The economic crisis in the United States is making life hard on everybody, but Hispanics seem to be struggling the most. 

   Hispanics make up 15% of the nation's population, and more than three quarters of Hispanics (78%) say it is difficult to find a job where they live, according to a recent Pew Hispanic Center study. Unemployment rates are flying off the charts: 10.9 percent for Hispanics vs. 8.1 percent for the whole population.

   Half of adult Hispanics are homeowners, and of that group nearly 9 percent have missed a mortgage payment in the past year and 3 percent have received a foreclosure notice, the study reveals.   

   Hispanic Link News Service spoke to several organization leaders and economic experts in key “Latino” states about the how Hispanics in their regions are being affected.

   There was near-consensus on three points: Hispanics are disproportionately losing their jobs, they are facing foreclosures, and their educational opportunities are being shut off.

   California and Florida have been particularly hard-hit by foreclosures and the lack of construction jobs.

   "The housing market has just disappeared — fallen off the map," says Filiberto González, chief development officer for the Southern California-based Mexican American Opportunity Foundation. "There are no homes being built right now…The workforce of the home builders has been almost exclusively Latino males, so that entire job stream has been wiped out."

   Cuban American National Council president Guarioné Díaz says the same thing about the situation in Miami: "We have been severely impacted by the foreclosures and construction, a major industry here that hires lots of Hispanics."

   Díaz and González express cautious optimism that the $787 billion stimulus package approved Feb. 13 by Congress will mean additional dollars for Hispanic communities throughout the country.

   In Chicago, communications consultant and columnist Esther Cepeda, a member of the Illinois Student Assistance Commission, notes that for English-as-a-second-language classes, “The funding is evaporating because the state is not funding things and the federal government is pulling back, along with private donors."

   Many after- and before-school programs that serve the Latino community specifically do not know where their funding is going to be coming from, she says.

   Andy Hernández, executive director of Wesley Center for Family and Neighborhood Development in Austin, Texas, observes that young adults, many of them with college educations, are struggling the most to find jobs.

   Eduardo Giraldo, of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Queens, recounts that most businesses in New York City started closing down in the fall, noting that the immigration issue has brought a lot of uncertainty to the community and the marketplace. "If you look at the major metropolitan areas, a lot of business is done by immigrants, especially in big cities like New York and Los Angeles."

   He adds that Hispanic enterprises are at the bottom of the “green” eco-business ladder and lack essential funding. Immigration reform will be an "intricate" part of recovery from recession, he predicts.

   Global reports show that the pain felt by Latino immigrants to the United States is considerably less than is being experienced in their home countries.   

   Those most vulnerable here are the undocumented, who presently contribute to the U.S. economy but have no safety nets to fall back on, states Brent Wilkes, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based League of United Latin American Citizens. “They are getting the brunt of this. If we had immigration reform, they could stay in the employment force and support their families, whether here or back home."

   (Jacqueline Baylón is a reporter with Hispanic Link News Service in Washington, D.C. Email: [email protected])

   ©2009