Hispanic leaders target myths

By Mark Curnutte • mcurnutte@enquirer.com • July 11, 2010

A local delegation of a dozen Hispanic community leaders will head to New Mexico later this week for the national convention of the League of United Latin American Citizens. A year from now, some 15,000 to 20,000 Hispanic leaders and supporters will be in Cincinnati when the LULAC national convention comes to the Duke Energy Center.

In the time between, Hispanic advocates locally plan to speak out in an attempt to dispel what they say are falsehoods and other misleading information about Latin American immigrants in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky.

"We need to change the narrative," said Leo Pierson, an economic sociologist at Cincinnati State Technical and Community College and a board member of the Cincinnati LULAC chapter. "We need to move beyond the myths of high crime and illegal invasion. We need to talk about what Hispanic people are doing."

In Ohio, he said, there are only about 360,000 Hispanics, and 270,000 of them are in the United States legally as citizens or with visas.

Hispanics and other immigrants contribute to the health of the economy by starting small businesses or working in high-tech or other professional areas. Small businesses owned by Hispanics - like those by Africans and Eastern European immigrants - add to the cultural richness of the region. Most important, Pierson said, Hispanics and other immigrants are fueling population growth in a region that otherwise would be losing population.

Pierson said conversations need to be held among Hispanics to rebuke incorrect information.

"Ohio's Latino population is new, only 10-15 years old, and we're not organized," he said. "Some of us believe what we hear."

Accurate information about the local Hispanic community needs to be distributed by LULAC and through the Su Casa Hispanic Center in Carthage. Efforts then need to get into the media and the overall population through contact with civic organizations and churches.

Much of the local dialogue on Hispanics has been set by two Butler County politicians, Sheriff Richard Jones and State Rep. Courtney Combs, R-Hamilton, who have traveled to the Mexican border in Arizona and want a tough state law in Ohio similar to the one signed by April by Arizona's governor. The Obama administration filed a lawsuit this past week asserting that it conflicts with federal law.

The immigrant population in Ohio is about 3 percent (371,000), compared to 14 percent (851,000) in Arizona.

Jones and Combs' efforts, which received support in June from Fairfield Mayor Ron D'Epifanio and its seven-member council, also have led Jones to take his cause public to civic groups. He spoke in June to an audience in Hamilton and said that Butler County deports 30 to 50 undocumented immigrants a week.

Jones said his concerns about illegal immigration relate to public safety and economics. He said federal or state politicians should enact legislation that prevents taxpayers from having to pay the costs of illegal immigration.

Ohio voters say 45-35 percent they would like Ohio to pass an immigration law similar to the law in Arizona, according to a Quinnipiac University poll of 1,107 registered Ohio voters conducted in June. The poll showed, too, that 72-22 percent think immigration reform should move in the direction of stricter enforcement rather than integrating illegal immigrants into American society.

About the Poster: Leo Pierson is a sociologist and instructor at Cincinnati State Technical and Community College. His research focuses on local and state level immigration policy, and immigration conflict in the U.S. Leo is also the Ohio State Director of Civil Rights for the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC).