News (Noticias) for Oklahoma

Hispanics learned many painful lessons in Oklahoma last year, Orta said.

“(House Bill) 1804 taught us that Hispanics need to get their act together. We need to work together and think about the welfare of the people. We need to get organized. We need a strategy and we need to connect with our elected leaders,” Orta said. “*

This year, expo organizers with the Greater Oklahoma City Hispanic Chamber of Commerce are expecting more than 13,000 people to attend the expo from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Transportation Building at the State Fair Park.”*

Jose’s Used Cars is at the corner of SW 29 and Western Avenue.

Next door is Jose’s Quick Lube.

Next to it is Jose’s Transmission.

And then there’s Jose’s Transmission Parts. “*

One Hispanic entrepreneur celebrated Independence Day by opening what he says is the only locally owned Spanish-language television station in the state.

Antonio Perez, whose Las Americas chain of grocery stores cater to the Hispanic market, started broadcasting Friday out of Tulsa on KXAP-51. About 50 percent of the programming will be local, Perez said.”*

Heartened by a federal judge’s decision to halt some provisions of House Bill 1804, Hispanic leaders said Monday at a state Capitol news conference that they are working to register more voters.

“There will be more Hispanics going to the polls in November than ever in the history of Oklahoma,” said Victor Orta, leader of the Coalition for the American Dream of Tulsa.

However, State Election Board Secretary Mike Clingman said he has not seen an upsurge in voter registration for this fall’s elections.”*

As some parts of the country reel from plummeting home values and a construction slump, many Hispanic workers have been forced to find other kinds of jobs — even in Oklahoma, where a more muted slowdown still means less work.

“I use to work for an independent contractor who did all residential. He had to completely switch things around,” said Darrel John, a 21-year-old roofer from Oklahoma City. “That’s why I came here.”

John, Terry Ladd, 47, Chris Sanchez, 31, and Mario Silvas, 41, are all now commercial roofers. For them, the key to keeping the bills paid has been skill versatility — from roof work to framing to tile work — whatever the job entails.”*

In Tulsa, Sebastian Lantos, a member of the Governor’s Council on Latin American and Hispanic Affairs, is a candidate for a seat in the Oklahoma House.

In Oklahoma City, two Hispanics who are members of the Oklahoma City School Board have filed for the Democratic nomination to a House seat.”*

Since the bill was passed during the 2007 legislative session, opponents have called the law, the object of multiple lawsuits, mean spirited. Meanwhile, public support for the law has remained high.

State Rep. Randy Terrill, R-Moore, author of the bill, said he was out of the office putting up campaign signs and didn’t hear until after noon that a judge with the U.S. District Court of the Western District of Oklahoma issued the 17-page opinion.”*

In response to seven months of living with one of the toughest immigration laws in the nation, a predominantly Hispanic parish in Tulsa has established a diocesan shrine to St. Toribio Romo, considered by many to be the patron saint of immigrants.

Aside from the original shine to St. Toribio in his hometown of Santa Ana de Guadalupe in the Mexican state of Jalisco, it is believed to be the only other shrine to him in the world.”*

Federal prosecutors want a Sulphur saddle maker fined $100,000 for hiring illegal immigrants.

Billy Cook Harness and Saddle Incorporated pleaded guilty last year to a charge of providing false Social Security information.”*

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Increased statewide immigration enforcement has accelerated human rights violations of Mexican nationals, a consul for the Mexican government said Monday in Oklahoma City.

Andres Chao said the U.S. and Mexican governments must work together to address the growing problem of illegal immigration in such a way that benefits both countries and their citizens.

He dismissed the notion that migration to the United States is an attempt by the Mexican government to export its poverty, and said Mexico sorely misses the young workers that cross daily into the United States.”*

A proposal to declare that English is the official language of Oklahoma is a defensive measure to protect the state from enforcement of an unconstitutional, extortionary executive order issued by former President Bill Clinton, said the bill’s author.

Executive Order 13166, issued by Clinton in August 2000, orders governmental entities that accept federal funding to “provide meaningful access” to their services to persons who are not proficient in the English language, also referred to as “limited English proficiency” or LEP persons.”*

In the seven years after the 2000 Census count, Oklahoma’s Hispanic population increased about 44.7 percent, according to 2007 estimates released today by the U.S. Census Bureau.

On July 1, the Census Bureau estimated there were 261,635 Hispanics living in Oklahoma — up 5.5 percent from the 2006 estimates.

Of Oklahoma’s 3.6 million people estimated in July 2007, more than 261,000, or about 7.2 percent, were of Hispanic origin. In 16 other states, the Hispanic population exceeded 500,000, according to the Census Bureau.”*

Unlike the Hispanics of 1933 Tulsa, those of 2008 have even more obstacles to overcome. Not only do they have the difficulty of adjusting to a new country, they have one law, House Bill 1804, and a pending law, Senate Bill 163, with which to deal.

HB 1804, known as one of the most strict and punitive anti-illegal immigration laws in the country, was the brainchild of Rep. Randy Terrill, R-Moore, and easily passed through the state Legislature and over the governor’s desk.

This wrongheaded and mean-spirited piece of legislation is now followed up with SB 163, which would make English the official language of Oklahoma. Funny, I thought English already was the official language, although I often have my doubts after reading some responses and listening to telephone messages following any column written about 1804. “*

Many Oklahoma public school students who are Hispanic say they’ve become the targets of bullies since a law aimed at illegal immigrants went into effect.

Edmond Memorial High School student Mayra Sigala says since the law went into effect she’s been called names in the school hallway and been told to “go back to Mexico” even though she was born in Oklahoma.”*

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