Report: Hispanics victimized in U.S. South

MONTGOMERY, Ala., April 22 (UPI) -- Low-income Hispanic immigrants in the U.S. South are routinely targeted for wage theft, racial profiling and other abuses, advocates say.

The abuse is driven by an anti-immigrant climate that is harming all Hispanics in the South, whether or not they are illegal immigrants, a report released Wednesday by the Southern Poverty Law Center, based in Montgomery, Ala., says.

The report, "Under Siege: Life for Low-Income Latinos in the South," surveyed 500 low-income Hispanics -- including legal residents, undocumented immigrants and U.S. citizens -- in Nashville, Charlotte, New Orleans, rural southern Georgia, and several towns and cities in northern Alabama.

"This report documents the human toll of failed policies that relegate millions of people to an underground economy, where they are beyond the protection of the law," said Mary Bauer, author of the report and director of the SPLC's Immigrant Justice Project. "Workplace abuses and racial profiling are rampant in the South."

The SPLC says it found Hispanics are routinely cheated out of wages by employers, who deny them basic health and safety protections; are racially profiled by overzealous law enforcement agents; and are victimized by criminals who know they are reluctant to report crime to these same authorities.