International population of YOUR city? [Archive]

bayviews

July 24th, 2006, 12:12 AM

Interesting article from today's Rochester Democrat Chroincle paper on Caribbean immigrant communities in Upstate NY's largest immigrant magnet.

Who We Are: Accent kissed by the sun finds home in Rochester

Caribbean ways stand out — yet fit in

James Johnson
Staff writer

(July 23, 2006) — Deloris Lewis, like many people from the Caribbean, stands out and, at the same time, fits into the greater Rochester community.

An accent reveals that Lewis, like her husband, Whitney, is Jamaican. More than 20 plaques in their Chili home celebrate her contributions to Rochester and its residents.

Many a night, the registered nurse and midwife lent a hand to those who needed her skills, even after some locals gave her the cold shoulder.

A co-worker once said that "I should get back on the banana boat and go back where I came from," said Deloris Lewis, now 70 and retired. "When people get to know you, they are sorry for what they said because they prejudged."

Whether from Jamaica, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti or any of the other 28 nations and territories in and around the Caribbean Sea, people from that region of the world have made an impact on Rochester, sharing their diverse skills and diverse cultures.

For many, obstacles had to be overcome.

"You don't give up just because things are not going your way," Lewis said. "You don't give up because people don't understand. You try to make a difference. I just wish then that I knew God like I do now. I would've made a much bigger difference."

During her years as a nurse and midwife, she helped bring future pastors, lawyers and teachers into the world. Others from the Caribbean have dedicated their lives to educating children. Some have worked their way into high-level executive positions.

Then there is Garth Fagan, the famed choreographer who is among Rochester's top exports to the world. He's Jamaican-born.

In August, the array of Caribbean cultures represented here will come together under the umbrella of the Rochester West Indian Festival Organization and stage Carifest, an annual downtown festival. This year's celebration, which includes a carnival costume parade, dancing and live music, takes place Aug. 12.

"You want people to come, learn about and enjoy the different cultures and say, 'Where can I get some more of this?'" said Norma Thom, president of the festival organization.

The largest group of people in Rochester from the Caribbean are Puerto Ricans (featured in this series in February). Today's focus is on the smaller communities whose members collectively number about 6,700.

Land of opportunity

"You have to work," said Rodrigue Achille, a 35-year-old native of Haiti and co-owner of the LOM2FWA Cuisine restaurant on Chili Avenue in Rochester. "If you want to be someone here, you can because the country offers you the opportunity. "Rochester is not a fast city, like the New York City area," Achille said. "It is an all-right place to settle and raise kids. Rochester was a place where you could find a job, back in the day. Now things are getting slower.

"To me, it is a good place."

Narciso Martinez, a 49-year-old native of the Dominican Republic who has called Rochester home for 19 years, agrees.

He found himself suddenly out of work at age 28 in New York City during the mid-1980s. It was then that Pedro, one of Martinez's three younger brothers, called for help with running two grocery stores here.

"I said, 'OK, I need to make money,'" Martinez said. "I see Rochester, the neighborhoods are OK. I liked the city."

Martinez also liked his neighbors in the predominantly Hispanic and African-American neighborhoods near North Clinton Avenue. "We bring a different culture," he said. "Firemen, police officers, lawyers, Polish, Germans and Italians were customers. We didn't have customers, we had friends."

There came a time when a portion of the city became far from friendly and respectful. Elvis, another of Martinez's younger brothers, was killed during a robbery attempt at one of the stores 11 years ago.

Narciso Martinez not only stayed but later opened his own business, The Cigar Factory, on State Street, where his accent and personal warmth remain as thick as the El Presidente cigars.

"I established my business and family in Rochester. I say thank you to United States, you open the door for me. It was difficult, but you give me the opportunity. We started by bringing in hundreds of cigars. Now I ship 10,000, 15,000 cigars every month."

There are days when business is brisk at other notable businesses run by people from the Caribbean, such as El Sabor de la Isla, Livie's Import Market and other eateries that offer Caribbean food.

Newcomers from the islands often are sent to D&L Groceries, a presence in the city's 19th Ward for two decades. Jamaican-owned Associate Taxi was the first black-owned business of its kind to get rolling in Rochester more than 30 years ago. Many of its first customers were black people who were bypassed by other taxis.

Others from the region have made a living in and around the area playing music from their cultures. Even sports lovers have found small reminders of home.

Phil Lawrence, 49, was happy to find the Rochester Cricket Club gathered at Genesee Valley Park. Cricket, while not a popular game in the United States, has been played all over the world for hundreds of years, including in Lawrence's homeland of Jamaica.

"Cricket and soccer are competing for the No. 1 spot at home," Lawrence said. "But cricket has the edge. It's my first love."

Listen and learn

City resident Damien Williams, 32, and his older brother Samuel believe they have found a business niche. They are the owners of Prestige Records and Clothing and N&S Caribbean Market, located near Genesee and Sawyer streets.

"A lot of people want to show where they come from," Williams said. "Before ... it was always a problem, whether it was getting picked on in school because you talked different. So you had to hide that. People from the islands showed it in their music."

The music is as diverse as the people. Merengue, reggae, reggaeton, jazz, salsa, bachata and gospel, to name a few, are increasingly heard around the United States.

"It's not just all about reggae music," Williams said. "You have a lot of islanders who don't listen to reggae music, that may listen to dance hall or they may listen to soca (a modern form of calypso)."

Williams does his best to remain patient with customers who barely know the difference between Bob Marley and the locally based Trinidad & Tobago Steelband.

"We want to get the knowledge of the music and the cultures out there. The thing that we hate is stereotyping, just putting everybody in a hole. My man over here, he's from Barbados. And she's from Panama. You can't just say, 'Oh, he's Jamaican, or she's black.' Talk to them. You'll hear it in their accent. Talk to them. They'll tell you."

A different sound

The rhythm of Natividad Fermin's life in the Dominican Republic was steady more than 15 years ago, as the general superintendent of the Free Methodist Church. Then he was approached by the Genesee Conference of the Free Methodists about starting a church in the Rochester area. The Fermins — Natividad, his wife, Fe, and their three children — eventually settled in Greece.

"It was a big change, like starting over," said Fermin, 52. "It's a different culture with different food here."

The Fermins arrived in Rochester on Halloween in 1990, amid airport employees dressed in costumes. A month later, 8 inches of snow were on the ground. "That March was the ice storm," Fermin recalled with a smile.

As with many who come from other countries, the Fermins' home life remains deeply rooted in the culture of their homeland.

"There is a big difference between the parents and children. My wife is not nearly as Americanized as the children. At home we speak Spanish. It's easier for young kids to get adjusted. Our children respond more to American cultural things."

Ana, 22, Victor, 21, and 18-year old Febe Fermin graduated from Greece Arcadia High. Ana is scheduled to earn a degree in December from the State University College at Brockport, where Febe is a freshman and says she tries to stick to her Dominican culture as much as possible.

The young people, who speak Spanish and English, have helped smooth the family's transition, in part as active members of Iglesia Nuevo Dia. Services are held at Wesley United Methodist Church on Dewey Avenue for a predominantly Hispanic congregation of about 130.

Natividad Fermin, senior pastor, delivers his sermons in Spanish. English translations are provided through headphones, and songs are performed in both languages.

"If we didn't do those things, they would leave," Fermin said. "It's a long process to get a church started. The first 10 years are spent trying to get a church a personality. After that, the church really takes off. That's what we're seeing now."

The church has been able to step up its community involvement, particularly with individuals fighting drug addiction and those affected by AIDS.

Next month, Iglesia Nuevo Dia will host its fifth annual festival. Other churches are invited to pass out educational and recreational information during the event, which includes music from the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and the rest of the United States.

"It's basically done to unite families," Fermin said.

A core value

There was no question that Deloris and Whitney Lewis would closely monitor their family of three children, who now have careers as a lawyer, an insurance claims representative and a teacher.

If that meant 6 a.m. meetings between Deloris and the children's teachers before long hours at Strong Memorial Hospital and, later, the Jordan Health Center, so be it.

The Lewis family sat down to eat dinner together every night.

"No TV," recalled Teron Lewis, 29. "It was not an option to skip those family dinners. My mother and father constantly stressed to me that I had to dress appropriately, talk effectively and be responsible.

"They've definitely given me a lot of gifts. One of my friends said to me that I'm exactly like my mother. I would never take that as a negative because she has accomplished a lot."

It is not uncommon for Yvonne Lewis-McDonald, Beverly Lewis-Bernard and Teron Lewis to call their mother before noon each day. The family still gathers for dinner every other Sunday, with room for spouses and three grandchildren.

"This is still home," Deloris Lewis said. "I'm from a very, very strong family unit where family is important and culture is important. I wanted my children to have that.

"Any way that they can be immersed in the Jamaican culture, I tried to get them immersed because it is so powerful and so strong. Even now, my children are adults but they still treat us with that respect and dignity.

"I've spoken with all three of them this morning and before the end of the day, they'll call again, and later they'll be out here. That's the way we are."

bayviews

July 24th, 2006, 12:21 AM

Here's more from the Rochester D & C on city's Jamaican community

Bliss is bun and cheese

Eagerly as children, with nostalgia as adults, Jamaicans savor Lenten treat

Karen Miltner
Staff writer

(March 28, 2006) — The Good Friday services of Peter Grinion's Jamaican childhood were a test of endurance. The day started with fasting, and there were endless hymns to sing and long prayers and sermons to sit still through.

But tucked in mother's handbag was all the reward he needed: a substantial slab of yellow cheese sandwiched between two generous slices of sweet, dense, spicy, currant-studded bread.

"Usually we ate it outside, after the services. But if you acted up you got it early," recalls the professor of social work at Roberts Wesleyan College.

That mainstay of the Lenten season, bun and cheese, would break the Good Friday fast and would be enjoyed throughout Easter weekend. The simple, make-ahead combination remains both a nostalgic tie to the past and comfort-food constant for Jamaicans who have made their home in the Rochester area.

"Anywhere there are Jamaicans there are buns," says Linford Hamilton, who runs D&L Groceries with his wife, Deloris. The Genesee Street take-out eatery and grocery specializes in Caribbean and African foods.

While bun and cheese is a popular snack throughout the year, it is especially cherished during Lent and is the quintessential meal for Good Friday, when many Christians abstain from meat.

"It is a day of religious observance, when work is strongly discouraged. Meals were simple and meager," explains Grinion.

If families cooked at all, they would prepare dishes ahead of time, such as escovitch, pan-fried fish topped with pickled vegetables and incendiary Scotch bonnet peppers, or rice and beans.

The currant- and raisin-filled bun is typically purchased at a bakery, though some families bake their own. Regional variations abound.

Some make their loaves extra moist and rectangular; others dry and round. Some add mixed peel (a mixture of candied citrus peel and candied cherries) or decorate the top with candied cherries. Some pre-soak the fruit in red wine or rum, or add milk or stout (either Guinness or Dragon, a Jamaican brand) to make it moist. Some flavor it with rose water, or a combination of nutmeg, cinnamon and ginger.

To make it sweet, you could use brown sugar, molasses or the richly flavored wet sugar, made from cane juice that has been boiled to form a thick sugar that is partially crystallized.

But the cheese cannot be tinkered with.

"You can't have bun without the cheese, and it is the Tastee (brand) cheese that is good," says Thalia Walker, who insists the Jamaican brand has no American-made substitute.

Walker runs Livie's Import Market on Chili Avenue with her husband, Livingston (Livie). Like D&L and several other retailers in the area, Livie's carries Tastee cheese and domestic and imported brands of bun. The Chili Avenue shop also offers pre-sliced bun and cheese sandwiches to go.

Bun is common thread

Thalia and Livie Walker's vastly different childhood experiences with bun and cheese illustrate the divide between urban and rural island life. "I couldn't wait for Easter to come. It was the only time of the year we got cheese," says Livie Walker, who grew up on a farm in the Blue Mountain region. If crops were good (his family grew coffee and vegetables and raised pigs), they got a little cheese, a rare and expensive commodity. In lean years, they went without.

"There was an abundance of bun, so you tried to nurture that slice of cheese until your older brother or somebody snuck it away from you."

Buns were plentiful, in part because Livie Walker had an uncle who was a baker.

The youngster was spellbound by the baking process, which took place in a free-standing outdoor mud oven with a shape similar to a gourmet pizza oven. A small shack protected the clay oven from rain and wind.

"We would stand around and play games, dominoes especially for the bigger kids, until the bread and bun come out of the oven. It always still fascinates me; I don't know how they get the temperature hot. ... They would burn the firewood inside of it, pull the coal out, and then they would put the sheet with the bread and the bun in. And they would stuff the hole ... and leave it for some hours, and it would bake. They didn't add any more heat to it. It just stayed there and baked. I wish I had a picture. Back then we didn't take much pictures. When somebody took a picture, it would be a novelty."

Thalia Walker grew up in Kingston, where modern commercial bakeries made bun year-round and where bun and cheese was a popular corner store or street vendor snack that she would sometimes buy during the school lunch break. Her father, Robert Avis, supported his five children on a firefighter's salary. But even if times were hard, he made sure the family's Easter celebration included plenty of bun and cheese.

"He would get a bun, a big one that was in the box, and a big tin of cheese. And I remember one year he bought the biggest tin of cheese and one bun. ... We loved that. I was kind of piggish in those days, and I wouldn't share with my sisters or brother. ... That was my fondest memory. He would not limit us. He would say, 'It's Easter; enjoy.' So maybe come Good Friday he would have to go out and get another bun," says Thalia Walker.

When Thalia Walker and her siblings moved to the United States, Avis continued to send buns to his children, even though the shipping cost was astronomical.

"I knew they liked the buns," says the now-retired Avis, who divides his time between Rochester and Miami, where his wife and other children now live.

Easter treat

The best-known bun comes from Kingston's Hometown Bakery, aka HTB, whose advertising slogan is "Hard to Beat."

The Walkers import HTB's seasonal Easter buns during Lent and carry a domestic brand, Royal Caribbean Bakery, the rest of the year. Most bakeries offer extra-large, special buns during Lent that are made with fancier ingredients (usually more dried fruit) and packaged in decorative boxes. The rest of the year, bun typically contains little or no fruit.

"Generally I enjoyed bun, but at Easter I couldn't stand the fruit. I would pick it out," recalls Sean Lawson, a computer consultant in Fairport who spent much of his youth in Kingston.

