Hispanic Population Skyrockets in Arkansas,
New US Census
This is a crime, folks, and our
Governor and legislators should be held responsible. Other states have passed
strong laws limiting the benefits to illegal aliens; the illegal aliens from those states are fleeing to Arkansas. Some of
our own Republicans won't even co-sponsor the HB1292 and HB1008, even those
Republicans in the Northwest where the problem is the worst.
Statistics
indicate that only about 1/3 of foreign born people in Arkansas even apply for
citizenship so 33% MAY be legal but the others 66% are probably not. It
takes about 5 years to become a citizen so it stands to reason that a large
majority of them have not had time to become citizens even if they made the
effort. We welcome anyone of other nations that are here legally and
this in no way pertains to them. This is about the injustice to those
that do obey the law and the preservation of our nation of law and order.
Below are bullet points (excerpts in exact words but rearranged some) from
the story "2 counties' Hispanic population skyrockets" by Arkansas Democrat
Gazette February 15, 2011.
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SPRINGDALE — The Hispanic population of Benton and Washington
counties has more than doubled over the past 10 years, according to U.S.
Census data released Thursday. Each of those counties had more than 30,000
Hispanic residents in 2010.
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While Benton and Washington counties had the most Hispanic
people, other counties across the state also saw more people identifying with
the ethnic group. In 2010, eight other counties - Yell, Washington, Benton,
Bradley, Carroll, Sebastian, Johnson and Hempstead - had double-digit
percentages of Hispanic residents.
§
Among cities, Springdale has the largest Hispanic population in
the northwest region, with 24,692 residents. More than one-third of the city’s
residents, or 35 percent, are Hispanic. The number of Hispanics living in
Springdale jumped by 174 percent from 2000 to 2010.
§
“I don’t think that’s a surprise,” Mayor Doug Sprouse said. “I
would love to see more Hispanics become involved in seeking elected office.”
Sprouse said the city has benefited from the influx of people from other
cultures. The city was a homogeneous white community when he was growing up
there, the mayor said. “I have seen what a positive that is for our kids to
grow up in a city that has that diversity,” Sprouse said.
§
“Probably more than 80 or 85 percent of those Hispanics are
Mexican,” said Andres Chao, the Mexican consul for Arkansas. Chao, who is
based in Little Rock, said he was not surprised by the census numbers. “We
opened the consulate here in Arkansas in April 2007...because the population
was growing really fast,” he said.
§
The number of Hispanics living in Benton County jumped by 155
percent from 2000 to 2010. The county now has 34,283 Hispanic residents,
compared with 13,469 in 2000.
§
In Washington County, the Hispanic population grew by 143
percent over the same period, from 12,932 to 31,458.
§
Hispanics made up 186,050 of the state’s population in 2010, up
from 86,866 a decade ago.
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Pulaski County had the third-most with 22,168 Hispanic residents
in 2010, up from 8,816 in 2000. Sebastian County followed with 15,445 Hispanic
residents in 2010, up from 7,710 in 2000.
§
Hispanics account for 31 percent of the residents of Rogers, up
from 19 percent in 2000. The total population in Rogers in 2010 was 55,964.
§
The number of Hispanics in Fayetteville increased by 68 percent
to 4,725 in 2010. That’s 6.4 percent of the city’s total population of 73,580.
Posted February 17, 2011