There are good and bad things that have come from immigration. Read this whole story by clicking on the link at the beginning of it. It especially describes the economic changes in the past 8 years. DP
Influx of Hispanics into Northeast Georgia forces region to adapt
By Joe Johnson, onlineathens.com
onlineathens.com: Yesenia "Jessie" Martinez is light-years from Tamazula de Gordiano, the Mexican farming community where she grew up.
An older man forced her into marriage at age 14 and made her cross the border into California, where she worked 12 hours a day in tomato fields and orange groves.
Today, she's 32, has a valid green card and speaks nearly fluent English. Her children with her ex-husband are on track to graduate from Clarke County schools and stand a good chance of attending college.
Martinez is one of tens of thousands of Hispanics over the past decade who moved to Northeast Georgia, forcing employers, teachers, doctors - people from all walks of life - to adjust to their new Spanish-speaking neighbors.
But like the Irish, Italian and German immigrants who came before, she helped lay the foundation for her children and grandchildren to become a part of the national fabric.
"I am very proud of myself," Martinez said. "I was a mother of three kids working in the field, but when I learned English, I had more opportunities, and I started working in restaurants. And now there are more opportunities for my kids. I want them to learn and do things I never did when I was younger, like graduating, choosing a career and become somebody."
Martinez arrived in Athens in 2000, when communities throughout Northeast Georgia were scrambling to cope with an unexpected wave of immigrants from Latin American countries, mainly Mexico.
The state's prosperity - helped in part by the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta - drew them like a magnet and allowed all types of Georgians to climb the economic ladder, according to Jorge Atiles, an associate dean at the University of Georgia College of Family and Consumer Science.
Hispanics filled lower-paying jobs, like those in the poultry, landscaping and construction industries, said Atiles, who co-authored a 2002 UGA study, "'The Needs of Georgia's New Latinos."
At the time, the minimum wage in Mexico was $3.50 a day, compared to $41.20 in the United States.
Be sure to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.
No comments:
Post a Comment