The 28-year-old Royal Caribbean Bakery in Mount Vernon, Westchester County, is not the oldest Jamaican bakery in the United States, but it is the largest, says co-founder Vincent Hosang. Maundy Thursday (or Holy Thursday, the day before Good Friday) is the bakery's busiest day of the year.

"Easter for Jamaican bakeries is like Christmas to the American department store. If we miss out on Easter bun sales in our business, we can forget about the rest of the year," says Hosang.

It's rare to find families who still bake bun from scratch, both in Rochester and Jamaica, says Livie Walker, who regrets that nobody in his family wrote down his uncle's recipe. Most people think it's too much work.

But we managed to find someone who was willing to part with his recipe. Bill Thomas, better known by his radio name Mr. Bill, hosts Reggae Sounds beginning at 4 p.m. Saturdays on WITR-FM (89.7), the oldest continuously running reggae show in North America.

"I got tired of buying it from the grocery store," says Mr. Bill, who has spent years perfecting his recipe. Guinness or molasses gives it the dark color, which is very important. And the batter must be mixed extremely well. But the more pressing reason Mr. Bill takes time to make bun once or twice a year is for his 11-year-old son.

"Even though I know he might not go to the Caribbean ... I want him to know that the Caribbean is really a different environment from anywhere else in the world."

bayviews

July 24th, 2006, 12:26 AM

Another D & C article on Rochester's modest but growing Chinese community.

A thriving Chinese culture blends into life in this area

Chinese community enriches and enlivens Rochester area with its complexity, customs

Diana Louise Carter
Staff writer

(January 29, 2006) — They come from rural villages or sprawling cities in mainland China. They come from Hong Kong or Taiwan or even other parts of Asia.

A small fraction has been here for a generation or two. Some came penniless, rising from laborers to comfortable suburban taxpayers by dint of their work ethic.

In the last 20 years, immigration laws have resulted in more arriving equipped with highly sought science or engineering skills, earning advanced degrees here or offering their expertise to local colleges and industry.

Grouped with other Asians/Pacific Islanders, Chinese have become the second-fastest growing minority group in Rochester, following Hispanics, according to 2000 census data.

The 5,000-plus people who make up the area's Chinese community are a diverse lot — separated by place of origin, native tongues, income and education. But they have something in common today: Lunar New Year, a celebration of their culture.

"Anything you celebrate means eating," said Richard Chu, professor of history at Rochester Institute of Technology. In Chinese and other Asian homes and restaurants across the world, as in Rochester, people of Chinese descent will welcome the New Year with a banquet.

Nancy Gong, born in Rochester, took time off from making glass art to host a big New Year's party at her home in Penfield on Saturday night. Some of what she cooked was similar to the dishes her family, owners of one of the first Chinese restaurants in Rochester, prepared in the 1970s and '80s.

Larry Wong and Kelly Shi, natives of Fuzhou province, will welcome Lion Dancers to their tiny South Clinton Avenue restaurant, Ming's Take Out, this afternoon to celebrate the New Year. Then it's back to work for the Brighton couple, who work 12 hours every day but Sunday, when they work only six.

Frank Xiao, a technologist at Xerox Corp., and his family attended a New Year's banquet last weekend for families affiliated with the Chinese School of Rochester. Today will be more low-key for this Penfield family from Beijing. They'll dine with friends and family and possibly watch the celebrations in China via satellite television.

And Annie Chei of Brighton, a Wegmans Food Markets analyst who teaches Chinese dance through her Chinese Arts Academy, is in Guangzhou, China, today. It is the first time in 21 years that she has celebrated the New Year in her hometown with her parents and siblings.

She described a festival of flowers and crafts that started the celebration Saturday, and a lantern competition that will end it in two weeks.

A family affair

In China and many places in Asia, people take time off to celebrate the New Year, but mostly because they go home to family. Trains are packed in the days leading up to the New Year as younger generations return to their parents' homes. "Usually major celebrations, in Chinese traditions, (are) a family affair," said Chu. That may explain why there are no major Lunar New Year's festivals in Rochester, despite the growing population.

After the Lunar New Year events, which tend to be publicized only among the various Asian associations in town, there are relatively few opportunities for non-Asians to partake of the Chinese culture. Unlike some larger cities, Rochester has no Chinatown and no Chinese cultural center. Two Chinese schools operate here, but both meet only on Saturday mornings in suburban school buildings.

Nevertheless, the imprint that Chinese Americans are leaving on the region is becoming more and more obvious. One look in the Yellow Pages under "restaurants" tells the story of how deeply Chinese cuisine has permeated the Rochester landscape.

Grammy-nominated

Some of Rochester's most recent accolades are being earned by Chinese Americans.

The Grammy-nominated Ying Quartet, four strings-playing siblings originally from Winnetka, Ill., resides and teaches at the Eastman School of Music, from which they all graduated. The internationally acclaimed quartet inserts traditional Chinese music — calling it "musical dim sum" — into its repertoire of classical music.

Chinese-born and Taiwanese-born doctors and researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center continue to rack up national honors and major research dollars. They also make contributions to technology-oriented industries in Rochester.

One recent announcement: $2.5 million from the National Institutes of Health for UR professor Ruola Ning, originally from Guangdong province in southern China, to develop a prototype of a new kind of mammogram technology.

Although people of Chinese descent or birth make up less than 1 percent of the local population, they account for almost 33 percent of the doctoral candidates at RIT, 5.5 percent of all students at the University of Rochester and 2 percent of the work force at Bausch & Lomb.

Shuyuan Yeh, a UR researcher who focuses on vitamin treatments for prostate cancer, said, "We feel welcome and we feel we can do something good to (give) back to this society," explaining the decision she and her husband made to work in the United States after completing advanced degrees rather than return to Taiwan.

In Rochester, she finds no shortage of Asian faces — not only Taiwanese and Chinese, but also Japanese, Koreans and Asian Indians — or of people used to seeing Asian faces.

That's truer today than in the past. Census figures show that between 1990 and 2000, the number of Asians/Pacific Islanders in the Rochester area increased by more than 50 percent. From 2003 to 2004 alone, the Asian population grew 10 percent in Monroe County.

A new group of Chinese immigrants has arrived in the last decade: Chinese children adopted by non-Chinese Americans. The Families with Children from China organization, a support network for adoptive families, reports there are at least 300 of these children in the area now.

'Teased all the time'

A generation ago, it wasn't unusual for a Chinese child to find herself the only person of Asian descent in a classroom. Such was the case when Nancy Gong was growing up in the 1960s. When her family moved from Manhattan Street — roughly where the Strong Museum sits now — to Brighton, she could count the other Asian students on one hand, and several were her siblings.

"We got teased all the time," she said. Recounting a story familiar to many first-generation Chinese Americans, Gong said her parents were always working, so they weren't around to offer much support when she'd come home upset about the treatment she got at the hands of one particularly nasty little boy.

Extended family added to the problem. Because her parents didn't insist she and her siblings speak and write Cantonese, "We were looked down upon by the relatives," Gong said, explaining that she was considered "hollow bamboo," a derogatory term meaning Chinese in appearance only.

Some say the Chinese-American community still draws distinctions, often discouraging people from coming together for a common purpose. They describe tensions between those from northern and southern China, between mainlanders and Taiwanese or Chinese from Hong Kong.

Even among the Taiwanese, people are quick to point out whether their families go back generations in Taiwan or merely sought refuge there in the late 1940s after communists took control of the mainland.

Mary Ann Kiernan, a Perinton pediatrician of Irish descent, co-founded Families with Children from China, after she and her husband adopted their elder daughter. She said she encountered factionalism when her group first started to reach out to the various Asian federations and associations in town. She found the groups rarely communicated with each other, but in time they came to sponsor activities together, such as a New Year celebration at RIT several years ago that drew more than 800 people.

However, the communitywide celebration didn't last.

"I underestimated some of the political realities," Kiernan said.

Although many Chinese Americans are delighted to share their culture when asked and do work with other groups, "making enduring friendships with some of the 'real' Chinese families is not that easy," Kiernan said of the families whose members are all Chinese.

Lori Petrie of Irondequoit, who is white and has adopted two Chinese children, has had a slightly different experience. Owners of an Irondequoit Chinese restaurant have taken an interest in the children, she said, and have even helped translate letters back to the children's orphanages.

In Families with Children from China, parents hope friendships their children make with each other and the connections they forge with the larger Chinese-American community will sustain them when issues of cultural identity become more pressing as they mature.

Issue of survival

For many, insularity is part of the Chinese culture. The country was politically isolated for centuries, and even within China it was an issue of survival to avoid getting involved in matters outside the home or workplace.

"The nail that stands up always gets pounded," said Mimi W. Lee, an Eastman Kodak Co. technical support specialist from Hong Kong, citing advice she often heard while growing up in New York City's Chinatown.

Some Chinese and Taiwanese immigrants have clearly been too busy to reach out, notwithstanding charity drives that many of their social organizations conducted for Hurricane Katrina relief.

"When we first came here, everyone was very busy just (trying) to survive," said Xerox's Frank Xiao, who came here as a young adult from Beijing. "The only thing they try to do is try to get next month's bills somehow paid."

Every Chinese and Taiwanese person interviewed said that because their culture places great esteem on getting a good education, most locate almost immediately in Brighton, Pittsford, Penfield, Perinton and Webster, where the public schools have excellent reputations. But the bills can be steep for new immigrants, requiring more dedication to work.

Despite the devotion to work, many Chinese Americans are just as passionately dedicated to keeping their culture alive.

"There has been a pattern in our history of not recognizing our contributions," said Lee. That's one factor driving the Asian/Pacific Islander/American History Project of Greater Rochester, known as APA-HiP, a 4-year-old organization that is trying to draw together Asian groups of all cultures. It has an ambitious agenda of recording oral histories, collecting historical documents, mounting photo exhibits and sponsoring artistic performances.

"We don't want to be a ghost population, lost in the mix of other social issues," said APA-HiP President Wendy Weeks, a native of Connecticut born to white and Chinese parents.

Growing force

The Chinese population is too spread out and still too small to be a political force, Lee said, but when all Asians are accounted for, they represent a growing source of power. "We could make or break an election. We could make a difference," she said.

That power will be more evident in a few years when the children of today's immigrants grow up.

One recent Saturday morning, the entire fourth floor and other parts of Twelve Corners Middle School in Brighton were busy with activities of the Chinese School of Rochester. In the gym, fathers played basketball. In a classroom, mothers practiced yoga.

And room after room was filled with American-born Chinese children learning to speak and write Mandarin, often with parents in the classroom helping out or learning themselves.

In one classroom, grandparents who are either permanent residents of the United States or visiting from China were studying English.

"I know who I am and where I come from," said Xiao, a former principal of the school. "Kids born in America sometimes get confused about who they are."

He wants his son and daughter "to be proud of who they are, learn their culture."

Annie Chei, who teaches dance classes at the school and in Pittsford, said there is much to be proud of. "We have more than 5,000 years of very rich and colorful culture."

bayviews

July 24th, 2006, 12:35 AM

And here's another D & S article on Rochester's Asian Indian community. Rochester's immigrant population, 62,000 as of 2000, is a tiny part of NY State's 3.9 million strong immigrant population, & tiny compared to NY state, but it's the largest upstate. Rochester's paper does a good job of covering the area's diverse racial, etnnic & immigrant communities.

Cultures of India, U.S. unite

Jim Memmott
Senior editor

(April 23, 2006) — On this spring day at the Hindu Temple in Henrietta, the youngest children are learning about Krishna, the supreme god of Hinduism.

They are told that he was a mischievous child. He stole butter, didn't obey.

Kashika Sahay, one of the teachers, equates this to the children's lives.

"Momma says, 'No more Cheetos,'" she says, wagging her finger. The children, 3 and 4 years old, acknowledge that sometimes they will sneak a Cheeto or a piece of candy, despite what Momma says.

Sahay is 17, a senior at Fairport High School who was born in this country to Indian parents.

She is Indian, but she is American as well. She can be at home in a sari — the traditional Indian dress — and at home in blue jeans. Increasingly, she has company in this dance between the two cultures.

From a local community of perhaps 500 people 30 years ago, the Asian Indian population now numbers about 5,000 in Monroe County and a few hundred in the region's other counties. Still small compared with other ethnic groups, Asian Indians have a disproportionate impact on some areas of society. They are well-represented in the medical field, not only caring for the sick but also conducting research.

They are prominent in the sciences, both in local universities and in companies, including Eastman Kodak Co., Xerox Corp. and Bausch & Lomb Inc.

And demand for professionals in the field of information technology has caused a recent spike in the number of Asian Indians here.

"These people have brought in a lot of new blood," says Surendar Jeyadev of Brighton, a principal scientist at Xerox who came to this country from India in 1976. "India has changed a lot during the last 10 years. They have brought to our notice that India is a lot more modern."

Asian Indians have also had an impact on the area's hotel and motel business, which often serves as a place where people from India get an economic foothold in this country.

And because of a traditional emphasis on education, the children of these immigrants from India are performing at high levels in local schools and colleges.

For sure, the children in the religion classes at the temple come prepared. They bring books on India and Hinduism in their tote bags.

Sitting on the floor, their backs straight, their hands folded, their shoes off, they chant the prayers they know by heart.

And they raise their hands eagerly to answer the questions of Sahay and the other teachers.

When Sahay suggests that there can be too many Cheetos, too much candy, too much of a good thing, they understand. Moderation is the key. A good life is a balanced life.

"I've learned so much, volunteering to do this," Sahay says later. "When I prepare, I learn a lot."

Classes often end with a treat. Then the children grab their backpacks and book bags and go off to soccer and baseball games, to television and the Internet and all that Rochester offers.

More visible

The growth of the population has meant a spurt in the number of Indian restaurants and Indian groceries, as well as the inclusion of Indian goods in the dominant grocery chains, Tops and Wegmans. Jeyadev remembers his reaction when Tops added Indian foods perhaps 10 years ago.

"It was a sense that finally you've become part of the landscape," he says.

Narayan Deshpande, 67, of Penfield, a retired mechanical engineer who came to Rochester as a student in 1962, says that living here now does not mean exclusion from the culture of his youth.

"You have your Indian movies, Indian restaurants and a lot of friends."

Asian Indians live throughout the region, in particular in Brighton, Pittsford and Henrietta. Those communities are close to the University of Rochester Medical Center and other places where a significant number of Asian Indians work. And they have well-respected elementary and secondary schools.

