News and Events

"Latino Immigrants" co-principal investigator meets with Guatemalan Officials:

Dr. Timothy J. Steigenga, "Latino Immigrants" project co-principal investigator, hosted a working meeting of local Guatemalan leaders with Guatemalan Ambassador Marta Altolaguierre, Vice Minister of Foreign Relations, and Max Santa Cruz, Private Secretary of the Vice President of the Republic. During the three-hour meeting Dec. 15, 2006 at Florida Atlantic University, the Vice Minister described various programs the current government is developing to assist Guatemalans living in the United States, including expanding consular services and building a national organization of Guatemalans. Local Guatemalan leaders had many questions for the government representatives and suggested the formation of an information network to assist with various consular services.

The Coffee Connection - By Dan Moffett, Palm Beach Post Editorial Writer, Sunday, December 10, 2006

"Latino Immigrants" project co-director interview in Tampa Tribune

Under headline “Martinez to Reach Out to Hispanics,” the Tampa Tribune published Nov. 15, 2006 a story examining the implications for Latino immigrants of the appointment of Sen. Mel Martinez (R-FL) as Chairman of the Republican National Committee. The story included comment from Philip Williams, co-director of the "Latino Immigrants" project.
The story speculated about the future impact of the compromise immigration legislation Martinez and Sen Chuck Hagel (R-NE) had worked out with President Bush's approval before their bill was set aside in the last session of Congress. The bill would have given illegal immigrants in the United States more than five years a chance at legal status after they paid a fine and spent an additional six years free of trouble.
The story contained quotes from various authorities on various aspects of the immigration issue, including the following:
Philip Williams, an expert on immigration at the University of Florida, said no one knows exactly how many illegal immigrants live in Florida. "A good guess is 500,000 to 1 million, with some migrant workers here on a seasonal basis."
Williams said that if a bill similar to what Martinez proposed last year passes, newly legal immigrants would be more inclined to purchase property and put down roots.
"They become consumers," he said, "like the rest of us."

"Latino Immigrants" project co-director organizes LASA panel in San Juan

"Latino Immigrants" project co-director Dr. Manuel A. Vásquez organized a panel entitled "New Geographies of Latino Migration" at the most recent international congress of the Latin American Studies Association March 15-18 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The panel brought together project researchers with other scholars working on new destinations for Latino immigrants. The panel included Ruben Hernandez-Leon (University of California at Los Angeles), Leon Fink (University of Illinois at Chicago), and Lourdes Gouveia (University of Nebraska at Omaha).

"Latino Immigrants" co-principal investigator honored with Fulbright grant

Dr. Timothy J. Steigenga, a "Latino Immigrants" project co-principal investigator, was honored with a Fulbright grant to teach and conduct research in Guatemala from December, 2005 through June, 2006. Dr. Steigenga taught seminars on religion and politics, transnationalism, and U.S. Foreign Policy at the Latin American Social Science Faculty (FLACSO), assisted students with their Ph.D. and Masters Projects, and conducted collaborative research on religion, migration and transnationalism with the Institute of Social Research and Development (INCEDES).

"Latino Immigrants" co-director Interview on NPR

"Latino Immigrants" Co-Director Manuel A Vásquez explains on National Public Radio, how, in the global age, religious dynamics may have a boomerang effect across the Americas with dramatic consequences. For interview click the link below:

http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/globalizingthesacred/index.shtml

International Conference ends Phase One of “Latino Immigrants” Project

The first phase of our project culminated in a major international conference held at the Casa Santo Domingo conference center in Antigua, Guatemala, Dec. 9-11, 2005. The purpose of the conference was to showcase the research from phase one and to advance the agenda for the next phase of the project. We were joined by a number of prominent scholars and representatives of community and faith-based organizations that work with Latino immigrants to serve as presenters, discussants, and keynote speakers.
In addition to the presenters and discussants, approximately forty Guatemalan scholars, government officials, and development practitioners attended the conference. Our invited participants included: Dr. Carmen Diana Deere, Director, Center for Latin American Studies, University of Florida; Dr. Peggy Levitt, Chair and Associate Professor, Sociology Department, Wellesley College; Alejandro Frigerio, Professor of Anthropology and Researcher of the Argentine National Council of Scientific and Technical Research; Dr. Robert Orsi, Charles Warren Professor of the History of Religion, Harvard Divinity School, Cambridge, Massachusetts; Dr. Maria Teresa Sales de Melo Suarez, Professor of Sociology, University of Campinas, São Paulo; Dr. Richard L. Wood, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of New Mexico; Dr. Manuel Ángel Castillo Garcia, Professor-Researcher, Center for Demographic, Urban and Environmental Studies, El Colegio de México; Joel Magallan, S.J., Executive Director, Asociación Tepeyac de Nueva York: Brian Payne, Organizer, Service Employees International Union; Jerónimo Camposeco, Executive Director, Corn Maya, Inc., Jupiter, Florida; and Heloisa Maria Galvao, President, Brazilian Women’s Group, Allston, Massachusetts.
Click here for photos.

