Arkansas

A two-year study released Tuesday shows older Arkansans, the young and Hispanics making up larger parts of the state population 12 years from now.

The Arkansas 2020 study, released by the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, projects demographic changes over a 20-year period, including shifts in age, gender, race, ethnic, rural and urban populations.

Click here (Word doc) to see a summary of the study. Click here (PDF) to see the full study.”*

A program aimed at providing Mexican immigrants and others a chance to improve their English-language skills and earn the equivalent of high school diplomas may return to Arkansas.

The Mexican government, along with officials from Arkansas, Kansas, Mississippi and Oklahoma, began a three-day meeting Tuesday at the state Capitol about the Plaza Comunitaria program. The program, free to participants, offers immigrants access to Web sites and instructional videos to obtain Mexican diplomas for elementary and middle school education.”*

Federal agents have arrested 24 suspected illegal immigrants working on a construction project near the Little Rock National Airport — but not inside the airport’s secured areas.

Officials of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said ICE agents raided a construction project at the site of Supermarine. That company provides fuel and supplies to corporate and private aircraft. Temple Black, a spokesman for ICE at New Orleans, said the raid came as local police served an arrest warrant on a U.S. citizen facing a drunken-driving charge. Black said ICE had gotten a tip about illegal immigrants working at the construction site, and decided to carry out their raid at the same time local police went to make the DWI arrest.”*

More than 150, 000 Hispanics live in Arkansas, nearly double the population that the state had seven years ago, new U. S. Census Bureau estimates show.

The figures, released Thursday, show that Hispanic men continue to outnumber women, a likely reflection of the influx of workers drawn to the state’s poultry plants and construction sites. “*

Eighteen illegal immigrants arrested at a poultry plant in Batesville will be processed for deportation, but will not serve any jail time for using fake Social Security numbers and state identification cards, federal judges ruled. Magistrate Judge Beth Deere and Judge James Moody of Federal District Court accepted guilty pleas from 17 of those arrested last week at the Pilgrim’s Pride plant. “*

*From: http://www.nytimes.com
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Since then, Arciga has gone on to prove his mentor’s prediction of his future. In addition to earning both private and federal scholarships, the UA junior now serves as president of the Northwest Arkansas Chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens and is a member of Phi Iota Alpha - the first Hispanic fraternity on the UA campus. Additionally, in 2006, Arciga became a U. S. citizen.

On Thursday, Arciga shared his story with about 80 Hispanic high school students from Rogers and Springdale.

The event gave students a chance to experience campus life, as well as access to the educational tools needed to continue their education.”*

*From: http://nwanews.com
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Pope Benedict has named a Catholic priest who signed “a statement of resistance” to Oklahoma’s tough illegal immigration laws to become the new bishop of the Little Rock diocese, signaling a new sensitivity to Arkansas’ growing Hispanic population.

Father Anthony B. Taylor, a Fort Worth, Texas, native, will assume the role June 5 in the diocese, which oversees all the Catholic churches in the state. Hispanics now make up more than half of Arkansas’ Catholic congregation memberships of more than 116,000 people.”*

*From: http://www.kristv.com
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Arkansas State Police troopers will be trained by federal agents to detect forged identity documents carried by suspected illegal immigrants, but will not have the power to arrest them for being in the country, officials said Tuesday.

Troopers in the field, radio operators and those at driver’s licensing stations will receive training from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as part of an agreement signed Monday. If troopers find a suspected forgery, they could call federal agents at ICE’s Law Enforcement Support Center who can verify documents and check a suspect’s immigration status.”*

*From: http://www.pbcommercial.com
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Arkansas’ economy would suffer if the state were to pass punitive legislation targeting immigrants, members of the Arkansas Friendship Coalition said Monday, citing a recent study conducted in Oklahoma to back up their argument.

At a news conference at the state Capitol, members of the coalition — which opposes punitive laws aimed at immigrants in Arkansas — quoted from a March economic study projecting that anti-illegal immigration legislation passed last year in Oklahoma could lead to an annual reduction in Oklahoma’s gross state product of about $1.8 billion.”*

*From: http://www.nwaonline.net
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The third annual Ferritor Lecture in Community will feature Donald Hernandez, professor of sociology at Albany State University of New York, speaking on “Children in Immigrant Families in 21st Century Arkansas” at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 3, in Lecture Hall 107 of the Agricultural, Food, and Life Sciences Building next to the Pat Walker Health Center. His visit is being sponsored by the Jones Chair in Community of the department of sociology in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences.

Hernandez formerly served as a special assistant in the U.S. Census Bureau, and between 1996 and 1998 was study director for the Committee on the Health and Adjustment of Immigrant Children and Families, Board on Children, Youth, and Families of the National Academy of Sciences and Institute of Medicine. In that position he had responsibility for the National Research Council report From Generation to Generation: The Health and Well-Being of Children in Immigrant Families and the companion volume, Children of Immigrants: Health, Adjustment, and Public Assistance.”*

*From: http://dailyheadlines.uark.edu
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Hispanic students at Rogers High School will again have the option to trade the traditional corsage and slow-dance prom for one with reggaeton beats and Spanish lyrics.

Less than 1,000 students attended the school’s prom last year as Hispanic students planned an alternative prom for the same day, without the school’s sponsorship or help. Organizers say as many as 1,200 students attended last year’s alternative prom at the Metroplex Event Center. “*

*From: http://www.todaysthv.com
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Hispanic immigrant workers who toil on red-clay construction sites and cut flesh from bone on poultry plant lines in northwest Arkansas, helping to fuel the region’s economic growth, say they’ve become targets for local police who are conducting raids once left to a few federal agents stationed here.