The growing Asian Indian presence here comes at a time of heightened national interest in things Indian.

Novels such as Rohinton Mistrey's A Fine Balance, picked for Oprah's Book Club in 2001, and movies such as Monsoon Wedding, also in 2001, reflect and fuel this interest.

Beyond that, the United States and India are increasingly interdependent economically. U.S. companies, including Henrietta-based Sutherland Global Services, which has call centers in India, have more and more operations in the south Asian nation.

Many communities

The world's largest democracy, with 1.1 billion people, India is an extraordinarily diverse country.

More than three-fourths of the people in India are Hindus. There are 130 million Muslims, as well as 25 million Christians and 15 million Sikhs. There are Buddhists and adherents of other religions.

Hindi and English are the official languages, but there are at least 22 other languages and many more dialects within these languages.

The reality of all this diversity is that while Asian Indians here may be lumped together as one community, there are differences within it. There are two Hindu temples, the one in Henrietta and the Sri Rajarajeshwari Temple in Rush. Sikhs worship at the Sikh Gurdwara of Rochester in Penfield. Asian Indians of all faiths come together at the India Community Center in Macedon, Wayne County.

At Namaste, an Indian grocery and video store in Henrietta, the diversity is apparent in the videotape and DVD department.

Open for two years, the store features hundreds of films, arranged by some of the different languages of India, including Tamil, Hindi, Telugu and Punjabi.

The store, which is owned by Gurpal Singh, offers vegetables and canned goods from the various regions of India.

"It's north and south, all mixed together," says Sunil Kemshetti of Rochester, a native of India, who was at Namaste with his 21-month-old daughter, Rhea. "It caters to everyone's needs."

One of several Asian Indian groceries in the area, Namaste, which recently expanded, has a growing clientele.

"It's where we get most of our groceries," says Dr. Neha Nirodi of Brighton, who was shopping at Namaste on a recent Friday afternoon. "My entire kitchen runs out of this store."

Some obstacles

I.C. Shah, president of ICS Telecom Inc. in Henrietta, arrived in the United States from India with $100 in his pocket in 1961 to study at Michigan State University. "It was very, very difficult," he says. "It was difficult to get permission from the government of India. You had to convince them that what you were studying was important."

Shah studied packaging, later switching to marketing. He came to Rochester to work for Xerox in 1971. After he was laid off in 1976, he started his own company.

He remembers some prejudice, and he is sure he lost some promotions because of his accent.

"And I even run into it now once or twice," he says. "I'll give a strong opinion, and someone will say, 'If you don't like the laws of this country, why don't you go back?' And I think, 'Wait a minute, I pay lots in taxes.'"

But Shah and other Asian Indians say that, for the most part, they have been welcomed, perhaps because they bring valuable skills.

Asian Indians in some fields, particularly information technology, say that gaining visas has not been overwhelmingly difficult. Nonetheless, some professionals face extensive retraining and recertification.

A radiation oncologist, Dr. Deepinder Singh of Brighton was trained in India. He is now going through retraining and recertification, completing a residency at Strong Memorial Hospital. It's a process that Indian-trained physicians know well, a process that delays their ability to practice here.

Singh says he understands the necessity.

"It's part of the system, so one has to go through it," he says. "People come here from all over and they all have been trained by different standards."

Singh likes Rochester, a community that reminds him of his home.

"I was brought up in the north of India. The winters are harsh there," says Singh, who comes from Simla, in the Himalaya Mountains.

Old and new

While some Asian Indians are familiar with snow, most are not, and getting used to the Rochester weather is perhaps the first major obstacle.

They also may find that the English they have learned is not quite the English that is spoken here. Their British-influenced educational system taught them different spellings, different pronunciations.

"We use words that English people use," says Vishweshwar Kalavala of Brighton. "It's not always American English."

Asian Indian parents say that another hurdle they face is passing along their cultural values to their children, who are growing up in a different, freer society. The children, in turn, say that the freedoms they would like are normal here.

"The hardest part is the generation gap between my parents and me," says Ravdeep Jaidka, 17, Deepinder Singh's daughter and a junior at Brighton High School. "I guess it's ongoing. I want to stay up late and it's 'No, you have to come home.'"

In coming here, Asian Indians often leave behind a culture in which several generations of a family live in close proximity. Help in raising children is always nearby.

In this country, Asian Indian parents, especially mothers who stay home with their children, find themselves missing this family support.

"I'm a housewife," says Madhavi Mudireddy, 29, who lives in the Rustic Village Apartments in Brighton with her husband, Amaranatha Hastavaram, 36, and their two daughters, one 6 and one a newborn. "At home we had our parents with us."

In a sense, though, Rustic Village provides a new extended family. The large complex across from Monroe Community College has about 300 Asian Indian families and provides a first stop in Rochester for many arrivals from India.

For Kalavala, who works in software at Xerox, it has been the only stop. He has lived at the apartments for nine years now and sees no need to move. He has friends there, likes the management and, thanks to his own organizational efforts, he has cricket.

Every summer there is a tournament at the Rustic Village cricket field with 10 or so teams. Brighton becomes sporting India at least for a day.

Cricket is a game that Meghesh Pansari, 10, understands and likes so much that he has a cricket field in his back yard.

But Meghesh also plays baseball in the Brighton Little League. He's a pitcher and he loves the game. His sporting life is balanced between both worlds.

Sunday afternoons, however, are usually reserved for the religion classes at the Hindu Temple.

Meghesh likes learning about India, and he likes the fact that much of the teaching is through stories.

"They help us get a better understanding of how it happened," Meghesh says. "It makes it interesting, too."

JAB323

July 24th, 2006, 12:44 AM

No idea, but there are a number of Central Americans in small pockets of B-more, and tons of every race, creed, color, etc. in Montgomery, PG, and Northern VA.

StamfordCT

July 24th, 2006, 04:50 PM

Alot of central Americans are moving here to Stamford. Stamford is full of them

Estopa

July 25th, 2006, 05:37 AM

No idea, but there are a number of Central Americans in small pockets of B-more, and tons of every race, creed, color, etc. in Montgomery, PG, and Northern VA.

I would have to agree about NoVA, a lot of Salvadorians and Mexicans live here, I'm a minority being from South America...:(

JAB323

July 25th, 2006, 05:39 AM

I would have to agree about NoVA, a lot of Salvadorians and Mexicans live here, I'm a minority being from South America...:(

Hey, you're from Dum-b-fries. :jk: I drove through Langley Park (PG) it's like driving through Tijuana. I looked it up on census to see what group made up most. The Salvadorans made up like half of hispanics there. I like there culture, it's vvery festive, tons of people walkin' around. Just gotta watchout for MS-13.

Estopa

July 25th, 2006, 05:58 AM

haha, yea true true, I live in D'fries, but I've have lived in Fairfax, VA.....I liked the place.......lot of Salvadorian concentration there, and in Manassas just west of here as well......Woodbridge is catching up fast as well.......anywhere where there is a NOVA (Northern Virginia Community College) around is considered NoVA, theres one 5 minutes from my house.... :rofl:

DCKenny

July 25th, 2006, 06:49 AM

I know the Dominican population is growing in the DC area!

bayviews

July 25th, 2006, 07:49 AM

Scraper Enthusiast

July 25th, 2006, 07:59 AM

ROCguy

July 25th, 2006, 08:02 AM

I'm surprised Washington is higher on the list than Boston. But other than that the list seems pretty much what I'd expect. Yes, the D&C has many great articles that are part of the "who we are" series. They've done many ethnicities; Italian, Irish, Chinese, Indian, Puerto Rican (the largest immigrant group in the area), and yes, most recently, yesterdays story on immigrants from the Caribbean.

Xusein

July 25th, 2006, 08:10 AM

^^ DC is a MAJOR immigrant magnet now, even though most of them go to Northern Virginia or Maryland...lots of affulent ones as well. I'm sure Baltimore is a major one as well. DC is the second largest metro for African immigrants, after NYC, for an example.

Hartford is up there, it seems. I'm somewhat suprised to find it much higher than Buffalo, Rochester, or Pittsburgh though. I thought it would rank lower than Pittsburgh.

Xusein

July 25th, 2006, 08:16 AM

Just like clockwork, when immigrants are mentioned, look who shows up...:no:

Shawn

July 25th, 2006, 08:22 AM

Why do so many on skyscrapercity support the full-scale third worldization of their cities? Do you not realize that this is a global plan to destry the west, ala the New World Order. It is being instrumented throughout most western white nations, and you individuals act like its by chance. This is intentional, and it is the destruction of your civilization, yet you want to embrace your own demise.

You are exactly the type of American that I must apologize for on an almost-daily basis. Thank you for giving people like me a bad image.

Bond James Bond

July 25th, 2006, 08:32 AM

^
That is par for the course for GeorgiaGuy . . . erm, Scraper Enthusiast. It's almost all he talks about.

In fact I clicked on this link soley to see if he had replied to it or not. I figured correctly - he did. And he said exactly what I thought he was going to say.

Shawn

July 25th, 2006, 08:39 AM

Ahh, so he is one of those people. How do people become like that? Parental influence? Maybe life didn't turn out quite as planned and "immigrants" are an easy scapegoat? Fear of differences?

Bond James Bond

July 25th, 2006, 08:42 AM

Ahh, so he is one of those people. How do people become like that? Parental influence? Maybe life didn't turn out quite as planned and "immigrants" are an easy scapegoat? Fear of differences?
He's afraid that all these non-white people will overwhelm the US, and whites will become a helpless minority, and all our cities will turn into 3rd world slums, and crime will run rampant, and all the non-whites will go around spending half their time murdering, raping and robbing white people, because they all hate white people and are against them. And if that weren't bad-enough, there will be rampant race-mixing and the white race will go extinct.

So the wonderful civilization that white people built will disintegrate into anarchy, and the few remaining white people left will be living in fear their whole lives.

Shawn

July 25th, 2006, 08:52 AM

bayviews

July 25th, 2006, 09:12 AM

Boston is a traditional European immigrant gateway that, on a much smaller scale than NYC, but more so than Philadelphia, has become a gateway for the post-1965 immigrants primarily from the Caribbean, Latin America & Asia. China is the largest immigrant source to Boston, with the Dominican Republic, Portugal, Canada, & Brazil looming large.

Baltimore as port was a modest immigrant gateway for the earlier European immigration. Washington, primarily the Maryland & Virginia suburbs, has become basically a brand new gateway for very diverse immigrants from all over the world, particularly Central America, Southeast Asia & both East & East Africa. El Salvador is the largest of the Washimore’s many immigrant sources, with Korea, India, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Mexico also significant. And yeah, Washimore has the largest Ethiopian population is the US. So that’s why Washimore has pulled ahead of Boston & way ahead of Philly.

Good to hear as I also noticed last time I was back there, that depopulated & thus more affordable Baltimore, that is actively marketing itself to immigrants as well as other newcomers, is finally picking up more of that new immigrant overflow. So Baltimore’s population may see an uptick by 2010.

Providence’s biggest immigrant sources include Portugal, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, and Columbia.

Hartford’s biggest immigrant source is Poland (mostly I’m sure going to New Britain CT, which continues as a significant Polish gateway) followed very closely by Jamaica.

Pittsburgh and Buffalo rank at the bottom as much of their immigration population is from the earlier wave and they attract very few new immigrants.

Scraper Enthusiast

July 25th, 2006, 09:48 AM

He's afraid that all these non-white people will overwhelm the US, and whites will become a helpless minority, and all our cities will turn into 3rd world slums, and crime will run rampant, and all the non-whites will go around spending half their time murdering, raping and robbing white people, because they all hate white people and are against them. And if that weren't bad-enough, there will be rampant race-mixing and the white race will go extinct.

So the wonderful civilization that white people built will disintegrate into anarchy, and the few remaining white people left will be living in fear their whole lives.

Bond, you state reality rather well. We're on the road to most of which you bring up. However, I don't think that whites will be murdered and raped to the degree you say. More or less, whites will become a minority, poverty will increase, crime will increase, and the civilizations built by whites will cease to exist or will be diluted. This is a definite given in the United States, unless some corrective action is implemented within the next five to ten years.

Scraper Enthusiast

July 25th, 2006, 09:50 AM

Ohh, so he suffers from SPS (Small Penis Syndrome). Everything is so clear now!

Shawn, clearly you can debate the issues without using personal attacks.

Bond James Bond

July 25th, 2006, 09:53 AM

Bond, you state reality rather well. We're on the road to most of which you bring up. However, I don't think that whites will be murdered and raped to the degree you say. More or less, whites will become a minority, poverty will increase, crime will increase, and the civilizations built by whites will cease to exist or will be diluted. This is a definite given in the United States, unless some corrective action is implemented within the next five to ten years.
So you see, Paul, as I said in the other thread, I *do* understand your view far better than you ever imagined.

And knowing what these views are and having examined them very closely, I also know why they are *wrong.*

Scraper Enthusiast

July 25th, 2006, 09:53 AM

Ahh, so he is one of those people. How do people become like that? Parental influence? Maybe life didn't turn out quite as planned and "immigrants" are an easy scapegoat? Fear of differences?

How do people become like that? Most of the world is like this. Scapegoat? My life has turned out rather well, but I can tell that you can't deny one thing that I have said. You simply attack the messenger. If what I said weren't true, then your lovely Japan, of which you are one of the few outsiders, wouldn't be so limiting of immigration.

Scraper Enthusiast

July 25th, 2006, 09:54 AM

So you see, Paul, as I said in the other thread, I *do* understand your view far better than you ever imagined.

And knowing what these views are and having examined them very closely, I also know why they are *wrong.*

Hmm, why are they wrong? Don't you find it in the least bit wrong to bring down the west through demographic warfare?

Bond James Bond

July 25th, 2006, 09:55 AM

Oh yeah Paul/SE, I might as well ask you this, since I'm so familiar with your mindset: Do you blame all of this on the Jews?

Bond James Bond

July 25th, 2006, 10:01 AM

Hmm, why are they wrong? Don't you find it in the least bit wrong to bring down the west through demographic warfare?
Your error is in assuming that these Third World immigrants will simply continue their exact same behaviors here as they did in their home nations, without alteration.

E.g., Chinese immigrants and their descendants will continue to eat dogs, Mexican immigrants and their descendants will all live in self-built shanties, African immigrants and their ancestors will all be headhunters (or whatever).

