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New Orleans among the Ten Worst Cities for Renters

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New Orleans ranks fifty among ten worst cities for renters, behind Miami (#1) and McAllen (#2), but ahead of Memphis (#7) and Orlando (#8).

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New Orleans ranks fifth among the ten worst U.S. cities for renters behind Miami (#1) and McAllen (#2); but the Gulf South also has #7 (Memphis) and #8 (Orlando)—five of the top ten!

Venessa Wong of Bloomberg Businessweek digested a recent study by Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies to focus on the ten worst cities for renters. The ten are ranked by the percentage of tenants spending more than half of their income on rent. See her article here.

Latino Immigration in the South: Emerging Trends and Critical Issues

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Following the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA), which regularized the legal status of close to 3 million of undocumented Latin American immigrants, the cartography of Latino presence in the United States has undergone a radical transformation. Latino communities in traditional destinations in the Northeast and West, such as New York, New Jersey, California, and Texas, have continued to grow, particularly in major urban centers like New York City, Los Angeles, and Houston, However, the fastest growth in Latino population has taken place in “new destinations” in the South and Midwest.

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Presented at the JSRI People on the Move Conference on November 3, 2009

By Manuel A. Vásquez, Ph.D., University of Florida

The view from the states

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What are they saying about the Census and Poverty?
In September, the U.S. Census Bureau released its new figures on poverty from the 2009 American Community Survey. The five states of the Gulf South continue to have millions of people living below “the poverty line.”

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What are they saying about the Census and Poverty?

By Fred Kammer, SJ, JSRI Director

In September, the U.S. Census Bureau released its new figures on poverty from the 2009 American Community Survey. The five states of the Gulf South continue to have millions of people living below “the poverty line,” as you can see from the table below[1], together with the overall U.S. and regional numbers:

Post-Katrina New Orleans: A Welcoming Community?

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JSRI held a post-Katrina conference, Post-Katrina New Orleans: A Welcoming Community?, on September 11 on the main campus of Loyola University New Orleans.

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Join us on September 11
Post-Katrina New Orleans:
A Welcoming Community?
Saturday, September 11, 2010
9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Audubon Room – Danna Center

A conference sponsored by the Jesuit Social Research Institute and the Center for the Study of New Orleans, made possible by a grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

Increasing U.S. and Gulf South hunger reflected in new reports

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Children’s hunger is focus of Congressional bills
In a July 1st release, the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) reported that, “More Than 40.4 Million Americans Participated in SNAP/Food Stamps in April 2010.” This is the latest set of available numbers and the report includes comparison figures for each state going back five years to April of 2005. Five years ago, 25,321,690 U.S. residents used food stamps (now named the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program—SNAP). That number has increased 59.4% to 40,373,357 residents in need of food aid today!

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Children’s hunger is focus of Congressional bills

By Fred Kammer, SJ

Gulf Oil Spill

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An unprecedented disaster for the environment, the economy, and the livelihood of Gulf Coast fishing communities
As the Gulf oil spill of April 20, 2010, continues unabated (as of May 31), the spill is a massive, unimagined, and unprecedented environmental disaster. Although scientists debate the exact amount of oil leaking at the base of the accident site and are uncertain about the exact depth and width of the spill, the spread of the spill threatens damage to the coasts of Louisiana—where it is already beginning to hit—as well as Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida.

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An unprecedented disaster for the environment, the economy, and the livelihood of Gulf Coast fishing communities

Alex Mikulich, Ph.D, Research Fellow

Poverty and the Gulf South States

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One predominant characteristic of our region, despite decades of “New South” propaganda, is the reality and legacy of our poverty—of our elders, our families, our children, our education, our health status, our infant mortality, our life expectancy, and our future. Two of the five states of the Gulf anchor the bottom of the list of economic well-being—Mississippi is the poorest (50th) and Louisiana is just above it (49th). The others solidly populate the lowest segments, none rising above the median. Texas is 43rd; Alabama is 42nd; and Florida is 29th on the list of states by percentage of its people living in poverty. We get so used to being at the bottom of these kinds of lists that we seem to just ignore repeated reports, perhaps hoping that they will go away on their own.

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By the Rev. Fred Kammer, S.J., JSRI Director

The Measure of Poverty

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In their 1986 book-length pastoral letter, Economic Justice for All, the U.S. Bishops reminded us of the importance of confronting poverty in these words:
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Dealing with poverty is not a luxury to which our nation can attend when it finds the time and resources. Rather, it is a moral imperative of the highest priority.1
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By the Rev. Fred Kammer, S.J.

In their 1986 book-length pastoral letter, Economic Justice for All, the U.S. Bishops reminded us of the importance of confronting poverty in these words:

Dealing with poverty is not a luxury to which our nation can attend when it finds the time and resources. Rather, it is a moral imperative of the highest priority.¹

For the Sake of the U.S. Children of Immigration

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Among the many childhood memories I have is one of the day my mother was detained at the entry port of the U.S.-Mexico border. It was a late Saturday evening and we were headed back home after a splendid day spent with our family in Ciudad Juarez across the border from El Paso, Texas. As we approached the inspection station, my mother became very nervous realizing that she had forgotten her green card at home. I remember all five of us children looking out the rear window of our van as my dad drove off, leaving my mother in the hands of the border patrol while we went home to get her green card. How scared we all were, asking my father a hundred questions and never quite understanding why we would have to leave my mother with those authorities whom we believed to be police. We cried all the way home believing my mother was in grave trouble with the law and imagining that she would surely be put in jail for who knows what.

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By Anna Alicia Chavez, JSRI Migration Specialist

Who Dat? Immigrants in the Gulf South

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Between 2000 and 2008, the immigrant population in the United States grew from an estimated 31 million to 37.9 million. Much of this growth has been in the Gulf South. In fact, the Gulf South is home to one fifth of the nation’s immigrants. Recent updates from the Migration Policy Institute show that between 2000 and 2008, Mississippi ranked fifth and Alabama sixth in the nation for the largest percentage growth in immigrant populations. Texas ranked second and Florida third for the largest numeric growth in immigrant populations, and Texas ranked third and Florida fourth for the largest immigrant populations. Today, as is in past generations, immigrants contribute to our society in significant ways. In this summer’s issue of JustSouth Quarterly, we feature statistics and characteristics of immigrants in the Gulf South.

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Immigration by Numbers

By Anna Alicia Chavez, JSRI Immigration Specialist, and Christi Schott