Hondurans in New Orleans

As of 2014 the New Orleans metropolitan area has the largest Honduran American community in the United States.[1] As of that year, over 103,049 persons of Honduran origin reside in the New Orleans area.[2]

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Ethnicity in New Orleans

    History

    The Honduran community originates from the operations of banana and fruit companies such as Standard Fruit Co. and United Fruit Co., which produced bananas in Honduras and had their corporate headquarters in New Orleans.[2] These operations began in the late 1800s. In time many wealthier Hondurans who desired education and healthcare would move to New Orleans.[3] Prior to Hurricane Katrina, there were over 100,000 Hondurans, making up 10% of the total population, in the New Orleans area.[4] Around the 1950s a settlement of Hondurans was in New Orleans. In the 1960s the first large wave of Hondurans, many of whom moved to the centrally-located Garden District, came to New Orleans to escape late 1950s floods, fruit company strikes, and military coups which resulted in the instability of Honduras's economy and political system. The population shifted to the suburbs as it matured. By 2000 Hondurans made up 24% of the 64,340 people of Hispanic origin in the four parishes of the U.S. government-defined New Orleans area.[5]

    Within a year of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, over 10,000 Hondurans and Mexicans moved to New Orleans to do work rebuilding the city. At the time the George W. Bush administration suspended some labor laws on a temporary basis, and several federal contractors aired Spanish-language television advertisements promising work to the illegal immigrants without the possibility of deportation. By 2014 several of the immigrants were criticizing officials who were trying to deport them.[6]

    By 2014 many Honduran children fleeing crime and violence in their native country were resettled in New Orleans.[2]

    Institutions

    The government of Honduras maintains a consulate general in New Orleans. It is planning to establish a Honduran association to protect the interests of Hondurans residing in the city.[7]

    Commerce

    As of 2014 and since Katrina many Hondurans in New Orleans operate mobile food trucks and restaurants.[1]

    Education

    In the 2014-2015 school year Jefferson Parish Public Schools had 48,126 students, 1,467 students (3%) higher than the enrollment of the previous school year. There were a total of 5,634 English Language Learners (ELL) students as part of the overall student enrollment for 2014-2015, and that had increased by about 1,200 (28%). Most of the additional students for 2014-2015 were Hispanic, and of them, most were Honduran. According to ELL director Karina Castillo the East Bank had more of the new students than the West Bank.[8]

    References

    Notes
    1. Kaplan-Levenson, Laine. "In The Big Easy, Food Vendors Create A Little Honduras" (Archive). WWNO at National Public Radio. October 20, 2014. Retrieved on September 6, 2015.
    2. Reckdahl, Katy. "N.O. a hub for Honduran children fleeing violence" (Archive). The Advocate. August 10, 2014. Retrieved on September 6, 2015.
    3. Jordan, Miriam. "Central American Immigrants Flock to New Orleans—and Wait." The Wall Street Journal. September 19, 2014. Retrieved on September 7, 2015.
    4. Garvin, Marva. In: Cuadra, Zella Palmer, Natalie Root, and Adolfo Garcia. New Orleans Con Sabor Latino: The History and Passion of Latino Cooking. University Press of Mississippi, July 27, 2013. ISBN. p. 1617038954, 9781617038952. 82. "Over one hundred thousand Hondurans lived in New Orleans right before Hurricane Katrina, making up about 10 percent of the population. Unlike many other[...]" - Text visible in this search page.
    5. Euraque, p. viii (PDF 8/111).
    6. Fernández Campbell, Alexia and Mauro Whiteman. "Is New Orleans Trying to Deport Undocumented Workers Now That the Rebuilding Is Over? ." National Journal. October 27, 2014. Retrieved on September 7, 2015.
    7. "Hondureños residentes en Nueva Orleans fundarán asociación" (Archive). El Heraldo. Date not stated. Retrieved on September 7, 2015.
    8. Calder, Chad. "Honduran students swell Jefferson Parish public school enrollment" (Archive). The New Orleans Advocate. December 19, 2014. Retrieved on September 6, 2015.
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