Report: Hispanics victimized in U.S. South

Source: upi

Low-income Hispanic immigrants in the U.S. South are routinely targeted for wage theft, racial profiling and other abuses, advocates say.

The abuse is driven by an anti-immigrant climate that is harming all Hispanics in the South, whether or not they are illegal immigrants, a report released Wednesday by the Southern Poverty Law Center, based in Montgomery, Ala., says.

The report, "Under Siege: Life for Low-Income Latinos in the South," surveyed 500 low-income Hispanics -- including legal residents, undocumented immigrants and U.S. citizens -- in Nashville, Charlotte, New Orleans, rural southern Georgia, and several towns and cities in northern Alabama.

"This report documents the human toll of failed policies that relegate millions of people to an underground economy, where they are beyond the protection of the law," said Mary Bauer, author of the report and director of the SPLC's Immigrant Justice Project. "Workplace abuses and racial profiling are rampant in the South."

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/04/22/Report-Hispanics-victimized-in-US-South/UPI-51121240403713/

film at 11

just like blacks were and are still in many places. Illegal immigration might be an excuse, but it's not the reason.

People are prejudiced towards Hispanics because of illegal immigration. And Hispanics who are here illegally are especially vulnerable to prejudice because they can not take any real action.

"(I)t found Hispanics are routinely cheated out of wages by employers, who deny them basic health and safety protections; are racially profiled by overzealous law enforcement agents; and are victimized by criminals who know they are reluctant to report crime to these same authorities."

Americans do nothing wrong, let's blame illegal immigrants. (And if Americans are guilty of racial profiling and wage theft, it is still the fault of illegal immigrants. They made us do it, right?)

film at 11:30

I wonder what it is about the history and culture of the South that might make it a hot bed of anti-immigrant feeling? :think:

answered your own question.

1) Employers cheat on wages of Illegal Immigrants because they can't complain to anyone.

2) Criminals prey on Illegal Immigrants because they can't complain to anyone.

3) Some law enforcement mistreats Illegal Immigrants because they can't complain to anyone.

The root cause is a vulnerable underclass of people. Wherever such a group exists there will be those who are out for personal gain from their exploitation.

1) is true;
2) I doubt that criminals check papers before they commit crimes. They may assume that all Hispanics are "illegal" which wouldn't be the first time criminals were wrong;
3) police have employed racial profiling without regard to legal status, just what the person looks like.

steps are taken. The current underclass was not "created" by legalization, but by desperate conditions in Mexico and Central America and jobs in the US.

“Workers don’t depress wages. Unscrupulous employers do,” said Terence O’Sullivan, president of the Laborers’ International Union of North America.

Now bigots can discriminate against illegals with no fear of legal reprisal.

but because of their skin color. As the OP states, bigots discriminate against Hispanics regardless of their legal status because of __________(three guesses and the first two don't count).

then you could nail them for discrimination when they targeted "legal" Hispanics who would have legal recourse. I doubt that the bigots who discriminate against Hispanics routinely check anyone's papers before they do what comes naturally.

And it's not going to just b e illegals who are not able to fight back. Even citizens can be subject to cooercion e.g. Don't rock the boat or the whole plant moves to Nogales. Or just threaten to notify ICE when perhaps the individual/citizen suspects some of their co-workers may be aliens, etc.

Of ccourse that mostly applies to those that are out to exploit/gain financial advantage because of a power imbalance. Those that discriminate just want the "group" to be gone. So one is motivated by gain and the other hate.

The story talks about Hispanics being exploited and you talk about "illegal immigration."

So, in your mind, Hispanic = Illegal

All this means is that you've bought into the anti-Hispanic propaganda trying to create a scapegoat class to blame for the sins of the corporations.

The story clearly said the exploitation was against even people who were legal residents.

This is discrimination issue, not an immigration issue.

You don't have to read very far to see that illegal immigration is the driving force behind it.

Knees jerk much?

That's why its so popular to hire illegals in livestock processing plants. They'll work 80 hours a week for a dollar an hour and no benefits.
But until we enforce the immigration laws in this country, the practice will continue.

There's never any type of discrimination in The North, East or West U.S. Racism only exists in the southern states of the U.S.

an underclass of people that can be exploited by companies and discriminated against by natives with no recourse of action.

and have a long and pathological history of persecuting minorities.

Hispanics are just the latest group to feel it.

then they should love illegal immigration! And they do. At least, the company owners and politicians. Not only does it give them cheap labor, but it also gives them a handy wedge issue with which to grab more votes with nativist cries.

doesn't always override fear and hatred of the other.

People can both be hostile to labor laws and unions- while also being hostile to brown people who "talk funny" "or speak an un-American language.

because those brown people who talk funny are the solution to pesky labor laws and unions!

For example, support for family planning and responsible trade policies = less impoverished less brown people compelled to come north across the border.

(oddly enough, operation gatekeeper in the 1990's -which built walls and made border crossing more difficult actually increased permanent migration too).

I hope it is well known here at DU that immigration enforcement actions were down 95% during the Bush years as compared to the Clinton years. Can't disturb those Pioneer and Ranger Republican fundraisers with immigration raids at their plants and factories.

They love anybody who can't or won't complain.

