Latino parents in Alabama report that their kids are being bullied

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Saturday October 22, 2011 · 3:35 PM PDT

2011/10/22 · 15:35

Since Alabama passed its tough new immigration law, several Latino parents have claimed their kids have been the objects of taunting and bullying. And apparently enough incidents have happened that the Justice Department is paying attention.

"We're hearing a number of reports about increases in bullying that we're studying," the head of the agency's civil rights division, Thomas Perez, said during a stop in Birmingham.
The Justice Department has established a bilingual telephone hotline and special email account for residents to report any violence or threats based on racial or ethnic background that could be linked to the law. Officials would not provide a breakdown on the types of complaints being received.

Among some of the incidents--a girl near Montgomery being called a "damn Mexican" even though she's actually Puerto Rican, another girl near Birmingham who was told she'd be beaten up if she didn't "go back to Mexico."

The state department of education claims not to have fielded any complaints. However, this is likely because they're afraid of being detained and turned over to ICE if they go to their teachers or principals about any bullying incidents.

I can't help but think about what happened in Utah after it made plans to roll out an Arizona-style immigration law. For those who don't remember, a pair of morans in the state employment department stole a raft of personal information and used it to put together a list that they sent to state authorities. The bottom line--even if they are here illegally, this sort of behavior is unacceptable. Period. Hopefully some school officials will step up and put their foot down on any bullying taking place over there.

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