History
Louisiana’s first immigrants were French settlers who began arriving
at the start of the 18th century. Slave ships soon began arriving,
carrying unwilling émigrés from Africa. Waves of Spanish, Anglos,
Germans, Irish, Slavs, Italians and others came looking for land and
opportunity. Most settled in and around New Orleans, a cosmopolitan
port city that readily absorbed the steady influx of new cultures.
A second wave of French-speaking immigrants began arriving in the
second half of the 18th century. These Acadians, or Cajuns, dispersed
throughout the southern part of the Louisiana colony.
Scotch-Irish/English would become the dominant stocks in the north and
in the south, on the east bank of the Mississippi River [the
present-day Florida Parishes],
In the 20th century, large numbers of Italians continued arriving. They
were joined by immigrants from Central America – mainly Honduras, which
had long-time ties with Louisiana because of fruit trade. In the
1970’s, a new group of immigrants began arriving in large numbers.
Vietnamese refugees fleeing their war-torn homeland came to Louisiana
by the thousands. Most settled in the southern part of the state, and
many found work in the seafood industry.
Migrant workers – men and women who pass through the state on a
seasonal basis – have played an important role in Louisiana’s large
agricultural industry for many years. Some of these laborers are
originally from Mexico and other countries south of the US border. Many
live in the US either legally or illegally, while others travel back
and forth across the border as part of temporary work programs overseen
by the US government.
Foreign born are those who were not United States citizens at birth. In
2000, 2.6 percent of Louisiana’s population was foreign born. The
estimate for 2003 is 3.0 percent. Although the percentage of foreign
born in Louisiana was much lower than for the United States [11.9
percent], Louisiana’s rate of naturalization - 48.4 percent – was much
higher than the US as a whole. Over half of the foreign-born population
of the United States and about 40 percent of the foreign-born
population of Louisiana were from Latin America. Among the foreign-born
in Louisiana more than one third were of Asian origin, much higher than
the national figure. 37.0 percent of the state’s foreign-born arrived
in Louisiana between 1990 and 2000.
Post-Katrina
Louisiana’s newest immigrants –mainly male Hispanics - have come in
large numbers to fill huge gaps in a labor market stripped of its
normal workforce by hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
In the
metropolitan New Orleans area, Katrina simultaneously dispersed the
native workforce and destroyed its housing. The destruction of tens of
thousands of commercial and residential structures, coupled with the
absence of local workers, created a tremendous demand for labor.
Tulane University Sociology Assistant Professor Elizabeth Fussell
compares the new Latino workers to 19th century Irish and Italian
immigrants who constructed canals, levees and other infrastructure
projects in New Orleans. These jobs were often deemed too dangerous for
native workers.
According to Fussell, “In the aftermath of Katrina, immigrants were an
invaluable resource to New Orleans, because they were here to work, and
no one else was willing to do the work, or simply weren’t present to do
it.”
Some observers believe the total number of migrant workers in the New
Orleans area is in the tens of thousands. Not all of these newcomers
are recent arrivals from south of the border. Some are self-described
“Hurricane Chasers” who live in the US and make annual trips to the
coastal south to work on hurricane clean-up and re-building. Many of
these migrant workers have Green Cards or are resident aliens. A recent
study by Tulane University and the University of California at Berkeley
estimated that about half of the hurricane repair workers in New
Orleans are Latinos. Of these, about half are thought to be
undocumented.
The US Census Bureau recently released Gulf Coast demographic data from
a survey covering the first eight months of 2005 and the last four
months of 2005 [pre - and post - Katrina/Rita]. But getting a fix on
the exact number of new immigrants who have come to fill the void in
the labor market is extremely difficult.
Dispersal of the existing population meant that in some locations there
were too few people to survey to get needed data. The lack of “livable”
housing is a prime factor in the worker shortage in New Orleans. But
the Census typically surveys traditional households, and a great many
of the Latino workers in the New Orleans area have been living in
make-shift conditions, such as RV campers, tents, unused residential
and commercial spaces and dormitory-style accommodations provided by
faith-based or other non-governmental organizations. The Census Bureau
estimates that since Katrina/Rita, nearly 100,000 Hispanics have moved
in to the Gulf Coast area, i.e. the 117 FEMA-designated “disaster
counties” stretching from Texas to Alabama.
Immigration Issues
Crime
The large, sudden influx of
outsiders to the state has raised concerns in some people’s minds. They
wonder what impact this new population will have on social services,
and the health care, education, and criminal justice systems.