"said Terence O’Sullivan, president of the Laborers’ International Union of North America. Unemployment in his industry is above 21 percent. Nearly two million construction workers are out of work. So what does Mr. O’Sullivan want? Reform that allows immigrants to legalize . “If we can free them so they can come out of the shadows, we can not only improve their lives, but all workers’ lives ,” he said. (Reminds me of MLK's belief that the civil rights movement would not only free Blacks, but whites as well.)

"The unions, at least, understand that there is a better way. They see immigration reform as an issue of worker empowerment. If undocumented immigrants undercut wages and job conditions for Americans — and many do, by tolerating low pay and abuse and bolstering an off-the-books system that robs law-abiding employers and taxpayers — it is because they cannot stand up for their rights."

"These questions deserve an answer since the bad economy will only strengthen the stiff winds of opposition that President Obama will have to fight if he is going to win the sweeping immigration overhaul he has promised. Legalization was already politically treacherous thanks to the tireless work of restrictionists who have spent years denouncing illegal immigrants as harmful to the country’s health . They have long compared the undocumented to invaders and parasites; it’s a very short distance from there to scabs. To understand why that view is misguided, it helps to remember that the country has largely bought that argument and spent decades and billions to seal the border as tightly as possible."

"Making the pro-union case for reform is not necessarily going to be easy. Even as immigration has changed the face of many American unions, hostility to foreigners remains a problem among some of the rank and file. Mr. Medina said union leaders were going to have to work hard to make members understand that false populism was not on their side."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/21/opinion/21tues1.html?ref=opinion

...they are treated like Kings everywhere else...

:eyes:


Let the South Bashing begin...I love these threads...

...'cause they can pay them dirt, make them work like dogs, abuse them...etc.

Hello? Why else do they COME HERE? It's to get work - and they don't only go to the South.

Hispanics - low-income, legal, illegal, et al. live all over the country and are abused and victimized all over the country - where they mostly live in an underground economy where they are beyond the protection of the law.

In San Diego, Arizona, Michigan, - everywhere.

(this is directed at the idiots at UPI more than the OP).

What idiots wrote this report and why it it considered credible? NOT that Hispanics aren't abused. They are. But they are abuse EVERYWHERE.

Duh.

http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/population/011910.html

About 70% of the Hispanic population are US citizens or legal residents and thus are not "beyond the protection of the law." While undocumented workers "mostly live in an underground economy", the majority of Hispanics do not. Are this 70% subject to discrimination? Sure. Bigots discriminate against Blacks, Asians, women, gays, disabled because, well they're bigots not because they question the legality of their victims. Let's not pretend that they discriminate against Hispanics because they question their legality. They do it because they are small minded bigots and wouldn't know a passport or green card if you hit them on the head with one.

that leads me to believe that "report" is very poorly researched (if at all) and is largely bunk.

The whole purpose of the anti-immigrant histeria that the Right whips up every four or five years is to keep Latinos down, so there'll be a pool of workers who are easy to exploit.

of illegal immigrants where I live. And yes the are taken advantage of... usually by other Hispanics. People of pallor have little to do with it here.

Just like black people wouldn't have so much trouble with racial profiling, economic disadvantage, societal mistreatment, and institutional discrimination if not for all those ghetto black people stealing, committing violent crime, and living in decadence who give them a bad name.

:sarcasm:

before you southerners start flaming me, I live in Texas and know of what I speak.

Meanwhile, Northerners have completely fucked this country's economy with their idiotic business practices.

This story is in the same category as dog bites man.

with no repercussion.

I'm sorry that it gets lonely shilling for multi-national corporations who abuse the self-same people you claim to advocate for...

Bottom line: amnesty without enforcement = many more illegal immigrants who are abused by multi-national corporations. It's not like the US hasn't had an amnesty in the past. Read the history of the Regan amnesty, then get back to me with this "amnesty will stop illegal immigration" schtick. :hi:

I agree with the unions' position on legalization and yet I'm the one who is a shill for multi-national corporations? I don't accuse you of being a shill for Rush Limbaugh and the "no amnesty" boys at Fox News, just because you happen to disagree with the unions' position on this and share the RW's opposition to "amnesty". I trust your motives and realize that there is an argument to be made on both sides of the issue.

Reagan's legalization was 23 years ago (and applied to illegal immigrants who were not in the country in response to any previous legalization). The illegal immigrants who have come since then came because of jobs, not because of some 20-year plot to take advantage of the next legalization, if and when that ever happens.

And speaking of putting words in one's mouth, you know I never said ""amnesty will stop illegal immigration".

it left out many, it can't be called amnesty

leads many on DU to automatically assume "illegal alien."

"The report, "Under Siege: Life for Low-Income Latinos in the South," surveyed 500 low-income Hispanics -- including legal residents, undocumented immigrants and U.S. citizens -- in Nashville, Charlotte, New Orleans, rural southern Georgia, and several towns and cities in northern Alabama."

this thread. http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3844807

I very much doubt some of them are even Democrats.

Did any get permission from the original inhabitants before settling?

I haven't heard exactly the same laundry list of complaints, but it's similar enough for inclusion. The morans have managed to chase so many legal and illegal Latinos out of their county, they're going broke for a lack of tax revenue.