Your error is in assuming that these people won't change over time and gradually become "Westernized" or "Americanized."

And every time someone posts some info showing that, in fact, Hispanics or some other group is gradually assimilating, bit by bit, you simply refuse to believe it, or just dismiss it, or something to that effect.

Scraper Enthusiast

July 25th, 2006, 10:09 AM

Oh yeah Paul/SE, I might as well ask you this, since I'm so familiar with your mindset: Do you blame all of this on the Jews?

No, I do not assign blame to the Jews. There are plenty of gentiles to foist blame on too.

Scraper Enthusiast

July 25th, 2006, 10:14 AM

Your error is in assuming that these Third World immigrants will simply continue their exact same behaviors here as they did in their home nations, without alteration.

E.g., Chinese immigrants and their descendants will continue to eat dogs, Mexican immigrants and their descendants will all live in self-built shanties, African immigrants and their ancestors will all be headhunters (or whatever).

Your error is in assuming that these people won't change over time and gradually become "Westernized" or "Americanized."

And every time someone posts some info showing that, in fact, Hispanics or some other group is gradually assimilating, bit by bit, you simply refuse to believe it, or just dismiss it, or something to that effect.

Some are acculturating, to that there is no denial. However, the sheer number of immigrants from the non-western world is drowning out the people and culture of the west. Perhaps it has to do with you living in Seattle and not Los Angeles, Dallas, Houston, or San Diego.

Furthermore, there is more to a nation than acculturation. The genetic group of the people, encased within borders, is just as important. In fact, this is important for all peoples to survive. It is why borders and protection of those borders has been instrumental in helping the continuance of a people and their culture.

krazeeboi

July 25th, 2006, 10:19 AM

Your error is in assuming that these Third World immigrants will simply continue their exact same behaviors here as they did in their home nations, without alteration.

E.g., Chinese immigrants and their descendants will continue to eat dogs, Mexican immigrants and their descendants will all live in self-built shanties, African immigrants and their ancestors will all be headhunters (or whatever).

Your error is in assuming that these people won't change over time and gradually become "Westernized" or "Americanized."

And every time someone posts some info showing that, in fact, Hispanics or some other group is gradually assimilating, bit by bit, you simply refuse to believe it, or just dismiss it, or something to that effect.

Exactly. Although I must say that my father passed down the headhunting craft to me precisely as my grandfather did to him, my great-grandfather to my grandfather, and so on.

If there's this sinister plot to destroy Western culture through immigration, may I ask who is the mastermind behind it?

krazeeboi

July 25th, 2006, 10:21 AM

Some are acculturating, to that there is no denial. However, the sheer number of immigrants from the non-western world is drowning out the people and culture of the west.

Kinda like what the Europeans did to the native Americans?

qwerty1324

July 25th, 2006, 10:23 AM

Why do so many on skyscrapercity support the full-scale third worldization of their cities? Do you not realize that this is a global plan to destry the west, ala the New World Order. It is being instrumented throughout most western white nations, and you individuals act like its by chance. This is intentional, and it is the destruction of your civilization, yet you want to embrace your own demise.

Wait you are GeorgiaGuy, our supposed Christian religious poster.

The humanity is gone. Is that really your religious ideals?

Scraper Enthusiast

July 25th, 2006, 10:32 AM

Exactly. Although I must say that my father passed down the headhunting craft to me precisely as my grandfather did to him, my great-grandfather to my grandfather, and so on.

If there's this sinister plot to destroy Western culture through immigration, may I ask who is the mastermind behind it?

I don't have a face to go with these people, but I would argue that it is individuals who are seeking to integrate the economies of multiple countries. We first saw it in Europe, whereby trading policies were liberalized, followed by the movement of peoples, the implementation of a currency and constitution. In the U.S., we're seeing it through "free trade" policies, which are set to be replaced by a North American Union. The date of this implentation is up for debate, but many argue that it could take effect as early as 2010. Following the path of Europe, open movement of people between the countries in the NAU would be condoned. As such, the distinctiveness of the cultural aspects of the three nations would become more homogenized, as has already happened in the European Union. Little by little the cultural distinctiveness will fade away.

Even without these regional zones, one can see that it seems clearly one-sided, whereby most western white nations have sought to import millions of foreigners into their own nations, but the reverse is not true. Many blame this on the huge chasm that exists between the developed white world and the largely developing non-white world. However, given the overall timeframe of the liberalization of most nations immigration laws (mid 60s to mid 70s, some 80s), one would find it more than a little coincidental. However, even if a conspiracy does not exists, the loss of the west is nothing to be celebrated. Western nations should celebrate their culture and heritage, and they should seek to protect their own interests.

It's rather obvious, though, that greed and the almighty dollar have sold out the American people in the pursuit of greater profits. It has a lot to do with corporate lobbyists and campaign contributors bribing politicians not to do anything about the issue of illegal immigration.

Bond James Bond

July 25th, 2006, 10:35 AM

Some are acculturating, to that there is no denial.
I'm glad you agree.

However, the sheer number of immigrants from the non-western world is drowning out the people and culture of the west. Perhaps it has to do with you living in Seattle and not Los Angeles, Dallas, Houston, or San Diego.
Seattle is becoming almost as immigrant-heavy as any other American city. When I get on a bus I typically hear more Spanish, Chinese and Hindi than I do English. If you're ever in the area go to some of the malls around here, since you were so taken aback with your experience in Ontario Mills.

One can argue about the numbers, but at least in the case of the US I would disagree. Most of the immigrants we get aren't even all that different culturally from Whites - Mexicans and other Latin Americans are mostly Western already, and ironically, the other major immigrant group - Asians - very readily assimilate even though they *aren't* Western. Heck, in the case of Europe and the Muslims I might agree they do create undue problems. But that's not the case with most of the immigrants the US gets.

Furthermore, there is more to a nation than acculturation. The genetic group of the people, encased within borders, is just as important.
White American genetics are already so mixed up, what's the point? We've already created a new race which might be called "Generic Mongrel Mixed White American", so what is wrong with creating some more new "races?"

If this was the unique genetic makeup of Icelanders you were talking about, I might be inclined to see your point. But most Americans are already mongrels.

In fact, this is important for all peoples to survive. It is why borders and protection of those borders has been instrumental in helping the continuance of a people and their culture.
What's wrong with creating some new cultures?

You are simply afraid of change, that's the only thing that drives you.

Scraper Enthusiast

July 25th, 2006, 10:37 AM

Kinda like what the Europeans did to the native Americans?

Not exactly comparable.

I'll agree that some tribes were dealt harshly with, and they were unjustly removed. However, let's put things in perspective. The land of the time was sparse. Today, it is populated. Then, there was no government (minus a few tribal "governments"). Today, the U.S. is a nation with a full-functioning government.

Another thing to consider is the fact that you're putting up a poor excuse for the destruction of the west: "The Native Americans were removed, so it's okay to remove and destroy white countries". So two wrongs make a right? Yet, this doesn't even relate to European countries which didn't have any "Native Americans" to displace.

Bond James Bond

July 25th, 2006, 10:38 AM

If there's this sinister plot to destroy Western culture through immigration, may I ask who is the mastermind behind it?
If he's like the other racists I've argued with on Stormfront, he'd blame the Jews. But even if he's like them and blames them for this sinister plot, he probably wouldn't admit it on here because it would *surely* get him banned.

Scraper Enthusiast

July 25th, 2006, 10:40 AM

I'm glad you agree.

Seattle is becoming almost as immigrant-heavy as any other American city. When I get on a bus I typically hear more Spanish, Chinese and Hindi than I do English. If you're ever in the area go to some of the malls around here, since you were so taken aback with your experience in Ontario Mills.

One can argue about the numbers, but at least in the case of the US I would disagree. Most of the immigrants we get aren't even all that different culturally from Whites - Mexicans and other Latin Americans are mostly Western already, and ironically, the other major immigrant group - Asians - very readily assimilate even though they *aren't* Western. Heck, in the case of Europe and the Muslims I might agree they do create undue problems. But that's not the case with most of the immigrants the US gets.

White American genetics are already so mixed up, what's the point? We've already created a new race which might be called "Generic Mongrel Mixed White American", so what is wrong with creating some more new "races?"

If this was the unique genetic makeup of Icelanders you were talking about, I might be inclined to see your point. But most Americans are already mongrels.

What's wrong with creating some new cultures?

You are simply afraid of change, that's the only thing that drives you.

Well, each of your points are easily able to be refuted, but at this point, I am tired. I'll try to get to your points later in the day. Here in the east, it is insanely early, indicating that I need to get my hours adjusted for the upcoming school year.

Scraper Enthusiast

July 25th, 2006, 10:43 AM

If he's like the other racists I've argued with on Stormfront, he'd blame the Jews. But even if he's like them and blames them for this sinister plot, he probably wouldn't admit it on here because it would *surely* get him banned.

You go to Stormfront? Those people kind of freak me out. There really is hate on that site. There are other websites that speak up on behalf of white people and the destruction of our societies that don't blame everything on the Jews, but rather speak realistically about the issues in a truthful, educated manner.

Anyway, I've got to get some sleep.

Bond James Bond

July 25th, 2006, 10:45 AM

Not exactly comparable.

I'll agree that some tribes were dealt harshly with, and they were unjustly removed. However, let's put things in perspective. The land of the time was sparse. Today, it is populated. Then, there was no government (minus a few tribal "governments"). Today, the U.S. is a nation with a full-functioning government.

Another thing to consider is the fact that you're putting up a poor excuse for the destruction of the west: "The Native Americans were removed, so it's okay to remove and destroy white countries". So two wrongs make a right? Yet, this doesn't even relate to European countries which didn't have any "Native Americans" to displace.
Let's say you stole your neighbor's house and moved in, displacing most of your neighbor's family who lived there by killing them or herding them all into one of the closets.

You then later realized it was wrong of you to do it.

By saying, "Two wrongs don't make a right," you're saying that, even though you realize your stealing of this house was wrong, you still want to keep it all to yourself anyway. You refuse to share it or give it back to your neighbors. You're saying, "I realized I got this house through dishonest means, but now that I've successfully stolen it, I still want to keep it all to myself anyway."

Even if sharing this stolen house with other people might create some problems, it is the lesser of the two evils: At least this way you are atoning for what you agree is a past injustice. The greater of the two evils would be to do as I pointed out above, by saying, in essence, "I realized I got this house through dishonest means, but now that I've successfully stolen it, I still want to keep it all to myself anyway."

qwerty1324

July 25th, 2006, 10:46 AM

HirakataShi

July 25th, 2006, 10:51 AM

I worry about those poor children in Cherokee county. Instead of learning "reading, writing and arithmetic" they are learning "how can we advance the white race and eliminate the dark skinned vermin" courtesy of ScraperEnthusiast.

Bond James Bond

July 25th, 2006, 11:05 AM

Well, each of your points are easily able to be refuted, but at this point, I am tired. I'll try to get to your points later in the day. Here in the east, it is insanely early, indicating that I need to get my hours adjusted for the upcoming school year.
This is another debating error you commonly make. You don't seem able to distinguish between opinion and fact.

Someone will frequently state their opinion and you reply by saying you can "refute" it or that it is somehow "illogical."

Most of what I said in that response was opinion. You can't "refute" opinon.

Shawn

July 25th, 2006, 12:35 PM

How do people become like that? Most of the world is like this. Scapegoat? My life has turned out rather well, but I can tell that you can't deny one thing that I have said. You simply attack the messenger. If what I said weren't true, then your lovely Japan, of which you are one of the few outsiders, wouldn't be so limiting of immigration.

I didn’t bother refuting anything because you are so off base that it's not really worth debating. I wrestled with you over this stuff five years ago on SSP, and I remember how pointless it is to debate facts with you, as you cherry-pick whatever "facts" help your flimsy argument while ignoring the mountains of evidence that refute it.

As for my "lovely" Japan, I am hugely critical of its xenophobic, group-think mindset. Thanks to old, entrenched politicians who think surprisingly like you, "lovely Japan" is facing such a demographic implosion that basic government pension funds and health care will no longer be fiscally possible within the next 10 years. Labor shortages are rife. Institutionalized racism is rampant. I have been physically searched by police 7 times over the past 6 years, and I am lucky; as a white male American, the police give me "preferential treatment." If I were Korean, Chinese or black . . . things would be much worse. I am personally affected in a very real, very negative way by people who think exactly like you on a daily basis. People like you sicken me.

As for the personal attacks, you’ve earned them. I have always refrained from making any sort of personal attack on these forums, as doing so weakens one’s argument. But in your case, the Social Darwinist/pseudo-anthropological abortions that spill out of your mouth give me every right to not only point out how ill-conceived your arguments are, but also that you really do suffer from Small Penis Syndrome.

Care to share with us why blacks don’t tip well, Pizza Boy?

Xusein

July 25th, 2006, 05:41 PM

This thread had to be ruined...you guys should not even bother arguing with him....

DCKenny

July 25th, 2006, 06:14 PM

I agree!!

Scraper Enthusiast

July 25th, 2006, 06:18 PM

Omg you are an educator. lol.

Why, is it odd that a teacher happens to not be a modern day multiculturalist, a diversity promoter that college professors have thoroughly brainwashed in the schools of education?

HirakataShi

July 25th, 2006, 10:11 PM

Thanks to old, entrenched politicians who think surprisingly like you, "lovely Japan" is facing such a demographic implosion that basic government pension funds and health care will no longer be fiscally possible within the next 10 years. Labor shortages are rife.

True

Institutionalized racism is rampant. I have been physically searched by police 7 times over the past 6 years, and I am lucky; as a white male American, the police give me "preferential treatment." If I were Korean, Chinese or black . . . things would be much worse.

This part left me scratching my head. I have heard of discrimination, and have friends who have complained about it, but I have never encountered this myself. Curiously, everyone I know who has mentioned experiences similar to what you have are either White or Chinese/Korean. Perhaps Whites, Chinese and Koreans are rarely on the receiving end of discrimination in their home countries, so they are more vocal about discrimination they experience in Japan?? By contrast other groups (like Latins, Malays and Blacks) are either accustomed to encountering or witnessing discrimination in their home countries, and so are not as vocal when encountering it in Japan??

JAB323

July 25th, 2006, 10:38 PM

so much for this thread.