Jim Letten, the US Attorney for the Middle District of Louisiana, which
includes metro New Orleans, says he has seen an increase in the number
of felony cases involving illegal immigrants. In the first half of
2006, his office has prosecuted as many cases as in all of 2005. He is
also concerned about international gangs, like Mara Salvatrucha, or
MS-13, which has strong ties to Central America. So far, there is no
evidence the gang has gotten a foothold in the area, but he is
monitoring the situation with the aid of local law enforcement agencies.
Fears of criminality among the Latino laborers are misplaced, according
to Martin Gutierrez, who works with the Hispanic Apostolate of the
Archdiocese of New Orleans. “Some people worry about increased gang
activity,” Gutierrez says. “But I haven’t seen that. These migrants
have come here to work.”
Education
Elizabeth Fussell, the
Tulane University Sociologist, says the new migrants have had no impact
on the education system so far, because the population consists mostly
of workers who either have no families, or have left them behind. This
situation may change as time goes on. If demand for these workers
continues into the long-term, spouses - and school-age children - may
become part of a second wave of immigrants.
At present, many undocumented workers are “living on the edges of
society”. According to Fussell, “They are not draining resources in the
least.” She asserts they are reluctant to use hospital services,
because of their illegal standing. This, in spite of the fact that US
laws prohibit denial of emergency medical services based an
individual’s immigration status.
Healthcare
Past studies have shown
that a high percentage of undocumented persons report being afraid they
would not receive care because of their immigration status. The
recently released Tulane University-UC Berkeley survey, "Rebuilding
after Katrina: A Population-Based Study of Labor and Human Rights in
New Orleans", is slated for publication soon. It found that among the
Hispanic construction workers who reported health problems, a little
more than one-quarter (27 percent) sought medical treatment. The
disparity between documented and undocumented workers is striking: 33
percent of documented workers sought treatment for a medical problem
while only 10 percent of undocumented reported seeking such treatment.
Data on actual use of hospitals by illegal aliens is very scarce.
Neither the Louisiana Hospital Association nor individual hospitals in
the New Orleans area contacted for this background report were able to
provide any information on the numbers of undocumented immigrants
served. This is not unique to Louisiana. A May, 2004 report by the US
General Accounting Office stated:
”Despite
hospitals’ long-standing concern about the costs of treating
undocumented aliens, the extent to which these patients affect
hospitals’ uncompensated care costs remains unknown. The lack of
reliable data on this patient population and lack of proven methods to
estimate their numbers make it difficult to determine the extent to
which hospitals treat undocumented aliens and the costs of their care.”
”UNDOCUMENTED ALIENS: Questions Persist about Their Impact on Hospitals’ Uncompensated Care Costs”
GAO-04-472, page 21
There are, however, data available on health care costs
for immigrants as a group [documented and undocumented]. A national
study conducted in 2005 by Harvard/Columbia and published in the
American Journal of Public Health, concluded that immigrants receive 55
percent less health care than native-born Americans. According to the
study, immigrants accounted for 10.4 percent of the U.S. population,
but only 7.9 percent of total health spending, and only 8 percent of
government health spending. Per capita health expenditures averaged
$1,139 per immigrant vs. $2,564 for non- immigrants. 30 percent of
immigrants used no healthcare at all in the course of a year.
Latino immigrants had the lowest health expenditures -- $962 per person
-- half those of US-born Latinos ($1,870) and less than one third those
of US-born whites ($3,117). The vast majority of new immigrant workers
in south Louisiana are thought to be Latino.
Jobs
Over half of the respondents to a 2006 Pew
Research Poll reported that they felt immigrants were a burden because
they are taking housing and jobs away from Americans. However, an even
larger group – 65 percent– says most of the jobs that are being taken
are ones Americans don’t want.
In Louisiana, estimates of the number of illegal migrant workers in the
agricultural sector range from 50 to 90 percent. The reason: farmers
can’t get locals to work the fields.
Rhonda Poche grows strawberries and other produce in Livingston Parish.
She uses the federal government’s H2A program to hire guest workers
from Mexico legally. Her ads for Louisiana workers go unanswered. “We
would love to have local people come pick our strawberries,” Poche
says. “But if we don’t hire workers from Mexico, our strawberries would
just rot in the field.”
Immigration Reform
National
Americans are almost evenly
divided on which approaches to take in solving the nation’s immigration
problems. 40 percent think legal immigration should be decreased; 37
percent believe it should be kept at current levels.
The US Senate and the House of Representative each recently
approved differing versions of a far-reaching immigration reform bill.
