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Changing face Of RuCo


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Changing face Of RuCo | Census, Immigration

Many Hispanics, like Armando Lopez, immigrated to Middle Tennessee in the past decade in search of better economic opportunities. Lopez, originally from Detroit, moved to Rutherford County to open his restaurant Blue Agave. (Photo by T. Swann)
America is known as the land of opportunity, which is why many Hispanics immigrated here in the past decade, an official with the Nashville Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce explained.

"The primary reason why Hispanics are coming to our state is because we are growing and there are jobs," president Yuri Cunza said.

Even in this anemic economy, there are jobs, though not as many, to be had for those who want work, said Cunza, a Peruvian native who has been in Middle Tennessee since 1996.

Middle Tennessee's burgeoning growth and economic opportunities in the past 10 years brought many Hispanics into the nation and Rutherford County between 2000 and 2010.

According to the 2010 U.S. Census, 16 percent of the U.S. population is now Hispanic, with more than half of the nation's overall growth coming from the Hispanic population.

Rutherford County's Hispanic population grew 245.5 percent, from 5,065 in 2000 to 17,500 in 2010. Overall the county's total population grew 44.27 percent to 262,604, making Rutherford the second fastest growing county in the state during the last decade and holding steady as the fifth largest county in the state.

Most of the growth in the Hispanic population was concentrated in La Vergne, which saw growth of 541.3 percent. La Vergne's Hispanic population in 2000 was only 3.54 percent of the total population or 661 individuals, but it grew to 13.01 percent or 4,239 of its total population of 32,588 in 2010.

Smyrna saw its Hispanic population balloon 289.3 percent from 1,101 in 2000 to 4,286 in 2010, while Murfreesboro's grew only 165.5 percent from 2,430 to 6,453 in 2010.

 "Those are numbers are conservative," Cunza said, noting he knows people who didn't return their census surveys, but there "was more of a willingness to be counted."

The numbers may even be lower in 2010 from the mid-2000s because some Hispanics returned to their home countries after the economy crashed in 2007, he added.

Anecdotally, Cunza has seen many Hispanic-owned businesses close in the last few years and the owners seek greener pastures elsewhere.

The Census Bureau's American Community Survey from 2005-2009 doesn't exactly confirm Cunza's suspicions.

In 2009, the Hispanic population for Rutherford County was estimated at 12,945 or 5.4 percent of the population. The 2010 results show that population at 17,500 or 6.66 percent of the total population.

Immigration Legislation

Even though the Hispanic population seems to be leveling off, it hasn't stopped our local legislators from proposing Arizona-style immigration reform legislation in the Tennessee General Assembly.

"After many hours of thorough research and hard work, I am pleased to say that (the bills) have successfully made it through the first phase of the legislative process," legislation lead sponsor Joe Carr (R-Lascassas) said after the three bills cleared the State and Local Sub-Committee on Wednesday.

After a sometimes-heated discussion, the subcommittee agreed to send the controversial legislation to the full State and Local Committee, which will be heard Tuesday. Another bill requiring voters to present photo IDs at the polls also passed the subcommittee.

Carr introduced his immigration reform plan in February, which calls for a three-tiered approach to strengthen existing state law "in order for private businesses and state and local law enforcement agencies to have the authority to effectively deal with illegal immigration," Carr said.

The plan is comprised of three pieces of legislation, the "Lawful Immigration Enforcement Act" sponsored by State Sen. Bill Ketron (R - Murfreesboro), the "Eligibility Verification for Entitlements Act" sponsored by State Sen. Jack Johnson (R - Franklin) and the "Tennessee Lawful Employment Act" sponsored by State Sen. Jim Tracy (R - Shelbyville).

The Lawful Immigration Enforcement Act allows state and local law enforcement to determine the immigration status of an individual during a lawful traffic stop.

Similar to Nashville's 287g program, it then requires law enforcement to detain and turn over illegal immigrants to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The Eligibility Verification for Entitlements Act authorizes state agencies to check the immigration status of individuals who receive state benefits and prohibits verified illegal aliens from receiving state entitlements.

The Tennessee Lawful Employment Act, or E-Verify bill, requires all employers to submit the social security numbers of all new hires after Oct. 1, 2011 to the United State Department of Homeland Security for verification.

Currently more than 4,000 Tennessee businesses participate in the E-Verify system.

The E-Verify bill will penalize businesses for hiring illegal immigrants with escalating consequences with businesses losing their licenses after the third offense, Tracy explained.

"I think this is a common sense approach that gets things done," Tracy said about the legislation back in February.

But not everyone agrees.

Cunza for one wants Tennesseans to be aware of our "fragile economy.

"I would like to encourage us to consider that any money is good and we need to remember that … we can rely on each other," he said.

While Carr touts his "common sense approach" to immigration, Cunza believes it would be better for everyone if the Hispanic population was allowed to come out of the shadows and participate fully in society.

He said legal immigrants care very much about bor der security and try to encourage others to use legal routes to becoming citizens.

"We don't want to take over. We don't want to displace anyone," Cunza said, explaining becoming an American citizen is a long and difficult process that he did by learning the language and assimilating into the American melting pot.

"I have gone through the process myself," he said. "We need to encourage and create a comfort zone, not push immigrants back into the shadows."