Evergrey

July 26th, 2006, 12:33 AM

Total Immigrant Populations in Major Northeast Metros
(2000 Census)

1. New York CMSA 5,182,255
2. Washington-Baltimore CMSA 980,621
3. Boston CMSA 721,060
4. Philadelphia CMSA 433,919
5. Providence MSA 142,784
6. Hartford MSA 120,355
7. Rochester MSA 62,794
8. Pittsburgh MSA 62,286
9. Buffalo MSA 51,381

Wow... I knew Pittsburgh had a low number of immigrants... but I am blown away to see that it has less immigrants than Rochester and only 9 thousand more than Buffalo, a stagnant metro half its size (must be a lot of ex-Canadians). One major reason Pittsburgh has so few immigrants is that is has made a transition from the most blue-collar major metro in America to the least blue-collar major metro in America. There is a lack of "blue-collar" opportunities to attract Mexican immigrants. However, I feel that immigration is starting to pick up in Pittsburgh... a Latino community is finally starting to form in the Beechview neighborhood.

Pittsburgh may have one of the country's smallest immigrant communities... but interestingly it is also the most educated (highest percentage with a post-secondary degree). The city's many hospitals, universities and high-tech firms attract educated immigrants from around the world.

bayviews

July 26th, 2006, 01:06 AM

I know the Dominican population is growing in the DC area!

Just as an aside, its fine to debate the pros & cons of immigration in general and there are valid arguments & points on both sides, but this thread is not the appropriate the venue. That belongs in the international or US discussions.

Rotten is so right. I’ve always found that the best cure for trolls & other would be thread killers who crave attention in the form of responses, is just to ignore their posts as you would bad wallpaper. Otherwise the discussion simply degenerates into what’s above.

Meanwhile though, getting back to the topic of this thread, that was specifically about impact of immigrants in Northeast cities.

Yeah, Dominicans are a growing population around Washimore & throughout the Northeast. And the Dominican Republic is the biggest source of immigration to NY State, the largest state in the Northeast. Still, Dominicans are still very heavily concentrated within the NYC CMSA, including a big overflow into North Jersey.

As anybody who’s ever gone up Broadway to Washington Heights in northern Manhattan or just across the Harlem River to the Southwest Bronx, or smaller cities like Paterson NJ, Providence RI, Lawrence MA, or Allentown PA, can attest, Dominicans have been a huge source of bottoms-up small business development. Talk about business-friendly immigrants!

These population figures below include only immigrants, not the growing second-generation Dominican population.

Dominican Republic Immigrants in Major Northeast Metros
2000 Census

1. New York City CMSA 494,789
2. Boston CMSA 46,762
3. Providence MSA 16,464
4. Philadelphia CMSA 9,862
5. Washington-Baltimore CMSA 8,674
6. Hartford MSA 1,986
7. Rochester MSA 1,332
8. Buffalo MSA 486
9. Pittsburgh MSA 225

ROCguy

July 26th, 2006, 01:12 AM

bayviews

July 26th, 2006, 01:17 AM

So.... did the Klan cancel their meeting for today?

ROC, just ignore trolls!

Xusein

July 26th, 2006, 01:35 AM

1. New York City CMSA 494,789
2. Boston CMSA 46,762
3. Providence MSA 16,464
4. Philadelphia CMSA 9,862
5. Washington-Baltimore CMSA 8,674
6. Hartford MSA 1,986
7. Rochester MSA 1,332
8. Buffalo MSA 486
9. Pittsburgh MSA 225

Hmmm...I have never noticed the low Domincan population until now...CT is not really a magnet for this nationality.

But with New York close by, Hartford could gain.

DCKenny

July 26th, 2006, 01:35 AM

I read somewhere that the Dominican population in the DC area is over 15,000 I'm not too sure but I'll find out!

DCKenny

July 26th, 2006, 01:39 AM

Also I did'nt know Dominicans live in Pittsburgh?

bayviews

July 26th, 2006, 02:00 AM

Wow... I knew Pittsburgh had a low number of immigrants... but I am blown away to see that it has less immigrants than Rochester and only 9 thousand more than Buffalo, a stagnant metro half its size (must be a lot of ex-Canadians). One major reason Pittsburgh has so few immigrants is that is has made a transition from the most blue-collar major metro in America to the least blue-collar major metro in America. There is a lack of "blue-collar" opportunities to attract Mexican immigrants. However, I feel that immigration is starting to pick up in Pittsburgh... a Latino community is finally starting to form in the Beechview neighborhood.

Pittsburgh may have one of the country's smallest immigrant communities... but interestingly it is also the most educated (highest percentage with a post-secondary degree). The city's many hospitals, universities and high-tech firms attract educated immigrants from around the world.

Yeah, Pittsburgh that was a big gateway to immigrants a century ago isn't at that today. Pittsburgh still boasts lots of great Irish, Italian, Polish, Slovak, Croatian, Ukranian, & other Old World ethnic flavor, but few are recent immigrants. But its good to see that Pittsburgh realizes the need for newcomers and seems to be starting to make at least some headway in reaching out to attract new immigrants, particularly Asian professionals.

True, Buffalo & Pittsburgh have lots in common in terms of their lack of new immigrants. Your right, the biggest differeance is that a lot more foreign-born Canadians settled around Buffalo (8,555) as opposed to Pittsburgh (2,663). Now, probably more Americans would like to go to Canada than vice versa, so that's not a growing flow.

So Buffalo is the only major metro where the immigrant population is still actually declining. Even Pittsburgh saw an uptick in immigrants during the 1990s. Rochester contuinues to attract the most immigrants of any of the upstate NY metros.

Historically, Pittsburgh was bypassed by the post WW II Puerto Rican migration that touched down in Philadelphia & branched out to Bethlehem, Allentown, Reading, Lancaster, & other cities in southeast PA. Puerto Ricans also touched down in Cleveland, settling also in Lorain & Youngstown OH. Some of the Puerto Ricans whose families settled in Youngstown in the early 1950s to work in the steel mills may move to Pittsburgh where there are more opportunities.

Still, there's there's never been much of an established Latino community that draws Dominicans, Mexicans, or other Latino immigrants to Pittsburgh. Dominicans are settling across eastern Pennsylania & even more Mexicans in both eastern PA (Reading has big community) & NE Ohio (Painesville, a Cleveland suburb, has growing community). So perhaps Pittsburgh will draw more of that inflow.

bayviews

July 26th, 2006, 03:48 AM

I read somewhere that the Dominican population in the DC area is over 15,000 I'm not too sure but I'll find out!

Keep in mind that those posted numbers reflect simply the Dominican immigrant population. Also, Dominicans & the other smaller Latino groups also complained that they were greatly undercounted in the 2000 Census. And more than half a decade has elapsed. So sure, DCKenny, there might be even more than 15,000 Dominicans around Washimore. Still, pretty small compared to the big Salvadorian & other Latin American population in around DC, or the numbers of Dominicans in some other parts of the Northeast.

Historically, Dominicans have concentrated in NYC, where their numbers began growing rapidly from just about 15,000 in 1950 after longtime dictator Rafael Trujillo who had kept a lid on emigration, was overthrown & after the US Marines intervened in Santo Domingo in 1965. Aside from Washington Heights & the Southwest Bronx, there are large Dominican communities in the traditionally Puerto Rican neighborhoods of Brooklyn from Sunset Park to East NY, and in Queens, where Dominicans have a big concentration alongside South & Central Americans in Corona & Jackson Heights.

Within the next decade or so, Dominicans will probably overtake Puerto Ricans as the largest Latino group in NYC. But eventually, even Dominicans might be overtaken by Mexicans, barely a presence just a couple of decades ago, but now NYC’s fastest-growing immigrant group!

For one, following Puerto Ricans by a few decades, Dominicans have gradually been branching out across the Northeast.

Within NY State, Dominicans are still almost exclusively concentrated within downstate, with growing communities on Long Island, in Yonkers & other parts of Westchester & a significant outpost in Haverstraw in Rockland AKA Little Santo Domingo on the Hudson. Not many Dominicans have settled upstate, mostly around Albany and Rochester, where Dominicans have opened some stores in the northeast quadrant. The numbers in Syracuse may have jumped since the census.

Many more Dominicans have crossed the Hudson to New Jersey. Paterson, Passaic, Jersey City, Union City, West NY, Newark, Perth Amboy, & New Brunswick, NJ, all have significant Dominican communitities. These cities had established Puerto Rican and/or Cuban communities when the Dominicans started coming in the later 1960s. In the past couple of decades, smaller Dominican communities have cropped up in Camden, Trenton, and Vineland & Atlantic City. In all of these NJ cities, while there now many different Latino immigrant groups, Dominicans run many of the Hispanic bodegas, record stores, hair salons, & other small businesses.

In Pennsylvania, there are modest but rapidly growing Dominican communities in the traditionally Puerto Rican areas of lower northeast Philadelphia. But many Dominicans branching out from NYC have been bypassing Philly, settling in Allentown, Reading, Lancaster, & Hazelton. So Pittsburgh may be getting some of that inflow.

Interesting in New England, most Dominicans drove right past most of the Connecticut & western Massachusetts cities that were already heavily populated by Puerto Ricans, settling instead in eastern New England, where the Latino population was then small. Or they flew right into Boston, which has a sizeable Dominican community, concentrated in Jamaica Plain, AKA Little Bani. Lawrence MA, where immigrants came to work in Merrimack Valley shoe, leather & tech factories, now has biggest Dominican community outside of NYC! Lynn, Lowell, Haverhill, & Worcester also have growing communities. Dominicans run most of the Latino businesses in Springfield & Holyoke in western MA, although both are still heavily Puerto Rican. Providence, RI, where many immigrants followed family networks, coming to work in jewelry factories, is another major Dominican settlement. Nashua & Manchester NH are attracting Dominicans from Massachusetts.

So as a byproduct of that migration, Connecticut is starting to draw more Dominicans. Danbury, Waterbury, & Stamford have had sizeable Dominican communities for decades, and more are settling around Bridgeport, Hartford & New Haven. Rotten, I’d bet that many of the business on Park Street in Hartford are now owned by Dominicans even though that Frog Hollow neighborhood is mostly Puerto Ricans. Winsted CT, a small town, has also attracted quite a few Dominicans.

Outside the Northeast, there are also large Dominican communities in Florida (Miami, Orlando, Tampa) and scattered Dominican presence in other parts of the south (Atlanta, Houston), Midwest (Chicago, Grand Rapids MI) & believe it or not, in Alaska!

Sure I’ve overlooked some points, but hope this provides a bit more on the contributions of the oft overlooked Dominican immigrant communities that been making a positive mark across the Northeast.

JAB323

July 26th, 2006, 03:55 AM

I looked up D.C. and 1.8% claim to speak FRENCH (yes French) at home. 1.8% of about 580,000 would be 10,440. Is it just me or does that seem like a lot of French.

DCKenny

July 26th, 2006, 04:07 AM

The Domincan population in the city( DC) is probably over a 1,200 but the suburbs are larger also there alot of Puerto Ricans in the DC metro too. As for Cubans, I'm not sure about their population but I know we have them too. Also the DC area has a large Brazilian community! Plenty of Central Americans, South Americans, and Asians very diverse indeed!

bayviews

July 26th, 2006, 04:18 AM

I looked up D.C. and 1.8% claim to speak FRENCH (yes French) at home. 1.8% of about 580,000 would be 10,440. Is it just me or does that seem like a lot of French.

Not sure if you mean just DC or all of Washimore metro.

I hear some French when I'm there. In Washimore, there are 8,315 immigrants from France, 15,775 from Canada, a significant minority French-Canadians no doubt. Add to that 6,195 from Haiti who speak Creole French, 11,656 from other Western Africa (including Senegal, Guinea, Mali etc), and 5,623 from Middle Africa that includes both of the Congos. Then add in lots more French-speaking visitors & non-permenent residents who work in the embassies, international organizations & don't count as immigrants & so that sounds about right.

brookliner

July 26th, 2006, 04:34 AM

Bayviews - great overview of Dominican immigration trends. The Dominican culture is vibrant and well established in Boston. I remember the days of Pedro Martinez taking the mount at Fenway...and seeing the Dominican flags go up in the stands. Ah...now I'm getting chills thinking about baseball.

JAB323

July 26th, 2006, 08:59 PM

Not sure if you mean just DC or all of Washimore metro.

I hear some French when I'm there. In Washimore, there are 8,315 immigrants from France, 15,775 from Canada, a significant minority French-Canadians no doubt. Add to that 6,195 from Haiti who speak Creole French, 11,656 from other Western Africa (including Senegal, Guinea, Mali etc), and 5,623 from Middle Africa that includes both of the Congos. Then add in lots more French-speaking visitors & non-permenent residents who work in the embassies, international organizations & don't count as immigrants & so that sounds about right.

The city, I've seen some boutiques and cafes owned by new French arrivals, but I wouldn't think there's that many.

DBR96A

July 26th, 2006, 09:35 PM

bayviews: Could you post census figures for the Northeast metros that deal with Middle Eastern, East Indian, Vietnamese and Filipino populations? Thanks.

JAB323

July 26th, 2006, 10:15 PM

bayviews: Could you post census figures for the Northeast metros that deal with Middle Eastern, East Indian, Vietnamese and Filipino populations? Thanks.

Yeah, that'd be great.

bayviews

July 27th, 2006, 02:18 AM

bayviews: Could you post census figures for the Northeast metros that deal with Middle Eastern, East Indian, Vietnamese and Filipino populations? Thanks.

As requested, here is some info on the three major sources of immigration from East Asia to the Northeast. Incidentally, Japan as a fully developed nation hasn’t been a significant source of recent immigration. I’ll be posting more on the major other Asian immigrant groups.

Chinese have been coming to the US in significant since the mid-19th century and the Chinatowns in NYC, Boston, & Philadelphia are long-established. However, these numbers pick up the much bigger wave of post-1965 immigrants from China, Taiwan, & Hong Kong. These figures don’t include the large numbers of ethnic Chinese that have emigrated from Southeast Asia.

Although California remains the biggest destination for immigrants from China, NYC attracts more Chinese than any other US metro and is by far the largest destination within the Northeast. Large numbers have immigrated from China’s Fuijan province to work in what’s left of NYC’s garment industry. In addition to the long-established Chinatown in lower Manhattan, secondary Chinatown’s have been sprung up in Brooklyn’s Sunset Heights & across a wide swath of Queens.

