background, said Christina Womack, an ESL Specialist with the school system.”

“Officer Josh Sypert isnt using the English language as much as he used to. The veteran Robertsdale patrolman is learning Spanish. Sypert and five other patrolmen are taking an online course called “Spanish on Patrol”…or “Street Spanish.” The six-month internet course will help help improve communications between the police department and the growing Hispanic population.

“Were not speaking perfect Spanish,” says Sypert. “Were learning enough to help us out on traffic stops, find out where they live, or if they have a license, things like that.”"

“Huntsville police, working with recording industry investigators, on Tuesday arrested four men who were selling bootlegged Latin music CDs and DVDs, as well as prescription drugs, from local stores, according to Huntsville police.

Police confiscate more than 1,000 illegal copies of DVDs and music CDs, according to police spokesman Wendell Johnson. The investigation also uncovered numerous prescription drugs that were being brought from Mexico and being sold over the counter, Johnson said.”

“A school in north Alabama could make state history this fall by becoming the first school in Alabama to have a Hispanic majority.

K though 12 classes resume at Collinsville High School on August 9 where Hispanics have been the largest group of students for several years.”

“Annette Watters, a demographer with the University of Alabama’s Center for Business and Economic Research, said the Hispanic population in Tuscaloosa County is here to stay and growing, although it still represents only a small percentage of the county’s residents.

“The Tuscaloosa County Hispanic population grew 125 percent between [the official censuses of] 1990 and 2000,” she said. “The Hispanic population in Tuscaloosa County grew [an estimated] 32 percent between 2000 and 2005.”"

“The Alabama Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday in a lawsuit that seeks to stop the state from giving its drivers test in multiple languages and return to the use of English only.

The justices did not indicate when they would rule on the spirited arguments that covered everything from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s recent comments on Spanish to Gov. Bob Riley’s industrial recruiting trip to France.”

“Using a new law aimed at illegal immigrants, Medicaid has removed more than 5,000 people from its aid rolls in Alabama, but only 115 of them are Hispanic, The Birmingham News reported Sunday.

More than 5,000 people have lost their Medicaid coverage for failing to provide a birth certificate or other proof of citizenship, according to data from the Alabama Medicaid Agency.”

This isn’t the first state this has happened to.

“A former Clemson University Spanish professor has sued the school in federal court, alleging a pattern of discrimination and harassment taken against Hispanic members of the schools Languages Department.

Gloria Bautista, now living in New York, lost her tenured full professorship in November 2006. That decision “constitutes illegal discrimination against the plaintiff on the basis of her race and national origin,” according to the suit.”

“A group of Hispanic contractors and business professionals has formed an organization that aims to improve safety among the growing number of Hispanics working in the Birmingham construction industry.

Asociacion Contratistas Hispanos, or the Association of Hispanic Contractors, was founded by Jose Martinez, owner of Martinez Masonry Art, and Vicenta B. Smith, a Homewood lawyer who has represented several Hispanic construction workers injured on the job.”