With the population growing as it has over the past 10 years, the Hispanic population will not remain the shadows much longer.
 
 
 
Tagged under  Census, Immigration


Member Opinions:
By: Brittanicus on 4/3/11
MILLIONS MORE ILLEGAL ALIENS WILL BE HEADING FOR YOUR STATE.

Word of mouth will resonate across the border with Mexico, and internally throughout America and hundreds of thousands of economic illegal aliens will be arriving in lenient States. If illegal aliens think they can get drivers licenses in Washington State, they will be pouring in from everywhere. They will pillage your welfare safety-net for all your impoverished citizens and legal residents, just as they have in the Sanctuary State of California and Nevada.


States have no conception of what is going to happen to them, once the illegal aliens start whispering to each other? The flood will turn into a deluge and all those under threat in Arizona, may be Texas and in other States building policing laws will become persona non grata. They will materialize in the hundreds of thousands in Salt Lake City, Ogden, anywhere and people with "foothold babies" will start lining up for the food Stamps, Medicaid and anything else they can get for free. The kids will suffocate the school system and they will have no choice but to hire more bilingual teachers. These people are well taught on how to wring the most welfare programs from the system, including free breakfasts and lunches for their children. They are well aware as in California the more babies they conceive that they can receive $600 dollars for each child in their care. One only has to read on the Internet that there is a fraudulent game going on with child tax credits.

The hospitals will be crammed with the newly sick and arrive in the emergency room with 4 or five children and then Utah's old folks, will have to wait 4 hours or more for treatment as the numbers grow. In one hospital in Texas there are a hundred illegal aliens on dialysis machines, costing taxpayers $100.000 dollars annually for each patient. Best to remember that overall that the employer doesn't pay for Guest Workers children or families education, health care, home help, or other programs, the taxpayer does..THAT'S WITH ANY SOFT STATE! xplore the Pdf file "Illegal Aliens and American Medicine." http://tinyurl.com/o6r27 Remember this is not about honest, law abiding legalized people who are of many religions, creeds or races. This is about illegal immigration and the consequences now and in the immediate future. Anybody who really believes the US government, or the leftist newspapers or groups with special incentives that there is--ONLY--11 million unauthorized persons here, needs a good psychiatrist?

Just as in the Sanctuary State of California is overwhelmed with welfare classes, so will Utah. Neighborhoods will become the scene of rusty, derelict cars and the business owners will exploit them and enjoy obscene profits. Oh! But we must not forget the growing prominence of DUI (Drunk While Intoxicated.) Hit and runs will begin to escalate and more drug peddlers will move in, to sell their toxic wares to young children. Soon--more prisons will have to be constructed to incarcerate the murderers, kidnappers, home invasion crime, female and children assaults and other criminal enterprises. Just like California, Nevada and other refuge States, your debt will be accelerating because you will be forking out large sums of money like never before, to support Utah's own little invasion. GOD HELP UTAH!! If this law for Guest Workers is found constitutional these illegal persons with their extended families will suddenly appear

To repeat this statistic--that for every 1 dollar spent by illegal immigrants, they receive 3 to 4 dollars in service and public entitlements. According to (FAIR) one hundred and thirteen billion went out the door in federal entitlements, for education, health care and incarcerations; these dollar numbers are not what States payout. Each State has its own cross to bear, with no aid from the US government.

ATTN: Reps. Brian Bilbray (R-Calif.), Jack Kingston (R-Ga.), Jeff Landry (R-La.), and David McKinley (R-W.V.) have co-sponsored H.R.800, the E-LAW Act, that was introduced by Rep. John Carter (R-Texas). The bill would require all employers to use E-Verify on new hires and existing employees within two years. CALL YOUR SENATOR AND REPRESENTATIVE YOU WILL FIND IN THE BLUE PAGES OF YOUR PHONE DIRECTORY DEMANDING H.R.800. The bill also requires the Department of Homeland Security to take steps that remove fraudulent use of the E-Verify system such as illegal aliens using false identification. The bill also increases fines and penalties for employers that knowingly hire illegal aliens, and it reinstates the No-Match program that requires the Social Security Administration to notify employers and individuals where in individual is making contributions into their social security account from multiple employers.

America isn't a melting pot anymore, it’s a potential powder keg.
Remember these economic persons don't just arrive from South of the border, they also come into America by jet and overstay their visas for good. Utahans better contact their local Tea Party if they want to fight these decades of illegal immigrant occupation, as the majority of the politicians are uncaring and stay indifferent like that tired, senile Senator Reid (D-NV). My opinion is he returned to Washington, through illegal aliens inundating Nevada used fraudulent absentee ballots. Many organizations as NumbersUSA are looking out for Americans, to build the real fence and stop many of the huge influxes of foreigners before our nation cannot pay its debts to Communist China anymore and foreign investors.

By: abide on 4/4/11
We can soon change the name to Mexiboro won't that have a nice ring to it, for them.

By: Sprtman on 4/4/11
These illegals just sicken me. We have city council members that hire illegals. They work at city tile. The mayor has them work on his home.

By: jimmychurch on 4/7/11
If people hire illegals, illegals will always have work. After seeing how most Mexicans live in Mexico, I am finding it harder to fault them. I see so many Americans that are living on federal and state funded living, that have the ability to work, but choose to live on checks financed by working Americans.


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