Posted on 29th September 2011 by Celina Mendoza in Information, News, Reports
Hispanics
Childhood Poverty Among Hispanics
Sets Record, Leads Nation
“The spread of poverty across the United States that began at the onset of the Great Recession of 2007-2009 and accelerated last year hit one fast-growing demographic group especially hard: Latino children.
…More Latino children are living in poverty—-6.1 million in 2010—-than children of any other racial or ethnic group. This marks the first time in U.S. history that the single largest group of poor children is not white. In 2010, 37.3% of poor children were Latino, 30.5% were white and 26.6% were black, according to an analysis of new data from the U.S. Census Bureau by the Pew Hispanic Center, a project of the Pew Research Center.”
For the complete article, click here.
For the full report, click here.
Posted on 11th June 2011 by Celina Mendoza in Information, News, Reports
Citizenship, immigration, Immigration Law
Alabama illegal immigration law tougher than Arizona’s
“Alabama schools will soon have to check if students are in the country legally and people stopped for any reason could be arrested on suspicion of immigration violations under a sweeping law being called the nation’s most restrictive against illegal immigration.
“Advocacy groups promised to challenge the sweeping measure signed by Gov. Robert Bentley on Thursday, which they call even more severe than the one in Arizona that is being challenged in court.
“In addition, it requires all businesses to check the legal status of workers using a federal system called E-Verify and makes it a crime to knowingly give an illegal immigrant a ride.”
This law is set to take effect Sept. 1st.
For the full article: click here.
Posted on 6th June 2011 by Celina Mendoza in Information, News, Reports
Dream Act, Education, Hispanic Students, Hispanics, immigration
In a move to help the children of undocumented residents in Illinois afford college, the House on Monday sent Gov. Pat Quinn the Illinois DREAM Act.
The measure, which passed the House 61-53, would create a fund established through private donations and managed by the Illinois Student Assistance Commission to provide financial assistance to undocumented students in Illinois. The bill would also allow families of the students to participate in the state’s two college tuition savings programs.
Click here for complete article: Lawmakers send Illinois Dream Act bill to Quinn
Posted on 25th May 2011 by Celina Mendoza in Information, Links, News, Reports
Education, Hispanic Students, Hispanics
Over the past decade, just 150 Latino employees have been added to the state workforce, according to analysis released in Springfield today by the Latino Policy Forum and the Illinois Association for Hispanic State Employees (IAHSE). More than 14 percent of labor force in Illinois, Latinos were only 4.7 percent of the state government workforce in 2010, with just over 2,000 state employees.
“To achieve parity, nearly 4,300 Latinos would need to be hired at the state level. But in these lean economic times, such parity will be difficult to achieve,” said Martha Lopez, president of IAHSE. “However, despite state belt-tightening, Illinois did hire or promote more than 2,600 times last year – and less than 200 of those positions were filled by Latinos. We must ensure that Latinos are aware of and being considered for these openings.”
Employment disparities are particularly troubling given that Latinos accounted for more than 100 percent of the population growth in Illinois over the last decade. The nearly 500,000 more Latinos in Illinois compensated for White and African American population
declines. Overall, Illinois grew by just over 411,000 people.
For the complete press release, click here.
Posted on 23rd April 2011 by Celina Mendoza in Events, Information, Meeting, Reports
Bloomington IL, Community Organization, HFWG, HFWG Meeting
Click here to read the minutes from our last HFWG meeting.
Our next meeting will be Tuesday May 17, 2011 at 5:30p.m.
at Western Avenue Community Center.
Posted on 24th March 2011 by Celina Mendoza in Events, Information, News, Reports
Bloomington IL, Illinois People's Action, Latinos United for Change, Normal IL, Vote
Payday loans and immigration hot topics at forum
As municipal elections are just around the corner, the Illinois People’s Action and Latinos United for Change held a forum for candidates seeking to hold or pick up a seat on the Bloomington City and Normal Town Councils. Two of the three District 87 school board members hoping to hold their seats, were also on site. The forum highlighted topics such as immigration, education, payday loans, and workers rights.
Ward 6 incumbent Karen Schmidt said she would support a city ordinance capping the payday interest loan rate to 36-percent, down from 400-percent. She said she empathizes with this issue.
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Ward 6 candidate Jeff Ready said this type of legislation would defeat the purpose of a free market. He said the public would be better served by being educated about interest rates associated with emergency loans.
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Three of the five candidates running to keep or pick up at-large seats in Normal had similar opinions on capping pay day loan interest rates.
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Incumbents Sonja Reece and Chuck Scott agreed that legislation regarding pay day loan rates should be decided by state lawmakers.
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Touching on immigration reform, most of the candidates said the issue should be handled at the federal level. Bloomington Ward 4 Incumbent Judy Stearns said she doesn’t think an immigration ordinance would be necessary in Bloomington.
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Stearns’ opponent for the Ward 4 seat, Carol Koos says it’s a complicated issue.
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Meanwhile education was also the centerpiece of discussion. District 87 School Board Member Mike Harrison says he would support measures to find better methods to keep kids in school and end the zero tolerance mandate.
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Bloomington Ward 2 candidates Karen Green and incumbent David Sage, along with Ward 8 candidates Robert Fazzini, Eric Decossas, and Mary Kramp were not in attendance. Gary Ohler and Jeff Fritzen were the candidates missing from Normal.
Posted on 16th February 2011 by Celina Mendoza in Information, Links, News, Reports
Education, Hispanic Community Organizations, Hispanics
Immigrant Latinos in central Illinois offer glimpses into their lives
Published: Feb. 10, 2011
Source: Angela Wiley, 217-265-5279, awiley@illinois.edu
Immigrant Latinos in five central Illinois rural counties exhibit a resilience that is rooted in their family ties and culture despite the challenges they are facing in a new country, says a University of Illinois report.
“Surprisingly, the rural Latinos we surveyed say they don’t encounter discrimination frequently, and most report being satisfied and having the important things they want in life,” said Angela Wiley, a U of I associate professor of applied family studies and a lead investigator on The Latino Families in Central Illinois Project.
“This positive outlook exists although most remain near the poverty line even if they’ve lived and worked in an area for 10 years or more. Whatever their challenges here, consumer goods are less expensive and incomes are steadier than they experienced in Mexico,” she added.
In terms of challenges, the respondents identified the lack of English classes that go beyond the beginner level and being able to find child care that meets their cultural expectations, is affordable, and is available during shift work, she said.
Why the urgent interest in rural Latino life? The Latino population in non-metropolitan parts of Illinois grew by 71 percent between 1990 and 2000 and continues to grow. In Champaign County alone, the number has more than doubled.
For the full article: http://www.aces.uiuc.edu/news/stories/news5583.html
Article by: Phyllis Picklesimer
phone: 217-244-2827; email: p-pickle@illinois.edu
Posted on 9th February 2011 by Celina Mendoza in News, Reports
Hispanic Community Organizations, Hispanics, Pew Hispanic Center, Press Release
Latinos are less likely than whites to access the internet, have a home broadband connection or own a cell phone, according to survey findings from the Pew Hispanic Center, a project of the Pew Research Center. Latinos lag behind blacks in home broadband access but have similar rates of internet and cell phone use.
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Hispanics, on average, have lower levels of education and earn less than whites. Controlling for these factors, the differences in internet use, home broadband access and cell phone use between Hispanics and whites disappear. In other words, Hispanics and whites who have similar socioeconomic characteristics have similar usage patterns for these technologies.
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Though they are no more likely than whites to access the internet from a cell phone, Hispanics are more likely to do so in lieu of a home internet connection. Some 6% of Latinos report that they access the internet from a cell phone but have no internet access at home. This rate is the same for blacks, but notably higher than the rate for whites (1%). This ethnic difference in dependency upon a cell phone for internet use is partially, but not entirely, related to ethnic differences in educational attainment and income.
By Gretchen Livingston. Click here for full press release and full report.
Posted on 7th February 2011 by Celina Mendoza in Events, Meeting, Reports
African-American, Bloomington IL, Community Event, Community Organization, Education, IWU, Lunch and Learn, McLean County Museum of History
McLean County African- American History Focus of Lunch and Learn
The Museum of History will present this month’s free Lunch and Learn on Thursday, February, 10, from 12:10 to 12:40 p.m. in the historic Gov. Fifer Courtroom.
This new worker friendly, half hour engaging discussion will this month examine “Who Were the Early African-American Migrants to McLean County?” with researchers Jack and Pam Muirhead. Pam is an Associate Professor of English at IWU and Jack is a retired teacher. His research was used to develop the publication, Presence Pride and Passion: A History of African Americans in McLean County. There has been an African-American presence in McLean County since the county was formed. This discussion will focus on some of the trials and achievements of African-American immigrants in the county from 1840 to the present.
The Lunch and Learn series is sponsored by Illinois Wesleyan University, Collaborative Solutions Institute and the Museum of History.
Remember to bring your lunch. Relax and learn as this unique new collaboration brings you more interesting topics of discussion each month on the second Thursday at 12:10 p.m. For more on the Lunch and Learn series visit the website at McHistory.org or call Jeff Woodard at 1-(309) 827-0428.
Posted on 3rd February 2011 by Celina Mendoza in Links, News, Reports
Hispanics, Immigrant Population, immigration, National trends, Newspaper Article, Pew Hispanic Center
As of March 2010, 11.2 million unauthorized immigrants were living in the United States, virtually unchanged from a year earlier, according to new estimates from the Pew Hispanic Center, a project of the Pew Research Center. This stability in 2010 follows a two-year decline from the peak of 12 million in 2007 to 11.1 million in 2009 that was the first significant reversal in a two-decade pattern of growth. Unauthorized immigrants were 3.7% of the nation’s population in 2010.
The number of unauthorized immigrants in the nation’s workforce, 8 million in March 2010, also did not differ from the Pew Hispanic Center estimate for 2009. As with the population total, the number of unauthorized immigrants in the labor force had decreased in 2009 from its peak of 8.4 million in 2007. They made up 5.2% of the labor force.
The number of children born to at least one unauthorized-immigrant parent in 2009 was 350,000 and they made up 8% of all U.S. births, essentially the same as a year earlier. An analysis of the year of entry of unauthorized immigrants who became parents in 2009 indicates that 61% arrived in the U.S. before 2004, 30% arrived from 2004 to 2007, and 9% arrived from 2008 to 2010.
Other key points from the new report include:
- The decline in the population of unauthorized immigrants from its peak in 2007 appears due mainly to a decrease in the number from Mexico, which went down to 6.5 million in 2010 from 7 million in 2007. Mexicans remain the largest group of unauthorized immigrants, accounting for 58% of the total.
- The number of unauthorized immigrants decreased from 2007 to 2010 in Colorado, Florida, New York and Virginia. The combined population in three contiguous Mountain West states-Arizona, Nevada and Utah-also declined.
- In contrast to the national trend, the combined unauthorized immigrant population in three contiguous West South Central states-Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas-grew from 2007 to 2010.
- Although the number of unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. is below 2007 levels, it has tripled since 1990, when it was 3.5 million and grown by a third since 2000, when it was 8.4 million.
Click here for the full article, Press Release: Unauthorized Immigrant Population: National and State Trends
Click here for the full report: Unauthorized Immigrant Population: National and State Trends
