News (Noticias) for Louisiana

A burgeoning Hispanic population has helped rebuild New Orleans during the past two and a half years. Now officials are coming to grips with the challenge of moving and finding safe refuge for that population should another hurricane threaten.

Since Hurricane Katrina, as many as 14,000 Hispanic immigrants have arrived in New Orleans to provide muscle and skills for the recovery effort. Now civic groups as well as government officials say overcoming cultural and language barriers between emergency officials and Spanish speakers — especially the undocumented — has taken on new urgency. “*

A package of bills designed to crack down on illegal immigrants faltered in the Senate Judiciary B Committee Tuesday when two lawmakers said the effort will lead to ethnic profiling and the author of the legislation could not answer legal questions on how the measures would be policed.

Rep. Brett Geymann, R-Lake Charles, asked the panel to delay action on the three bills until next week when he can have a lawyer with him to help answer the questions of committee members. Geymann said he will have some amendments to address the concerns of some committee members.”*

A state Senate committee is set to take up bills aimed at illegal immigration in Louisiana.

One bill on the agenda Tuesday in a Senate judiciary committee would make it illegal to knowingly transport illegal immigrants. Another would ban the harboring of such immigrants and still another spells out requirements for police to try to determine the status of any foreign nationals they arrest.”*

Immediately after Hurricane Katrina, the first Hispanic charter school in the city opened.

The goal of the school is to educate the thousands of Hispanics who came to rebuild the city of New Orleans post-Katrina. This week, the first 8 th grade class graduated to the next language and culture.

Jenny Martinez is one of those graduates who has made a long educational journey, which began 10 months ago.”*

A bill snaking through state Legislature this week would slap fines as high as $500 on landlords who rent property to illegal aliens, a move many landlords support but feel it’s too difficult to police.

House Bill 1365, authored by State Rep. Tim Burns, R-Mandeville, would make it illegal to rent properties to illegal immigrants. But the bill — more of a “good faith attempt” to police illegal immigrants than a witch hunt for shady landlords, Burns said — is one that may be impossible to implement, opponents said.”*

The stops and starts of the post-Katrina rebuilding effort, often due to bureaucratic delays in funding, still provided plenty of work to rebuild homes and businesses. But reconstruction work has slowed as projects are completed or transition to phases requiring highly specialized skills.

“In the immediate aftermath, labor demand was huge and few workers were willing to accept the labor and residential conditions that prevailed in the city,” said Elizabeth Fussell, a Washington State University professor who studied immigration after Katrina.

“Now there is less demand, and it is for workers with more skills and perhaps certification by the state. This translates to less demand for low-skill, undocumented workers.”"*

Knowingly transporting an illegal immigrant in Louisiana would be a state crime punishable by up to a year in jail, under legislation approved Wednesday by the House Criminal Justice Committee.

Rep. Brett Geymann, R-Lake Charles, included language in his bill providing a possible defense: Those arrested for the crime could argue that they were helping someone who may have lost a visa or was in the process of renewing or obtaining a visa. That was an effort aimed at blunting opposition from the Roman Catholic Church and other entities that help immigrants regardless of their legal status.”*

President Felipe Calderón on Monday called attention to the growing role of Mexican immigrants in the rebuilding of New Orleans, raising a theme he’s likely to bring up today when he visits Dallas.

Mr. Calderón and his host, President Bush – in New Orleans with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper for the North American Leaders’ Summit – jointly reopened the Mexican Consulate there. The office shut down in 2002 as a cost-cutting measure.”*

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

Hablo español. That is to say, I speak Spanish. Like having the choice of friends despite being stuck with your family, learning a foreign language is the same situation. You can’t pick what you’ll speak at birth, but you’ve got a choice as to what you’ll learn second. I chose Spanish.

Spanish is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world and is becoming increasingly prevalent in the United States.

But its usefulness wasn’t why I chose to learn it. That choice stemmed from watching “The Mask of Zorro” in middle school and an infatuation with Antonio Banderas.”*

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

Thirty men from Mexico who came to pick strawberries in Louisiana and found themselves in “slave-like” conditions ended up approaching some African-American activists for help. Gerald Lenoir is coordinator for Black Alliance for Just Immigration. Ted Quant is a labor activist and teacher in New Orleans. Damien Ramos is an organizer in the homeless community of New Orleans. Immigration Matters regularly features the views of the nation’s leading immigrant rights advocates.”*

*From: http://news.ncmonline.com
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

Ouachita Parish Sheriff Richard Fewell has placed some of his employees in a six-week Spanish class to better communicate with Hispanic citizens in the area.