While Boston’s old Chinatown has expanded, many Chinese have moved to Allston-Brighton & other city neighborhoods, while the largest new suburban Chinatown has taken root in Quincy. Philadelphia’s smaller Chinatown just north of Central City has grown, but Chinese there are more dispersed. Most Chinese has bypassed Washington DC’s little Chinatown for the suburbs too. In other metros, most Chinese too have settled in the suburbs.

The economic contribution of Chinese immigrants in business & the professions is widely known, & there's nothing like having personal connections with the world's fastest-growing economy!

Filipinos (some of Chinese background) have been coming to the US in significant numbers since the US occupied the Philippines after the 1898 war. Many Filipino immigrants have come to the NYC area, including Brooklyn, Queens, Jersey City & the other NJ suburbs, working as nurses, accountants, & teachers, many moving up into civil service ranks. Washimore, Philadelphia, & Boston have growing Filipino communities. However, most Filipinos continue to settle along the West Coast.

Koreans have come to the US in significant numbers since the Korean War as war brides and since 1965 as families and students. NYC (There’s a large Korean community in Flushing, Queens and in places like Fort Lee, NJ) the second-largest destination for Korean immigrants after LA, as well as in Philadelphia, Washington DC, Baltimore, and Boston. Even more than other East Asians, Koreans, like Dominicans, have opened and acquired many thousands of small businesses, “green groceries” in the more affluent area, more basic stores in the ghettos.

Anyway, there’s how the East Asian settlement patterns in the Northeast look. In Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Rochester & other metros with small East Asian populations, the immigrants tend to be professionals who settle directly in the suburbs.

Immigrants from East Asia in Major Northeast Metros
(2000 Census)

China (including Taiwan & Hong Kong):

1. New York City CMSA 354,231
2. Boston CMSA 53,874
3. Washington-Baltimore CMSA 51,497
4. Philadelphia CMSA 28,302
5. Pittsburgh MSA 4,480
6. Hartford MSA 3,865
7. Rochester MSA 3,162
8. Providence MSA 2,982
9. Buffalo MSA 2,474

Philippines:

1. New York City CMSA 133,713
2. Washington-Baltimore CMSA 38,539
3. Philadelphia CMSA 15,638
4. Boston CMSA 7,333
5. Providence MSA 1,721
6. Hartford MSA 1,691
7. Pittsburgh MSA 1,067
8. Rochester MSA 705
9. Buffalo MSA 647

Korea:

1. New York City CMSA 138,655
2. Washington-Baltimore CMSA 60,009
3. Philadelphia CMSA 23,084
4. Boston CMSA 12,825
5. Rochester MSA 2,632
6. Pittsburgh MSA 2,265
7. Buffalo MSA 1,729
8. Hartford MSA 1,672
9. Providence MSA 1,547

ROCguy

July 27th, 2006, 02:32 AM

Bayviews... just curious; where do you live and where are you from?

JAB323

July 27th, 2006, 03:20 AM

There are some significant Korean enclaves developing in Anne Arundel County between D.C. and Bmore.

bayviews

July 27th, 2006, 04:02 AM

There are some significant Korean enclaves developing in Anne Arundel County between D.C. and Bmore.

Yeah, that makes sense as Baltimore, not a generally a big Asian immigrant gateway, actually did attract lots of Korean immigrants beginning in the late 1960s. Soon after the big 1968 riots, Korean immigrants bought up a lot of the burned out stores in West & East B-more, opening up lots of wig shops, etc. Same thing happened in DC. So the Korean presence isn't a new one.

But as for Southeast Asia, the US military interventions in Vietnam, Cambodia & Laos, which ended in Communist victories in 1975, sparked the first significant movement of Indochinese to the US, mostly as political refugees. Refugees have dwindled to a small share of the total immigration, but are organized by government & social services agencies and so the settlement patterns are quite different. It makes lots of sense that very few refuges are resettled around NYC and other big immigrant gateway, and most in smaller places where housing is much cheaper.

Vietnam has provided most of the immigration from Southeast Asia. Ethnic Chinese comprise a significant share of the flow from Vietnam. The biggest Vietnamese communities are located in California, in Orange County & around San Jose in the South Bay.

In the Northeast, Washimore has been the largest destination for those from Vietnam. Many of the first Vietnamese were resettled in the Adams-Morgan neighborhood of Washington DC. But the community quickly expanded across the Potomac to Arlington & Alexandria, Virginia & counties to move outward into the northern Virginia suburbs. Boston’s Vietnamese are scattered around, with the largest community in the city’s Dorchester district.

South Philadelphia is the center of Philly’s Vietnamese community. In NYC, many of the Vietnamese are ethnic Chinese and live close to the Chinese communities. Last time I was in Hartford, I noticed a significant Vietnamese community at the western end of Park Street, the Latino commercial spine, near the city line. In Buffalo, in contrast to the tendency of most Asians to settle in suburban Amherst, most of the Vietnamese are settled on the West Side. Almost everywhere they settle, along with restaurants, Vietnamese have opened lots of nail salons!

Cambodians (mostly Khmers but also some ethnic Chinese) came in large numbers, fleeing the brutal Pol Pot regime. While Long Beach, CA attracted the largest number of Cambodians, the second-largest settled in Lowell, Massachusetts in the Merrimack Valley. Cambodian tech workers played a major role in assembling the computer components that produced the “Massachusetts Miracle”. As happens with all booms, it eventually burst, yet Cambodians stayed in Lowell, revitalizing that old milltown as well as many other once declining suburbs like Revere just north of Boston. Providence, South Philadelphia, NYC’s Bronx, & Washimore’s North Virginia ‘burbs also have sizeable Khmer communities.

Laos’s immigrants include ethnic lowlanders, as well as Meo and Hmong tribes people. Most, particularly the tribes people, have avoided big coastal cities like NYC, settling instead in sleepy smaller towns in California’s Central Valley, the upper Midwest & the South. Most of the Laotians around Boston, Washmore, Philadelphia, NYC, Providence, Rochester and Hartford are lowlanders who settle near other Southeast Asians.

Incidentally, little known but true, Laotian immigration helped to spark the Thai restaurant craze. Laotians are close country cousins to Thais, who with an economy generally as hot as Bangkok in August, have not come here in significant numbers. And so as is also the case in Bangkok, Laotians (and other non-Thai Southeast Asian immigrants) comprise many of the cooks and dishwashers employed in the Thai-owned restaurants.

Immigrants from Southeast Asia in Major Northeast Metros
(2000 Census)

Vietnam

1. Washington-Baltimore CMSA 40,373
2. Boston CMSA 29,416
3. New York City CMSA 27,980
4. Philadelphia CMSA 22,524
5. Hartford MSA 3,287
6. Rochester MSA 2,250
7. Buffalo MSA 1,418
8. Pittsburgh MSA 1,302
9. Providence MSA 909

Cambodia

1. Boston CMSA 12,249
2. Philadelphia CMSA 5,827
3. Providence MSA 4,541
4. New York City CMSA 4,056
5. Washington-Baltimore CMSA 3,711
6. Hartford MSA 369
7. Rochester MSA 343
8. Buffalo MSA 121
9. Pittsburgh MSA 54

Laos

1. Boston CMSA 3,095
2. Washington-Baltimore CMSA 2,989
3. Providence MSA 2,614
4. New York City CMSA 2,206
5. Philadelphia CMSA 1,801
6. Rochester MSA 1,381
7. Hartford MSA 1,172
8. Buffalo MSA 174
9. Pittsburgh MSA 61

JAB323

July 27th, 2006, 04:12 AM

^^ Yeah, the classic Asian aka "chink" stores in the ghettos. My neighbor in Annapolis, is Korean, and owns a corner store in Baltimore.

bayviews

July 27th, 2006, 06:38 AM

^^ Yeah, the classic Asian aka "chink" stores in the ghettos. My neighbor in Annapolis, is Korean, and owns a corner store in Baltimore.

Not surprisingly, not too many of the second generation of Korean Ams want to follow their parents into running those types of of stores. In places like NYC, wouldn't be surprised if the most recent wave of Mexican immigrants take over many of the Korean green grocers, Greek dinners, & Italian pizzerias where they work. Or maybe the South Asians immigrants, who are going into these business too.

Anyway here's more on the South Asians, who first came at the begging at of the last century. They were mostly Sikhs, with some Hindus & Muslims who came from Punjab which straddles the border between present-day India & Pakistan. They started as agricultural workers in California & many ended up becoming growers. However, the vast majority of South Asian immigrants have arrived since 1965, with a big uptick during the 1990s. Not included in the immigration flows below are many South Asians who have come from Malaysia/Singapore, East/South Africa, Trinidad/Guyana, or by way of the UK & Canada.

NYC has the biggest Asian Indian population in the US, with the biggest concentration in Jackson Heights, Flushing & other neighborhoods in Queens. There are also many Indo-Guyanese and Indo-Trinidadians in Richmond Hills and adjacent parts of southeast Queens and east Brooklyn, settled alongside other Caribbean communities. There’s also substantial Indian communities in Jersey City, around Edison NJ, in suburban Middlesex County & on Long Island. Indians have played a significant role in N. Virginia’s tech boom, thus the big concentration in Washimore. Same story on a smaller scale around Philadelphia and Boston. Around Pittsburgh, Indo-Americans have become prominent in engineering and healthcare, helping in the transition to a post-industrial economy. In suburban Buffalo, an Indo-American engineer was recently elected as the first Asian American town supervisor (mayor) of Amherst NY.

NYC has also attracted the largest numbers of Pakistani immigrants in the US. Brooklyn’s Midwood AKA Little Pakistan suffered from deportations in the wake of 9-11, when Muslim immigrants became suspect. Pakistanis, who have opened many 7-11s & other small businesses, also have significant communities in Queens, Jersey City and other South Asian enclaves around the NYC region. Washimore, Philly & Boston have much smaller Pakistani populations.

NYC also has the only really big Bangladeshi immigrant community in the US. There’s a visible Bangladeshi commercial district taking shape in lower Manhattan, and a growing residential presence in the Bronx. Most Bangladeshis though live in the Indo-Paki areas of Brooklyn and Queens or in the South Asian suburbs. Together with Indians, Pakistanis, and Afghans, Bangladeshis comprise most of NYC taxi drivers. So those NYC cabbie accents have become much more Dhaka, Lahore, and Bombay than Brooklyn! The Bangladeshi communities in Washimore, Philly and Boston are much smaller but similar in terms of economic role. Outside the Northeast, Detroit has drawn the largest Bangladeshi population, attracted from NYC by auto engineering opportunities and much cheaper housing.

Afghans, although sharing ethnic ties with Pakistanis, have come largely as refugees after the 1979 Soviet invasion, during the period of Taliban rule, with the latest wave coming since 2001. And the largest Afghan community is in the SF Bay Area. In the Northeast, the only sizeable Afghan communities are in NYC, centered around Flushing, Queens and around Washimore, clustered in Alexandria, Arlington, Falls Church and other northern VA ‘burbs not far from the Pentagon. On the other hand, at least in 2000, Hartford and Buffalo didn’t count a single Afghan immigrant among their million plus residents!

Immigrants from South Asia in Major Northeast Metros
(2000 Census)

India

1. New York City CMSA 222,566
2. Washington-Baltimore CMSA 55,554
3. Philadelphia CMSA 35,654
4. Boston CMSA 28,249
5. Pittsburgh MSA 6,348
6. Hartford MSA 5,091
7. Rochester MSA 3,122
8. Buffalo MSA 2,683
9. Providence MSA 1,922

Pakistan

1. New York City CMSA 64,334
2. Washington-Baltimore CMSA 19,760
3. Philadelphia CMSA 4,975
4. Boston CMSA 3,365
5. Hartford MSA 1,127
6. Rochester MSA 544
7. Buffalo MSA 378
8. Pittsburgh MSA 301
9. Providence MSA 216

Bangladesh

1. New York City CMSA 49,689
2. Washington-Baltimore CMSA 5,260
3. Philadelphia CMSA 3,162
4. Boston CMSA 1,239
5. Hartford MSA 266
6. Rochester MSA 217
7. Pittsburgh MSA 118
8. Buffalo MSA 100
9. Providence MSA 93

Afghanistan

1. New York City CMSA 8,007
2. Washington-Baltimore CMSA 6,799
3. Philadelphia CMSA 424
4. Rochester MSA 217
5. Boston CMSA 156
6. Pittsburgh MSA 51
7. Providence MSA 41
8. Buffalo MSA 0
9. Hartford MSA 0

Anyway, hope this has added a better feel as to the contribution of Asian immigrants to the major Northeast metros.

vivo

July 27th, 2006, 05:29 PM

anyone have the breakdown just for bmore immigration not dc/balt?

vivo

July 27th, 2006, 05:38 PM

what about asians in howard county? russians/hispanics/carribean in nw balt. well maybe small concentrations.

City neighborhood grows more diverse
Fallstaff: In the community where three children were killed, the Hispanic population is increasing.
By Antero Pietila
Sun Staff
Originally published May 29, 2004
Exactly four weeks ago yesterday, a Mexican grill replaced a failed kosher restaurant on Reisterstown Road near Seven Mile Lane.

Mari Luna Mexican Grill - named after the Mexican-born owner's wife - is the latest sign of the growing ethnic diversity along Northwest Baltimore's Park Heights Avenue and Reisterstown Road corridors, from Belvedere Avenue to the county line.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-md.immigration29may29,0,6329642.story?coll=bal-local-utility

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Jews and African-Americans are the dominant population groups, but Russians and Caribbeans have a substantial presence. The most recent additions are Hispanics, whose numbers are small but growing.

In Fallstaff, Hispanics numbered 201, or about 5 percent of the population in 2000, according to census figures. But that was more than double the number of Hispanics living in the community in 1990.

At Cross Country Elementary School, the number of Hispanic pupils has increased from 14 to 47 in just five years, official data show. The three children who were slain Thursday were pupils at the school. Two relatives have been charged in the killings.

The Hispanic population does not have the visibility of distinctively attired Orthodox Jews, who can be seen in large numbers on Park Heights Avenue and side streets, walking to synagogues on the Sabbath and religious holidays.

But Hispanics are becoming a factor.

Comprehensive Housing Assistance Inc., an affiliate of the Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore, has a bilingual organizer.

"Northwest Baltimore is a magnet not only for Orthodox Jews, but also for African-Americans and Latinos," said the staff member, Peruvian-born Lucy Brigman.

She said some Hispanics have bought homes in the area. Others have moved to apartment complexes, which were built in the 1960s and were filled mostly with senior citizens until recently.