Opponents of the Comprehensive Immigration Act, also known as the
Hagel-Martinez bill, say the law would grant amnesty for 10 million
immigrants already in the US.
Supporters say the bill
provides a “path to citizenship”, not amnesty, and allows for
much-needed guest workers from Mexico and other countries.
The bill as it now stands provides for increased penalties to employers
of illegal migrant workers, and includes measures aimed at bolstering
border security.
State
In Louisiana, Senator Donald
Cravins (D), Arnaudville, introduced a bill that spells out procedures
and penalties for employers who hire illegal aliens. The bill, which
the Senate passed, allows fines of up to $10,000 for knowingly hiring
undocumented workers.
Opponents of the measure said the law was unfair because it targeted
the employer rather than the illegal worker. Even those in favor of the
bill had some reservations about legislation that might slow down the
re-building of hurricane-damaged areas. “If it weren’t for the workers
we have in New Orleans, we wouldn’t have had the progress we’ve had,”
Juan LaFonta, (D) New Orleans told the House Labor and Industrial
Relations Committee before passage.
The bill reflects the feelings of roughly half of Americans (49%)
recently polled by the 2006 Pew Research Poll who say increasing the
penalties for employers who hire illegal immigrants would be the most
effective means for reducing illegal cross-border immigration.
Summary
Because Louisiana has such a small immigrant population compared to the
rest of the country, the current national debate on immigration reform
may not have raised much attention here, except for one thing: the
storms of 2005. Now, the state is considering changes in its laws;
media attention on the immigration issue has increased, and the public
is beginning to think about changes in the cultural, economic and
social landscape that these newest newcomers may bring. Thus continues
a tradition stretching back three hundred years, to the arrival of
Louisiana’s first immigrants.
Sen. Donald Cravins,
(D) Lafayette
Senator
Donald Cravins has served as a Louisiana State Senator since 1991. The
Lafayette native is Chairman of the Juvenile Justice Committee,
Vice-Chairman of Judiciary B and serves on the Insurance Committee.
Senator Cravins recently author Senate Bill Number 650 which "prohibits
the hiring of undocumented illegal aliens." Senator Cravins received
his B.A. from Southern University and has worked as an independent
insurance agent.
Jeri Flynn,
Immigration Attorney
Jeri
Ann H. Flynn graduated in 1974 from Nicholls State University in
Thibodeaux with a B.A. in History, and in 1977 from the LSU Law Center
with a J.D. degree, and in 1994 with a M.A.H. degree in Humanities from
LSU. Since 1978 she has engaged in the private practice of law in Baton
Rouge, and for many years she has limited her practice to immigration
and nationality law. Ms. Flynn served as Louisiana Chapter Chair of the
American Immigration Lawyers Association ("AILA") for two years from
1986 to 1988, and she served as Chapter Chair for AILA's Mid- South
Chapter (comprised of five states) for one year from 1996 to 1997.
During those years, she served on AILA's Board of Governors. Ms. Flynn
has served on numerous AILA committees at the chapter and national
levels and has lectured and written articles in numerous areas of
immigration and nationality law.
Rev. Jesus Gonzales,
Pastor of the Monte de los Olivos Lutheran Church in Metairie
The
Rev. Jesus M. Gonzales serves as Associate Pastor of Hispanic Ministry
and community Outreach at St. John Lutheran in Metairie, Louisiana. He
received the Yes! Literacy Leader Award in 1999 from the YMCA
Educational Services of the Greater New Orleans area. Rev. Gonzales
helped the YMCA start ESL (English as Second Language) classes in New
Orleans and Metairie. In 2000, he received an award from the Young
Christian Entrepreneurs, a group which helps young people learn skills
to start their own businesses.
Rev. Gonzales received an associate degree from Odessa College in 1975,
and then worked in the oil field in Monahans and later for Gulf Oil as
senior supervisor. After attending a Texas District convention in 1980,
he felt led by God to go into Hispanic Ministry.
Sibal Holt,
Former Head of the Louisiana AFL-CIO
Sibal
Holt retired from the AFL-CIO in March 2005, after serving the state's
largest union for 31 years. In 2004, she became the first
African-American woman in the country to run a state-level AFL-CIO.
Prior to her election as the union's president, Holt served as its
secretary-treasurer.
Holt, a native of New Orleans, graduated
from LSU with a degree in English. She completed a two-year course in
leadership at Auburn University.
She was a protege of former union president Victor Bussie, serving as
his personal assistant from 1975 until he retired in 1997. She served
as the union's secretary-treasurer until 2004, succeeding former
president Red Bourg shortly after his death Oct. 30 of that year.