We're looking at a group that is making a valuable contribution to society. It would be ludicrous to punish this population.

I think that if you look at these bills, it's not going to be that easy to qualify. It's not something everybody can immediately do.

The thinking behind that is that if you teach them in their own language first, by the time they learn english it's much easier to integrate them in the classroom.

In many cases the family needs income so the student will drop out. Literature on this issue also shows that there is just not the emphasis among the immigrant population in education beyond the sixth grade level.

We found that a huge percentage of the Latinos living in Louisiana and Mississippi are still homeless. They encounter a variety of problems including bugs, mold, skin problems and not getting paid for jobs.

We became our own mutual admiration society I think,