"They are hardworking people," Brigman said of the Latin Americans. She said they are drawn to Northwest Baltimore by job opportunities in restaurants and construction, and by the proximity to public transit and highways.

Se habla español

A sign of the times is in the window of Goldman's Kosher Bakery, at Fallstaff Shopping Center on Reisterstown Road.

"Se habla español," it says, inviting Hispanics to buy cakes and pastries for "birthdays, baptisms, weddings, celebrations and any other occasion."

According to Linda Collier, who has worked at the bakery for eight years, cheesecakes with tropical fruit toppings are in demand.

A few blocks north is Tienda Rosita Grocery, which carries such items as spices, canned goods, CDs and videos. A saleswoman told a visitor yesterday, "I no speak English."

Population gain

The Fallstaff area is one of the few in the city to gain in population in the 1990s. It is about 46 percent white and 46 percent black, according to census data. About a quarter of its residents were foreign-born; of those, about half came to the United States in the past decade.

While the number of African-Americans grew significantly in the 1990s, the influx of big Orthodox Jewish families, often from the New York area, has also been noticeable. They have given a new lease on life to the Jewish Community Center, which recently underwent a multimillion-dollar modernization and expansion program.

Russian immigrants, often Jewish but mostly not religious, are also a visible influence. Half a dozen delicatessens feature a variety of fresh and smoked fish, traditional sausages - including one named after Stalin - bread, stuffed cabbage and pickles.

"This may be empty now, but it's crowded in the morning and evening," said Olga Tymofyeva at a bookstore named Russia House.

On Park Heights Avenue, just south of Northern Parkway, the ethnic mix changes again. Caribbean immigrants operate at least eight stores in a neighborhood that was predominantly Jewish 35 years ago.

"I come here all the time," Jamaican-born Vilma Roxburgh said as she examined bags of calaloo greens at a West Indian grocery.

The Glen Burnie resident moved to Baltimore after living in Canada. She used to party along Park Heights Avenue, but "I don't do it any more because I am a Christian now, plus I had a stroke."

The stretch between Northern Parkway and Belvedere Avenue just opposite Pimlico Race Course has a distinctly Rastafarian flavor. A sign on a vegetarian establishment declares it to be a "Rastarant." There are photos for sale that depict singer Bob Marley smoking marijuana. Other Rasta symbols include Ethiopian flags and photos of Emperor Haile Selassie.

Above P&S Jamaican American restaurant is a protruding sign. It has a likeness of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. painted on one side, Malcolm X on the other and a legend: "From slavery to drugs to prison to rejuvenation."

Tamika Grey, who was behind the counter at a hip-hop boutique named I Got The Hookup, said outsiders often have difficulty seeing and recognizing the layers of ethnicity on Park Heights Avenue.

"When they started showing news about the murders on television, I started getting calls from family members who asked if I knew the victims," she said inside the store, which is 18 blocks from the murder scene.

Sun staff writer Eric Siegel contributed to this article.

Xusein

July 28th, 2006, 01:48 AM

India

1. New York City CMSA 222,566
2. Washington-Baltimore CMSA 55,554
3. Philadelphia CMSA 35,654
4. Boston CMSA 28,249
5. Pittsburgh MSA 6,348
6. Hartford MSA 5,091
7. Rochester MSA 3,122
8. Buffalo MSA 2,683
9. Providence MSA 1,922

Pakistan

1. New York City CMSA 64,334
2. Washington-Baltimore CMSA 19,760
3. Philadelphia CMSA 4,975
4. Boston CMSA 3,365
5. Hartford MSA 1,127
6. Rochester MSA 544
7. Buffalo MSA 378
8. Pittsburgh MSA 301
9. Providence MSA 216

Bangladesh

1. New York City CMSA 49,689
2. Washington-Baltimore CMSA 5,260
3. Philadelphia CMSA 3,162
4. Boston CMSA 1,239
5. Hartford MSA 266
6. Rochester MSA 217
7. Pittsburgh MSA 118
8. Buffalo MSA 100
9. Providence MSA 93

Afghanistan

1. New York City CMSA 8,007
2. Washington-Baltimore CMSA 6,799
3. Philadelphia CMSA 424
4. Rochester MSA 217
5. Boston CMSA 156
6. Pittsburgh MSA 51
7. Providence MSA 41
8. Buffalo MSA 0
9. Hartford MSA 0

Anyway, hope this has added a better feel as to the contribution of Asian immigrants to the major Northeast metros.

South Asians, especially Indians, has exploded in Suburban Hartford...I see them everywhere now downtown...I bet their populations hit 50% since 2000.

Do you have any stats on African populations? Thanks.

JAB323

July 28th, 2006, 01:55 AM

Afghanistan

1. New York City CMSA 8,007
2. Washington-Baltimore CMSA 6,799
3. Philadelphia CMSA 424
4. Rochester MSA 217
5. Boston CMSA 156
6. Pittsburgh MSA 51
7. Providence MSA 41
8. Buffalo MSA 0
9. Hartford MSA 0

There is a great Afghani restaurant in Bethesda.

bayviews

July 28th, 2006, 03:40 AM

South Asians, especially Indians, has exploded in Suburban Hartford...I see them everywhere now downtown...I bet their populations hit 50% since 2000.

Do you have any stats on African populations? Thanks.

Sure, rotten, I’ll post that African immigrant data up soon, meanwhile here’s some on more on the other Latino groups, starting with Mexicans, & get to the Caribbeans, I know Jamaicans are really big in Hartford.

No big surprise here. The largest immigrant group coming to the US is from Mexico. Between 1960 & 2000, the numbers of Mexican immigrants living in the US mushroomed from just over half a million, roughly the size of the city of Buffalo at that time, to over 9 million, a million more than the current population of NYC, & roughly 30% of all the 31 million immigrants living across the US. The total Mexican American population, more than half born in the USA, numbers over 20 million.

Most Mexicans have settled in California, Texas and other parts of the southwest which were once part of Mexico. But the numbers in the Midwest, where Chicago has become the second-largest Mexican city, the Pacific Northwest & the Southeast have also jumped. No coincidence that Los Angeles, that has attracted the largest Mexican immigrant population, 2.4 million, added the most population, 8.6 million, over the past several decades!

Whereas, aside from seasonal agricultural workers, there was virtually no visible Mexican presence just a few decades ago, Mexicans have become a rapidly growing presence across the Northeast. Mexican immigrants around NYC, many from Puebla, have jumped to nearly a quarter of million. El Barrio, the traditionally Puerto Rican barrio of Spanish Harlem, has become increasingly Mexican. But Mexicans are settling in significant numbers in all city’s boroughs and in suburbs from Long Island & Connecticut to the Mid-Hudson Valley & particularly North Jersey. Washimore, Philadelphia, Boston, and other Northeast metros are attracting significant numbers of Mexicans.

At the opposite spectrum, can it be just by chance that Buffalo and Pittsburgh, which have attracted the least Mexicans of any of the major metro across the US, just happen to be only two metros that have actually lost population since 1960? A comedy film “A Day Without Mexicans” came out about how California’s economy might grind to standstill without Latino immigrant workers. One could make an interesting real life documentary movie about how these metros have withered without Mexicans!

At least as Evergrey mentioned, Pittsburgh seems to making an outreach to attract more Mexicans. Wish the same could be said for Buffalo, America’s ultimate “City Without Mexicans!

Mexican Immigrants in Major Northeast Metros
2000 Census

1. New York City CMSA 224,897
2. Washington-Baltimore CMSA 36,700
3. Philadelphia CMSA 28,115
4. Boston CMSA 8,161
5. Providence MSA 2,742
6. Hartford MSA 2,137
7. Rochester MSA 1,070
8. Pittsburgh MSA 1,010
9. Buffalo MSA 451

Xusein

July 28th, 2006, 03:51 AM

bayviews

July 28th, 2006, 07:12 AM

Thanks, bayviews.

The Mexican population is really booming in Connecticut...they are more visible than they were years ago...

.I would not be suprised if they were the largest growth of Latino population growth in the state. Fairfield and New Haven counties mostly, but they are coming up here.

I have heard that the Mexican population in CT is getting close to 45,000 now...but most of that would show up in NYC's CMSA, and not Hartford.

With the growth in Asian and Latin American immigration, Connecticut's immigration is starting to be more like the rest of the country.

Interesting, yeah I hear many thousands of Mexicans have settled in New Haven. Speaking of CT, which, here's an interesting story from the Hartford Courant about a Mexican immigrant to Hartford who has become a very successful entreprenur throughout New England.

MAKING HIS OWN GOOD FORTUNE ; AN IMMIGRANT FINDS HIS WAY FROM THE RIO GRANDE TO BUSINESS SUCCESS; [6 METRO/SPORTS FINAL Edition]
RITU KALRA, Courant Staff Writer. Hartford Courant. Hartford, Conn.: Apr 17, 2006. pg. A.
Armando Chavez considers himself extremely fortunate.
Fifteen years ago he was washing dishes at a Greek restaurant in Enfield. He didn't speak a word of English.
Today, the 38-year-old owns Del Norte Inc., a small but thriving business that distributes Mexican products to 150 supermarkets and restaurants in the region. Retailers from Rhode Island and Boston have signed him up as their key supplier. Grocers such as C-Town Supermarkets in New Haven are among his top customers. His 2,000- square-foot warehouse in north Hartford brims with activity, with deliveries of popular Mexican sodas arriving by the truckload.
"I never thought it was going to grow like this. But day by day, more customers, more customers," said Chavez, who talks about Del Norte as if it were something he lucked into.
Good fortune has, indeed, played a large role in his story. Chavez made the journey from Mexico to Hartford 15 years ago by wading the Rio Grande and then jumping onto a moving freight train in Texas under the cover of night, hiding in a container of bird feed to avoid immigration officials.
But among the 40 or 50 migrants who hopped onto the train that summer night, Chavez, as far as he knows, is the only one still here. The two buddies he came with -- who guided him to the border and then across the river -- returned to Mexico long ago, unable to piece together a living from the erratic work they found in Texas. Everyone else was snagged by immigration officials right there at the train tracks. Chavez alone continued to Connecticut.
Today, Chavez is a legal resident, a homeowner, the founder of a growing business with three employees and in the process of opening a retail store in Enfield next month. He is a symbol of the powerful impact that immigrants can have on local labor markets -- not by taking jobs Americans don't want but by fulfilling a demand that wouldn't otherwise exist.
That he alone among dozens who began their journey together on the same evening 15 years ago managed to succeed in a foreign country is no matter of mere chance. The fact is, like any successful entrepreneur, Chavez works hard for his luck. He is a smart gambler. He seizes opportunities, but only when he feels the time is ripe. He takes big risks, but not blind ones. And he doesn't make a mistake twice.
Breaking Down Barriers
For Chavez, the journey from dishwasher to business owner began in 1991. His father, who had left Mexico a year earlier, called the then-23-year-old diesel mechanic and told him there was work available if only he could find a way to Enfield, Conn.
Chavez did not know what kind of work his father had in mind, nor did he speak English. His girlfriend (she is now his wife) was pregnant. Still, the decision was easy. With his father promising a job, the gamble promised not only adventure, but a guaranteed payoff.
"Why I came? It's to have a better future, a better life, you know," said Chavez. "I trusted my father."
After finding his way to Houston, Chavez took a bus to Springfield, where he arrived on a Tuesday night. The next morning, his father took him to Caldor discount store to buy two sets of shirts and pants. By Wednesday evening, less than 24 hours after he arrived in Connecticut, Chavez was at work.
His father had gotten him a job as a dishwasher at a local pizza shop. Within six months, he had learned enough English to be promoted to making pizzas. Shortly afterward he switched to another pizza shop, where he cooked and earned tips working as a waiter.
"You have to, in this business, you know, you have to learn English. Otherwise you're going to be in the same place forever," said Chavez.
The language barrier, Chavez says, is the main reason that so many Latino immigrants end up in low-wage work. It's not that they're willing to take jobs that other Americans don't want, he says: It's that they often don't have a choice.
"Most of the people coming here who take low-paying jobs, it's because first of all they don't speak the language. If you go to a restaurant and they have an opening for a cook and a dishwasher, which one are you going to take? If you want to be a cook you need to speak English. If you don't speak English, you're going to wash dishes."
The Big Break
Chavez's uncle runs Texas Fast Food, a small restaurant in El Mercado, the Spanish market on Park Street in Hartford. A few years after Chavez had settled into his pizza-making routine in Enfield, his uncle took him to a warehouse in New York where he bought Mexican produce for the restaurant. Soon Chavez began to drive down to New York weekly on his days off from the pizza shop, helping his uncle by bringing back food for the restaurant.
As word spread through the community, newly arrived immigrants turned to Chavez for the cheeses they missed from back home. The orders grew steadily. One day, his uncle introduced Chavez to Ramon Flores, who runs El Mercado and was just beginning to stock Mexican products. It had been two years since Chavez's initial trip to the New York warehouse, and he promised Flores that he could supply fresh Mexican groceries more reliably than anyone else.
Flores agreed to take a chance and became Chavez's first institutional account. Over the years, Flores proved to be a valuable customer and a trusted mentor who gave sound advice.
"In the beginning I told him, `If you want to grow, make sure you're clean. Open a bank account. Pay taxes. Do it clean,'" Flores says he told Chavez.
Chavez heeded the advice and, through his father, obtained his legal residency.
"Now look at him," says Flores. "He has customers all the way to Maine. That's a lot for a little guy who comes from nothing."
Though landing the account with El Mercado was a major breakthrough, it also posed a dilemma: Chavez's car was simply too small for all the food he was now hauling back weekly. And though the side business of buying groceries was growing steadily as the local Latino population expanded, Chavez wasn't making enough money to buy a bigger car.
The problem soon resolved itself, thanks in part to Chavez's particular combination of thrift and optimism. He drove from Enfield to Massachusetts, where gas can be cheaper by as much as 10 cents a gallon. He filled up the tank for $15, and purchased a scratch-off lottery ticket with the change from his $20 bill. That five dollar investment in hope won him $500 -- enough to buy a used van.
"That was a miracle. I said to myself, `I guess God wants me to do business,'" said Chavez, still shaking his head at the memory. "That's something I never forget."
Growing Pains
There's a second thing Chavez says he will never forget.
Among the dozens of business cards that are thumbtacked to a wall in a tidy office next to Del Norte's warehouse on Main Street, one stands out for him. Several years after Chavez had begun to buy groceries for El Mercado, an owner of Puerto Vallarta in West Hartford asked him to supply the Mexican restaurant's produce. But by then, the business had grown so much that Chavez was once again short on space, and even tighter on time.
Chavez worked 12-hour shifts at the pizza shop. On his days off he started at 4 a.m., driving to New York to buy produce and then returning to make deliveries through the neighborhood. He rarely spent time with his wife or their three sons.
"For eight years, not a single day off," said Chavez. "That caused me almost divorce."
So when Puerto Vallarta asked him to supply produce, it seemed reasonable for Chavez to refuse. He barely had enough room in his van. Besides, he remembers thinking, Puerto Vallarta was tiny. He could afford to turn away the business.
Wrong. Today there are four Puerto Vallarta restaurants in the area. For Chavez, that's a large account. But now he's lost the opportunity.
"I have every restaurant in Hartford except them," he said, shaking his head. "I learned my lesson. Now, anybody calls me, I tell them I'll meet them tomorrow. I'm not going to lose another customer."
The card stays on his wall as a reminder of that lesson, and as motivation.
"I still keep their card because I figure some day, maybe I'll get them," Chavez said. "I'll keep trying."
The Leap
By 2003, Chavez had outgrown the original van he had purchased from the winning lottery ticket, a larger van and the truck that followed. The weekly trips to New York were no longer sufficient to supply his customers. It was time to open a warehouse of his own.
But taking such a big step was intimidating. Chavez had just purchased a house and now had mortgage payments to make. Leasing space -- in the North End of Hartford, adjacent to a set of railroad tracks -- was a daunting commitment. The warehouse cost $1,500 a month to rent, and then there was the $10,000 in annual insurance payments for his inventory, trucks, drivers and new drivers he would have to hire.
"Do you know how many tortillas you have to sell to make that much? I was afraid to open the warehouse," Chavez said. "But I figured, you know, there are no warehouses in Hartford. The Spanish population is growing and growing, somebody some day is going to open one. And I've been running this for a long time. So I figured, why not? And hey, not bad so far."
Not bad indeed. Six months after opening the warehouse -- officially incorporated as Del Norte, a reference to his hometown in the northern part of Mexico and his new home in the northern part of the United States -- business increased so much that Chavez stopped driving down to New York to pick up produce. Instead, the New York distributors began delivering to him.
This past December, after he was convinced the business was sustainable and needed his full devotion for further growth, Chavez finally quit his job at the pizza shop. It proved to be another wise move.
Leaving his full-time job freed Chavez to scrounge for new customers. One of his first trips was to Boston, where he went door to door to restaurants and corner grocers, winning over store managers with his charm and long track record. Trips to Rhode Island soon followed.
Two months ago he summoned the courage to call on C-Town Supermarkets in New Haven, part of a large grocery chain which caters to a Hispanic consumer base. The stores' managers gave him an order on his first visit.
"I was scared, I thought the market in New Haven was too competitive," said Chavez. "Now I've got a truck that makes deliveries there every Thursday. And now I know I can go anywhere. If I can grab C-Town, I can do business with anyone."
An Immigrant's Dreams
Chavez's confidence stems from his experience. What Del Norte used to sell in a month, when the warehouse first opened three years ago, it now sells in a week. Revenues top $1 million annually -- small by corporate standards but a fortune for a one-time diesel mechanic from Monterrey.
His customers are strong advocates.
"I trust him completely," says Flores from El Mercado.
"We decided to start business with him because of his attitude," said Joel Osorio, who owns Burrito King in New Haven. "He's always friendly, he pays attention to our needs, and if you ask him for something, he gets it to you. Every time."
These days, business at Del Norte is going so smoothly that Chavez is getting ready for his next goal -- opening a small bodega in Enfield. He's already leased space, and is waiting for approval from town officials.
"You come here, you can do anything. Anything you put your mind to," said Chavez on a recent afternoon, sounding like a walking advertisement for the American dream.
But as the national conversation about immigration reform rises in volume, Chavez bristles when he hears the familiar refrain about undocumented workers' taking jobs that would otherwise belong to Americans.
"Why no American people open a warehouse?" he asks. "We don't come here to take anybody's job, to take anybody's food. We come here to make our own."
Perhaps the strongest sign yet that Chavez has achieved the dream came last week. While thousands gathered on the streets across the country to support legal status for undocumented workers, Chavez was hunched over a desk in his office, entering his customers' orders into the computer.
Even as a train en route to Springfield rumbled by the warehouse, a sharp reminder of his own clandestine train ride in Texas 15 years ago, Chavez had a ready explanation for his absence from the rally. "Too much work," he said. "Too busy."

