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The latest demographic estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau show the Hispanic population in the tri-state region is growing almost 12 times faster than other groups.
According to 2007 population estimates released this morning, the Hispanic population of Hamilton County and the surrounding 20 counties has grown almost 60 percent since 2000, compared to 5 percent growth in non-Hispanic groups.
Gordon and Murray counties in Georgia lead the region, with Hispanic populations surging 131 percent in Murray and 116 percent in Gordon, census figures show. The Hispanic population has grown 86 percent in DeKalb County, Ala., and 80 percent in Georgia's Catoosa County.
Hamilton County saw its Hispanic population grown 73 percent, figures show, while Bradley County's grew 72 percent.
The issues of new populations represent "a change that other parts of the country have already experienced and dealt with," said Mirtha Jones, coordinator of Hispanic outreach and director of Plaza Comunitaria, a partnership between Chattanooga State Technical Community College and the Mexican Consulate in Atlanta that works to educate Hispanic adults.
The census data is based on birth and death certificates as well as surveys and does not make a distinction between legal and illegal immigrants.
Ms. Jones said 85 to 90 percent of the Hispanic students she sees are Mexicans or Guatemalans who have come to the region for jobs in agriculture, construction or with poultry processing plants. Ms. Jones said she also knows of students who are from Uruguay, Colombia, Peru, El Salvador, Honduras and Cuba.
Mexicans and Guatemalans make up the bulk of Hispanic immigrants in the Southeast, with sizable populations of other Central American nations and a relatively small number of South Americans, said Dr. Douglas C. Bachtel, a demographer with the University of Georgia. The immigrants leave their homelands in search of higher wages and more job opportunities, he said.
In addition to the jobs Ms. Jones mentioned, Dr. Bachtel said many immigrants find work in the retail industry as maids or waiters. Dalton, Ga., in particular, has many Hispanic immigrants who work at carpet mills, he said.
"If you don't have those jobs, you aren't necessarily going to get Hispanics," Dr. Bachtel said.
Those jobs are what concern Michael W. Cutler, a former Immigration and Naturalization Service agent and fellow with the Center for Immigration Studies based in Washington, D.C., which explores the effect of immigration on the United States.
Mr. Cutler said immigrants who come into the United States illegally can work for low wages, driving down labor rates for citizens and legal immigrants.
"The difference between an immigrant and an illegal is the difference between a house guest and a burglar," he said.
"We just need to make a distinction between those who come to this country to contribute and to share the American Dream and those who come to destroy it and create an American nightmare," he said later.
It is impossible to know how many illegal immigrants there are in the United States, Dr. Bachtel said, but he normally takes the census data and multiplies it by 1.5.
Ms. Jones said she had heard some estimates as high as 15,000 Hispanics in the Chattanooga metro area — about 50 percent more than the Census Bureau's estimate of nearly 9,600.
School enrollment figures often give a better idea about an area's population and in Hamilton County shows significant Hispanic growth, as well, Dr. Bachtel said.
In the 2006-2007 school year, 1,757 Hispanic students were enrolled in Hamilton County, making up 4.1 percent of the total student body, school figures show. School administrators estimate the number grew to about 5 percent during the 2007-2008 school year.
Those numbers indicate a sharp growth from the 1999-2000 school year when there were 429 Hispanic students — 1 percent of the total — enrolled in county schools, and even larger growth compared to 1995-1996 statistics, when Hispanics made up 0.6 percent of the system's students.
Similarly, Erlanger Health System has seen an increasing number of Hispanic patients, officials said. The hospital system admitted 4,168 Hispanic patients between October 2001 and September 2002, compared to 7,302 in the same period of 2006 and 2007, according to Erlanger spokeswoman Pat Charles.
Responding to that trend, Erlanger has introduced bilingual patient guides, patient's rights forms and elevator signs, as well as adding interpreters to the staff, she said.
Other organizations and institutions are addressing the Hispanic growth as well, according to Ms. Jones.
"Nearly everywhere you go the signs are bilingual," she said. "It's more visible than it was five years ago."
Dr. Bachtel said churches, public safety departments and businesses eventually must take notice of growing Hispanic populations. Law enforcement agencies across the South are recruiting Spanish-speaking officers, and many churches offer Spanish services or ministries, he said.
"It's pretty hard to take a confessional from someone if you don't speak their language," the professor said.
Once an area's Hispanic population becomes a noticeable percentage of the total, Dr. Bachtel said, businesses that cater specifically to immigrants will open, including restaurants and "mercados," or markets.
"Foods are one of the first things you miss in a foreign country," he said. "Entrepreneurs pick up on that."
