Forum at SEMO addresses immigration issues

Hispanic populations are moving into areas of the country not typically associated with having large immigrant populations, including Southeast Missouri, a Southeast Missouri State University professor said Wednesday at a forum on immigration.

The forum held Wednesday at the university's Kent Library covered topics including census and polling data and historical and public attitudes toward immigration in the United States.

Dr. Debbie Lee-DiStefano, a university associate professor of foreign languages, organized the event for the observance of Hispanic Heritage Month and Columbus Day.

Around 60 students, faculty and community members attended.

Lee-DiStefano invited three of the university's professors to speak: Dr. Joshua Hatton, Department of Global Cultures and Languages; Dr. Will Miller, Department of Political Science, Philosophy and Religion; and Dr. Hamner Hill, chairman of the Department of Political Science, Philosophy and Religion.

Lee-DiStefano opened the forum with a presentation on census data and gave reasons she believes immigration is a controversial issue.

"It is important for us to realize that this is not a California issue, a Texas issue and this is not a Florida issue. It's something that is very relevant in our own community," she said.

Lee-DiStefano presented data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Pew Hispanic Center, which conducts research on the nation's Hispanic population through economic, demographic and public opinion studies.

According to the data, Cape Girardeau County experienced a 137 percent increase in the number of Hispanics living in the county between 2000 and 2010.

Lee-DiStefano also talked of the economic impact of immigrants, saying that they have a trillion dollars in buying power and make up the largest share of the television market in the country.

Lee-DiStefano said 30 million immigrants in the United States are legal citizens, while around 11 million are considered illegal immigrants.

Miller gave an overview of polling data on immigration in the United States, including some results he said are "quite surprising" from a survey conducted for NBC, MSNBS and Telemundo last spring.

Miller said out of 700 respondents that included 300 Hispanics, 73 percent support imposing fines on businesses that hire illegal immigrants, 71 percent support increasing border security by building a fence and 65 percent support allowing undocumented immigrants who are already in the country to pay a fine, learn English and go to the back of the line for the opportunity to become citizens.

Hill spoke about immigrant labor.

"The assumption is that immigrants, especially illegal immigrants, are going to take our jobs," Hill said. "It just isn't so."

If it were a true competition, there would be a mass immigration to states like Alabama and Georgia, where there are shortages of farm workers, he said.

eragan@semissourian.com

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