Officials selected patrol deputies, radio operators, the K-9 Unit and several members of the Special Crime Apprehension Team to participate in the class. Ruth Smith, head of the foreign language department at the University of Louisiana at Monroe, teaches the class to more than 20 sheriff’s employees.”*

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

The recently refurbished Mid-City strip shopping center that is home to Rock ‘n’ Bowl is about to get another unique tenant: an “all Latino” credit union office where every employee speaks Spanish and English and all documents are printed in both languages.

The first venture of its kind in the state, the ASI Federal Credit Union office expected to open early this summer near the busy intersection of Tulane and Carrollton avenues is aimed at meeting the financial needs of the area’s growing Hispanic population, its officials say.”*

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

New Orleans is still struggling to rebuild after Katrina, but the city’s hurricane survivors and newcomers alike are showing a remarkable spirit of perseverance. NAM Contributor Christine Senteno talked to ethnic media in New Orleans.”*

*From: http://news.ncmonline.com
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

What’s billed as the only full-power Spanish-language broadcast television station here launched Friday, further underscoring the boom in the region’s Hispanic population since Hurricane Katrina.

The Telemundo affiliate has been carried recently on some cable and satellite systems and is expected to be on more next month, said Ernesto Schweikert III, general manager of KGLA-TV Channel 42. The launch was marked by a luncheon attended by Telemundo hosts Candela Ferro and Alejandro Blanco.”*

Suddenly, two masked gunmen burst in, demanding money. And the workers watched in horror as Martinez-Carpio was fatally shot three times by the intruders, who then shot at the witnesses and fled empty-handed.

For the six remaining migrant workers — from El Salvador, Honduras and Mexico — their nightmare had just begun.

Because they were illegal immigrants as well as material witnesses to the April 29 crime, the men were immediately taken into custody and have remained in jail for the past seven months: first in St. Tammany, then in federal custody, then back to the north shore. For the first six months, they didn’t have an attorney.”*

Mexican nationals residing in Lafayette will soon have access to an identification card that will allow them the chance to open bank accounts.

Officials with the Mexican consulate based in Houston will be in Lafayette on Nov. 17 and 18 to assist the growing Mexican population in the area, they said. One way they plan to do this is by offering Mexican nationals the opportunity to receive a matricula consular card, a Mexican government-issued form of identification that can serve as official ID in lieu of U.S.-issued ID, said Adhemir Olguin, press officer for the Consulate General of Mexico.”*

“On Monday health officials will be bringing the message “Wake up! Take Control! Take the HIV Test!” to Latino communities throughout the state as a part of National Latino AIDS Awareness Day.

The Latino population in Louisiana since hurricanes Katrina and Rita is estimated to have swelled from 120,000 people to more than 175,000. Since this group has a historically low rate of HIV testing within their community, the state Office of Public Health’s HIV/AIDS Program is joining forces with community-based organizations around the state to encourage HIV testing on this day.

In the Shreveport area the Brotherhood Taskforce of NW Louisiana will be offering free rapid HIV-testing and information on hepatitis A, B and C from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the McAdoo Hotel, 1002 Texas Ave., Shreveport. “*

“The Acadiana region is growing more diverse by the day, fueled mostly by a job market parched for bodies and Latino immigrants eager to work.

The Hispanic and Latino population has grown 14 percent in Louisiana and 17 percent in Acadiana from 2000 to 2006, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates. The biggest boost has been from Mexicans, whose population has grown 55 percent in Louisiana and 68 percent in Acadiana during that time.”

“The nationally-acclaimed Ballet Hispanico will come to town to open the Baton Rouge Ballet Theatre’s 2007-2008 season.

The company’s Thursday, Oct. 4 performance will offer works by the foremost Latino choreographers of today representing Hispanic culture in the United States. The company, under artistic director Tina Ramirez, has danced in diverse venues including the Kennedy Center, the Chicago Theatre and Shea Stadium. “