The Atlanta Journal-Constitution demonstrates its grasp of rocket science with: Census: Hispanic poverty rose 500% in '90s:
As Hispanics pour into metro Atlanta, poverty is coming with them."So-called 'undocumented' immigrants' "? Is that like illegal aliens?
New census figures show poverty among the region's fastest-growing ethnic group increased nearly fivefold in the 1990s. And it's bringing challenges unlike any those communities have faced.
In Coweta County, for example, the Hispanic population went from a few hundred in 1990 to nearly 3,000 a decade later, and almost all of the increase in people living in poverty was among them, the census numbers, released last week, show.
In some parts of Coweta, at least one in four Hispanic families lives in poverty, which the federal government defines for a family of four as a household income below $17,500 a year.
Among the scenes of destitution a health care worker has witnessed there: A Hispanic mother who lived with her newborn on a leaky front porch. A bare mattress on the floor of a rickety trailer. A tiny pot of rice boiling on a stove while roaches climb the walls.
In counties with little experience in dealing with poverty, the problems can be compounded. Language is a barrier. Culture can be another. Fear of deportation is the toughest. Many of the Hispanic poor are so-called "undocumented" immigrants, in the country illegally.
OK, a horde of illegal aliens have arrived and are living in what we would consider to be squalid conditions. Time to send them back home, right? Somehow, that solution never gets mentioned. What does get mentioned is the strain that the illegals are putting on local taxpayer supported services, particularly medical and educational, and the need for more "outreach".
Latino leaders say governments must recognize the needs of the growing Hispanic poor and work to address them.Thanks for sharing, Luz, but the kind of services we ought to be subsidizing are provided by Greyhound.
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Luz Borrero, executive director of the Latin American Association, said it's in counties' best interests to pay attention to Hispanics and their needs.
"They're going to be here and they're going to be accessing these services, and somebody has to pay for them. If we don't enable them to pay, we'll be subsidizing them," she said.
