State's first Hispanic senator pushes help for immigrants

ATLANTA - Sam Zamarripa didn&#39;t look like a future state senator when he was 14. The son of a Mexican immigrant and an Irish-American mother who never went beyond a fifth-grade education, Zamarripa had just quit school to work at a funeral home. <br> <br> Now, he &#39;s in the Georgia Senate fighting for education rights undocumented immigrants and he says his background has made him a fighter for various causes. <br> <br> Zamarripa, who was sworn in as the state&#39;s first Hispanic senator in January, says he hopes to bring a new flavor to the Legislature. <br> <br> He says he&#39;s changed the debate in Georgia politics by just walking down the hall, adding that it&#39;s symbolic but it&#39;s broadened the entire dialogue of the Senate. <br> <br> The General Assembly session ushered in two other Hispanic legislators. Voters in Gwinnett County elected Republican David Casas, a high school teacher of Cuban ancestry, and Democrat Pedro Marin, a native of Puerto Rico who is executive director of the Mexican Center of Atlanta, to the state House of Representatives. <br> <br> The Hispanic population in Georgia has grown by 300 percent since the 1990 census and is 454,000, about five percent of the population. With the continuing rise in numbers, some have questioned how much backing Hispanics really had in state government. <br> <br> Maritza Pichon, executive director of the Latin American Association, says it&#39;s a big step for the state of Georgia. The three Latino legislators have all been involved in their communities and know the concerns of the people.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Zamarripa, an investment banker, says education is a top priority for him in his district which includes Atlanta&#39;s central business district, the historically black Atlanta University center, Turner Field and the Martin Luther King Junior district. <br> <br> Zamarripa went back to school when he was 20 and has a master&#39;s degree in public administration from the Maxwell School of Citizenship at Syracuse University. <br> <br> Zamarripa&#39;s goal this session is to pass legislation that would give undocumented immigrants access to college.