Under the table: The state’s hidden Hispanic workforce

Jan. 2008, The Herald

By Krista Kapralos

They show up seven days a week, sometimes as early as 6 a.m. Some carry backpacks, but most just have thick coats, their hands shoved deep into pockets.

For hours, they wait, hoping. As daylight emerges and cars begin to stream in and out of the Home Depot parking lot on Highway 99 in south Everett, they crane their necks, eagle-eyed for the wide rigs that usually signal the arrival of contractors who need laborers.

“We want to do something right, work for at least five or six hours a day, at least,” said Jose Lara, a 36-year-old Mexican immigrant who took two buses from his home in Seattle to get to the hardware store’s parking lot.

Every day, sometimes as many as 20 Hispanic men gather there. When contractors drive by, some men get jobs right away. They hop into the back of a truck and hope that their pay will amount to more than $8 an hour. Sometimes, they can make $11 or $12 an hour, but for backbreaking work, they say it’s not enough. Read more

State’s Hispanic count up by 31 percent

Jan. 2008, The Herald

By Krista Kapralos

The change is happening in Stanwood, Monroe and other small cities in Snohomish County.

Gateways to the county’s farmland, these cities have become home to more Hispanic immigrants than ever before. It’s part of a nationwide trend tracing the fastest-growing Hispanic communities to the country’s most rural areas.

Hispanics are moving to rural areas faster than they once did, and are also settling down in states that border Canada, instead of Mexico, according to a report released Wednesday by the Carsey Institute, a New Hampshire-based research group.

The new wave of Hispanics in rural Washington is more likely to include people who speak English better than those who came before them, according to the study. They are younger (30 percent are below age 15) and many have high school diplomas. Read more

Iraqis in U.S. watch Hussein trial closely

Dec. 2005, The Herald

By Krista Kapralos

EVERETT – Kathem Alameedi spent most of the night pacing the blue carpet in his family’s small living room.

Even when his wife persuaded him to sit down, his knees shook.

Hers did, too.

After more than a month of postponements and a lifetime of terror, the Everett couple was up in the dark early Monday to watch as Saddam Hussein went on trial for his life in Iraq.

Hussein must die, Kathem Alameedi, 53, said, his dark eyes glued to the television set.

When that happens, he can take his family home.

“He’s been so hurt by Saddam,” said his son, Hassanein Alameedi, 22. “He’s been waiting for this moment.” Read more