Jupiter Signs Sister-City Agreement with Guatemalan City of Jacaltenango

Jupiter recognized its Guatemalan immigrant presence August 6, 2005 by signing a sister-city agreement with the Guatemalan city of Jacaltenango. The agreement was signed by Jupiter Mayor Karen Golonka and by the mayor of Jacaltenango, Moisés Peres. The signing ceremony, attended by the Guatemalan Foreign Minister, Jorge Briz Abularach, took place at St. Peter’s Catholic Church before hundreds of Jupiter residents. Jupiter, with a population of about 50,000 is home to between 2,000 and 3,000 Guatemalan immigrants. The sister-city link would formally acknowledge the existing social and cultural links between Jupiter and Jacaltenango, said Dr. Tim Steigenga, a board member of Corn Maya. Inc., the non-profit organization that brokered the agreement between the two towns.

Transnational Religious Festival included in "Latino Immigrants" project research

“Latino Immigrants” project researchers observed a colorful transnational religious festival in Chamácuaro, Guanajuato, Mexico April 24—May 3, 2005. The annual festival honors the Holy Cross, the Patron of Chamácuaro. This primarily religious celebration is also an expression of community identity and spirit bolstered by the participation and donations of many former residents visiting from Immokalee, Florida, and from many other communities in the United States. The festival was observed and reported on by the “Latino Immigrants” project co-director, Dr. Philip J. Williams, and by project researchers Mirian Solís Lizama and Zoila Jiménez, both of whom work with co-principal investigator Dr. Patricia Fortuny Loret de Mola. The project faculty participated in the festival and conducted extensive interviews and conversations with a broad cross-section of residents and participants visiting from the United States. The festival is a mix of religious ritual and processions in honor of the Holy Cross, with community bands playing, dancing and fireworks. Each day, nearby communities sponsored processions, band playing, and other activities. Vehicles from all over the U.S. were visible in town.

Click here to see photos representing various aspects of this vibrant transnational celebration.

Magazine Article Summarizes "Latino Immigrants" project

A summary of the “Latino Immigrants” project is contained in an article entitled “Religion in Transition” in the Spring 2005 edition of the magazine “Explore,” which reports on developments within the University of Florida’s research and graduate programs. In the article, Dr. Philip J. Williams, project co-director, notes that this new research exemplifies the Ford Foundation’s commitment to projects that reduce poverty and injustice and promote international cooperation.
For full text of article click here.

“Latino Immigrants” project co-principal investigator presents before two seminars

“Latino Immigrants” project co-principal investigator Irene Palma shared project research in two presentations, one in February and one in April, 2005 before international seminars on migration. The first seminar took place Feb. 3-5 in San José, Costa Rica at the Center for Population Studies, in coordination with Princeton University, at the University of Costa Rica. There, Ms. Palma emphasized the methodology used to collect data on immigrant groups in South Florida. The second seminar took place April 1 at the El Colegio de la Frontera Norte (College of the Northern Frontier) in San Antonio del Mar, Tijuana, where the title of Ms. Palma’s presentation was “Buscando la vida: Los guatemaltecos en Florida” (Searching for a Life: the Guatemalans in Florida). This seminar was also sponsored by El Colegio de Mexico, The Mexican Demographics Society and the organization “Sin Fronteras) (“without frontiers”).

“Latino Immigrants” project co-principal investigator lectures in Yucatá

“Latino Immigrants” project co-principal investigator Dr. Patricia Fortuny and research assistant Mirian Solís Lizama presented a lecture on “The Crossing of Frontiers in a Global context: Three Case Studies in Immokalee, Florida.” Their presentation took place in Mérida, Yucatán, before the Ninth International Meeting of the Researcher Network in Social and Human Sciences of the Faculty of Anthropological Sciences of the Autonomous University of Yucatán (Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán), Feb. 16-18, 2005.

Bacardi Lecture Series

The Bacardi Distinguished Lectures are presented annually by the Center for Latin American Studies with generous support from the Bacardi Family Endowment. In Spring 2005, the Bacardi lecture series explores the interplay among immigration, politics, and religion, focusing in particular on the emergence of new local national and transnational identities in the hemisphere. The lectures are coordinated with the “Latino Immigrants” project, which includes an advanced interdisciplinary seminar (See “Academic Innovation” for more information).
Click here for the Spring 2005 Bacardi lectures schedule.

Foundation honors “Latino Immigrants” project co-principal investigator

Dr. Timothy Steigenga, a co-principal investigator of the “Latino Immigrants” project, was honored in November, 2004 by the Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties. Dr. Steigenga and Jeronimo Camposeco received a team award for their work with Corn Maya, Inc. to link Jupiter’s Guatemalan and other immigrants with legal, health, counseling and employment services. Run through the Community Foundation, the Dwight Allison Fellows Program honors up to five individuals who have served their communities in Palm Beach and Martin Counties in extraordinary ways. The direct grant award of $5000.00 is offered every two years and Fellows are selected from hundreds of nominations.