After changes in state and federal law, local police, sheriff’s deputies and state troopers throughout Arkansas can help enforce federal immigration laws. Recent raids in northwestern Arkansas rounded up a handful of illegal immigrants — but even those with a legal right to be in the United States face questions.

‘It feels like it is dangerous to be Hispanic,’ activist Jim Miranda said.”*

*From: http://www.forbes.com
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Booth, an English as a Second Language teacher in the Rogers School District, teaches families on Tuesday and Thursday nights. About 20 parents learn English alongside their children, who are classified as English-language learners within the district’s schools. Rogers offers the classes at four sites, serving about 80 families. It plans to add an additional site in the summer to meet increasing demand. The program is part of a national trend that’s taken root in Northwest Arkansas as its population of immigrants has grown. School districts are finding ways to draw parents of English-language learners into the classroom in hopes of increasing student achievement.

‘CHILD’S FIRST TEACHER’ In Booth’s class and others like it, parents and children split into two groups for the first half, completing lessons targeted to their life stages and language skills. Then they combine for conversational exercises and unit reviews.”*

*From: http://www.nwanews.com
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Phi Iota Alpha, the first Latino fraternity in Arkansas, has sent three members of their University of Arkansas founding line to the nation’s capital for Advocacy Day with the National Council of La Raza (NCLR).Members of the fraternity are also involved in many segments of the Hispanic community, which is why they have express their duty in going to Washington for the March 5 and 6 events.”*

*From: http://dailyheadlines.uark.edu
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Local Democrats canvassed Hispanic neighborhoods Saturday in hopes of registering new voters.

The Democratic Party of Arkansas is reaching out to Hispanic voters with teams in each of the state’s four congressional districts.

Peter Grumble, the state party’s deputy field director, said canvassing is the most successful way of getting votes.”*

*From: http://www.nwanews.com
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Does America’s pastime translate into Spanish ?

Baseball promoters in Northwest Arkansas took their game to Hispanic kids Saturday by staging a special sign-up at area youth centers, with on-site broadcasts from a Spanish radio station, interpreters to guide families through the process and registration forms printed in Spanish.

Organizers hope their efforts will draw Northwest Arkansas ’ immigrant population into the famously American sport.”*

*From: http://www.nwanews.com
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Arkansas is home to the fastest-growing Hispanic population in the country. And yet, as Arkansas’s presidential primary nears, there’s little effort to reach out to potential Hispanic supporters.

Hispanics now comprise five percent of Arkansas’s population, compared to fifteen percent for blacks. And yet, the local head of the League of United Latin American Citizens, Carlos Cervantes, says he hasn’t seen presidential candidates reaching out to Latinos. “*

*From: http://www.publicbroadcasting.net
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U.S. Attorney Bob Balfe said federal immigration agents and local police in northwest Arkansas have only gone after employers who flout the law and exploit illegal immigrant workers.

“They are modern-day slave labor,” Balfe said after a recent raid on a chain of Mexican restaurants.

In recent years, Balfe acknowledged it may appear that officials are targeting Hispanics. However, he stressed his office has been involved in other cases involving employers hiring illegal immigrants from Asia and Czechoslovakia.”*

*From: http://www.pbcommercial.com
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The University of Arkansas moved higher on the list in Kiplinger’s Personal Finances magazine as among the best for Arkansas students and nonresident students. It was also named the best place for Hispanic students to attend college in the state.”*

*From: http://media.www.thetraveleronline.com
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Lawmakers heard Tuesday that state and federal law protects the right for children of illegal immigrants to attend school while living in Arkansas. That means the largest state costs of the migration can’t be eliminated.

The news came during a joint hearing of the state House and Senate’s education committee. Afterward, two Republican lawmakers questioned the lengths the state should go when providing that care as Arkansas’ Hispanic community grows at one of the fastest rates in the nation. “*

*From: http://www.todaysthv.com
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The mission of the Hispanic Women’s Organization of Arkansas is to celebrate education, culture and community.

The group did all three at its annual Holiday Dinner and Open House on Tuesday. Held in the lobby outside its new offices at the Family Resource Center in Springdale, the party attracted about 150 clients, supporters and members.

They heard about organization programs, lauded graduates of a recent computer class and watched entertainment by singer Flor Morena and dance group Ritmo Latino. A buffet dinner of steak and chicken fajitas was provided by Acambero Mexican Restaurant.”*

The study shows Hispanic voters represented only 1.3 percent of voters in Arkansas during the 2006 gubernatorial race. That percentage many only slightly creep up next year, as more than half of the nation’s Hispanics are foreign-born and nearly a third are under 18. “*

A 15-minute presentation Tuesday night before the Hope City Board of Directors turned into an hour-long debate over confusion about an Hispanic outreach group’s membership/identity card and its validity.

Angelo Zambrano, intake specialist for the Latin Community Organization, an outreach services provider for the New Arkansan Resource Network under a grant from the U.S. Department of Labor administered through the Arkansas Department of Workforce, gave the board an overview of the group’s workings and purpose.”*

Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., voiced support for providing some children of illegal immigrants with college aid Monday, a day after Republican presidential contender Mike Huckabee said he was not sure he would support such a program at the federal level.

When Huckabee was Arkansas governor, he supported legislation in 2005 that would have granted in-state tuition to the children of illegal immigrants. The measure, an early version of which also would have made undocumented immigrants eligible for state scholarships, passed the state House but fell short in the Senate.
“*

“Bee Movie “will be shown in Spanish at the Blackhawk Theatre here on Saturday.

“Several people have asked me about showing a movie in Spanish,” said Jeff Cato, owner of the theater. “I hire quite a bit of Hispanic labor and they always ask.”

Cato said he hires people both in his construction jobs and to work at the theater.”*