Know your Rights!!

H.O.P.E. will be hosting a "Know your Rights" forum on Saturday, June 4, 2011 at Iglesia La Roca Eterna on 812 Tiny Town Rd. from 1pm-3pm. TIRRC will be educating the community on immigration laws and how to prevent deportation or arrest. For more information call 931-338-1181.

Pancho Villa Mexican Grill Expansion

     Wanna have a quiet evening out? Don't come to Pancho Villa where the music is playing, the fajitas are sizzling and the margaritas are popping!

     Pancho Villa is expanding the fiesta in the Willow Chase shopping center. Manager, Gabriel Maciel, stated that with this expansion comes even better service and less time waiting for a table. The restaurant has a full schedule of entertainment and specials to serve their customers. The competition is fierce on Monday nights with Trivia Night starting at 7pm.

      The expansion comes with a new bar that goes very well with their drink specials. Buy one get one 50% off Tuesdays, Wednesdays margarita special for $1.99, and Thursday's a bucket of 5 imported beers for $10. All these specials are available from 5pm-10pm.
      Regular customer, Steve, says he 'loves the atmosphere and knows all the servers by name'. Some of that atmosphere will be enhanced with the new stage for monthly music guests that cover many genres of Spanish music. Maciel says they will also be having a karaoke night coming very soon, so get your singing pipes tuned.

      Maciel did not forget about some of his more mature customers and is giving a 30% senior citizen discount Monday-Friday from 3pm-5pm. If you would like to make reservations or have any questions on any of the specials please call 931-358-4681. They are located at 894 Hwy 76 Suite 107 off exit 11.

Many people gathered at Chapala on Saturday in hopes of receiving legal advice on their immigration status. HOPE (Hispanic Organization for Progress and Education) in partnership with the Nashville Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce sponsored a clinic with lawyers Elliot Ozment and Mario Ramos.

Mario Ramos

Mr. Ozment stated that the reason he was in town was because Pastor Tommy Vallejos, HOPE Director, told him Clarksville has been having many problems since the beginning of the year. The reason for this is a law that went into effect January 1 in Tennessee that requires law enforcement to check the immigration status of all those that are stopped. Mr. Ozment says that this law is “ illegal and a violation of federal law” and law enforcement “do not have the right to inquire about your immigration status.” He said that unless he has a client whose rights were violated he can not challenge the law.

The goal of the gathering was to give Clarksville residents one-on-one face time with experts on immigration and the ever changing laws. Prior to splitting into groups to speak with the lawyers Ana Maria, a lawyer with Mario Ramos, spoke to the people about a visa that many do not know about-U Visa. This visa was created to help immigrants who have been victims of a crime in the United States and to give them legal protection if they have witnessed a crime.

While waiting for their number to be called some commented that this law allows law enforcement to stereotype and discriminate. Another commented that he is not against the police doing their job if a crime was committed regardless of their immigration status. Many of those in attendance are hoping for a part 2, they would like to know what policies and procedures the Clarksville Police Department and the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office have in place.

For more information on future forums please contact the HOPE office at 931-802-6060.

Welcome to Hispanic Clarksville!

Mi nombre es Rosa Ponce and I live in Clarksville, TN, which is a hop,skip and a jump north of Nashville. Lets get something outta the way, I'm no journalist and I don't pretend to be, but I am very interested in some POSITIVE news on Hispanics in our community. 

I'm going to focus on Latinos making an impact on our community, events at Austin Peay State University (only university in TN with a Hispanic Cultural Center), and community events with a Hispanic connection. I will sometimes be using language that is very offensive to some....Spanglish! Which like many Hispanics is the result of a Spanish-speaking home and English-speaking school. 

Stay tuned for some blogging that might be Cucuy and Migra-Free (most of the time, I make no promises).