Xusein

July 29th, 2006, 04:51 AM

Good article...

When will some figure out that most immigrants who come to the US are hard-working like this?

bayviews

July 29th, 2006, 05:42 AM

Good article...

When will some figure out that most immigrants who come to the US are hard-working like this?

Certainly won't happen during a significant election year!

Failing politicians always have to have someone to demonize, particularly when so many of their policies are blowing up all over the world. So immigrants, not well represented among voters, make easy targets.

Central American immigrants have come up as another large group in the Northeast, so here's more info. Some Central Americans, including merchant mariners, followed shipping routes to NYC, New Orleans and San Francisco earlier. California continues to attract the largest numbers of Central American immigrants. But Central Americans only started to arrive in the US in significant numbers in the late 1970s and particularly during the 1980s, when the region was torn apart by civil war. Nicaraguans fled Somoza, the Sandinistas, & the Contras. Salvadorians & Guatemalans fled the fighting between the US-backed regimes, their death squads & the guerillas. Many Hondurans came in the 1990s escaping natural disasters. All of these Central American groups have also come as seasonal farmers, working alongside Mexicans. Panamanians, including many descended from the West Indians recruited to build the canal, have come in a modest but steady stream, many joining the US military.

Salvadorians, the biggest immigrant group from Central America, have settled in roughly equal numbers in the two biggest Northeast immigrant gateways. Salvadorians are much more visible in Washimore, where they are by far the biggest Latino group & also biggest immigrant group. Yeah all the immigrants groups including Salvadorians tend to settle around (not in) Washimore, although Baltimore is starting to draw more. Salvadorians have spread from the Adams-Morgan district in DC to many Virginia & Maryland suburbs. While nearly as many Salvadorians live around NYC, only in parts of Long Island are they the largest Hispanic group. Boston also has a smaller but significant Salvadorian population concentrated in E. Boston & adjacent northern suburbs. Guatemalans tend to settle near Salvadorians within NYC, Washmore, and Boston, as well as in Providence, where they comprise the biggest Central American group. Gurifuna from Honduras have a large presence in NYC’s Bronx. Significant numbers also live in Washimore and Boston. Nicaraguans blend in with the Central American communities in NYC & Washimore, with a smaller but significant presence around Philadelphia. Panamanians also cluster around NYC, with many of the English-speaking Panamanians settled in the Afro-Caribbean neighborhoods in Brooklyn.

Again, no surprises here. Buffalo and Pittsburgh, the same cities that have attracted the least Mexicans, have attracted even fewer Central Americans.

Central American Immigrants in Major Northeast Metros:
2000 Census

El Salvador

1. Washington-Baltimore CMSA 108,234
2. New York City CMSA 105,494
3. Boston CMSA 18,108
4. Philadelphia CMSA 1,681
5. Providence MSA 1,329
6. Hartford MSA 389
7. Rochester MSA 127
8. Buffalo MSA 81
9. Pittsburgh MSA 67

Guatemala

1. New York City CMSA 57,755
2. Washington-Baltimore CMSA 21,421
3. Boston CMSA 12,214
4. Providence MSA 9,470
5. Philadelphia CMSA 1,893
6. Hartford MSA 389
7. Pittsburgh MSA 146
8. Rochester MSA 122
9. Buffalo MSA 101

Honduras

1. New York City CMSA 61,246
2. Washington-Baltimore CMSA 14,756
3. Boston CMSA 6,037
4. Philadelphia CMSA 2,559
5. Providence MSA 636
6. Hartford MSA 335
7. Rochester MSA 257
8. Pittsburgh MSA 115
9. Buffalo MSA 84

Nicaragua

1. New York City CMSA 14,762
2. Washington-Baltimore CMSA 8,696
3. Philadelphia CMSA 2,022
4. Boston CMSA 873
5. Hartford MSA 143
6. Providence MSA 81
7. Rochester MSA 65
8. Buffalo MSA 20
9. Pittsburgh MSA 0

Panama

1. New York City CMSA 27,935
2. Washington-Baltimore CMSA 5,129
3. Philadelphia CMSA 1,814
4. Boston CMSA 1,324
5. Hartford MSA 246
6. Rochester MSA 169
7. Pittsburgh MSA 167
8. Providence MSA 151
9. Buffalo MSA 57

DallasTexan

July 29th, 2006, 06:07 AM

Awesome numbers for Buffalo :cool:

Shawn

July 29th, 2006, 07:18 AM

Seriously, it seems like I have more people living in my apartment complex than there are hispanics living in Buffalo.

DCKenny

July 29th, 2006, 08:40 AM

Wow I did'nt know that there where that many Panamaians in the DC Baltimore area!!

-Corey-

July 29th, 2006, 09:00 AM

here in San diego
One race 1164319 95.17%
White 736207 60.18%
Black or African American 96216 7.86%
American Indian and Alaska Native 7543 0.62%
Asian 166968 13.65%
Asian indian 6909 0.56%
Chinese 22762 1.86%
Filipino 75197 6.15%
Japanese 9485 0.78%
Korean 7139 0.58%
Vietnamese 27473 2.25%
Other Asian 18003 1.47%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 5853 0.48%
Native Hawaiian 1016 0.08%
Guamanian or Chamorro 2237 0.18%
Samoan 1701 0.14%
Other Pacific Islander 899 0.07%
Some other race 151532 12.39%
Two or more races

Hispanic or Latino and race
Total Population 1223400 100.00%
Hispanic or Latino(of any race) 310752 25.4%
Mexican 259219 21.19%
Puerto Rican 5938 0.49%
Cuban 1922 0.16%
Other Hispanic or Latino 43673 3.57%
Not Hispanic or Latino 912648 74.6%
White alone 603892 49.36%

bayviews

July 30th, 2006, 02:11 AM

Wow I did'nt know that there where that many Panamaians in the DC Baltimore area!!

Panamanians are scattered rather widely, & as some are English-speaking West Indian background, & others Spanish-speaking Latinos, they tend not to be as visible or concentrated in specific enclaves, as most of the other Central American groups. So yeah, you don't notice Panamanians as much.

bayviews

July 30th, 2006, 02:14 AM

Awesome numbers for Buffalo :cool:

Yeah, looks like the whole world has been beating a path to Buffalo! LOL!

chicagogeorge

July 30th, 2006, 02:25 AM

Why, is it odd that a teacher happens to not be a modern day multiculturalist, a diversity promoter that college professors have thoroughly brainwashed in the schools of education?

What's wrong is that you promote the idea that people of color who originate in other continents (other than Europe) cannot become true Americans based simple on the fact that their ancestrial culture is too different than that of people who originate from Europe. Wasp nativist said the same thing of the Germans, then the Irish, later the Italians, Jews, Greeks........ Eventually, they assimilated and contributed to the American culture. The same will occur with the recent immigrants as well.

DCKenny

July 30th, 2006, 05:04 AM

Yeah because Panamanians and Dominicans look simular to me so it's hard for me to tell the difference!

bayviews

July 30th, 2006, 06:08 AM

Yeah because Panamanians and Dominicans look simular to me so it's hard for me to tell the difference!

True, pretty much the same with Puerto Ricans & Dominicans, who generally can't tell each other apart. Those from the islands can tell by accents. But if you are in NYC or Boston, really hard to tell the difference.

bayviews

July 31st, 2006, 02:04 AM

Here's where the several largest South American immigrant groups have been settling around the Northeast. While the first immigration of South Americans to the US was of Chileans and Peruvians who were part of the rush of ‘49ers to the California Gold Rush, nearly all have arrived since 1965.

Brazilians are “Latinos” but not “Hispanic” as they speak Portuguese. Brazilians have settled mostly around NYC, where they have revitalized Newark’s Ironbound district and suburbs like Mt. Vernon in Westchester. The other big Brazilian community has settled around Boston, as was posted earlier, many work in low-wage jobs. Brazilians have also opened lots of new businesses in Framingham, Marlboro, Somerville and other Boston suburbs.

Colombians have a large community around NYC, concentrated in the Jackson Heights-Corona district of Queens, with significant clusters in North Jersey, Westchester, & Fairfield, CT. Around Boston, there are growing Columbian communities, particularly in the city’s "Eastie" neighborhood and Lowell MA. North of Providence, Columbians comprise a significant presence in Central Falls and Pawtucket RI. The New England textile mills recruited heavily from Colombia.

Ecuadorians are particularly concentrated around NYC, where are the largest South American group, generally in Jackson Heights, and secondary cities and suburbs as Columbians.

So too are Peruvians, who also have concentrated communities in Paterson and Passaic NJ, a sizeable presence around Hartford. Peruvians are also the largest South American immigrants around Washimore, where they generally cluster near the same Maryland & Virginia suburbs as Bolivians, Columbians, Ecuadorians, and Central Americans.

As with Latino immigrants generally, Philadelphia attracts modest numbers of South American immigrants, while Pittsburgh, Rochester & Buffalo have very few.

South American Immigrants in Major Northeast Metros
2000 Census

Brazil

1. New York City CMSA 51,294
2. Boston CMSA 33,952
3. Washington-Baltimore CMSA 7,043
4. Providence MSA 6,530
5. Philadelphia CMSA 2,916
6. Hartford MSA 943
7. Rochester MSA 426
8. Pittsburgh MSA 414
9. Buffalo MSA 280

Colombia

1. New York City CMSA 185,711
2. Boston CMSA 15,241
3. Washington-Baltimore CMSA 11,079
4. Providence MSA 6,530
5. Hartford MSA 2,461
6. Philadelphia CMSA 1,846
7. Rochester MSA 484
8. Buffalo MSA 367
9. Pittsburgh MSA 273

Ecuador

1. New York City CMSA 199,316
2. Washington-Baltimore CMSA 5,678
3. Boston CMSA 2,772
4. Philadelphia CMSA 1,846
5. Hartford MSA 606
6. Providence MSA 489
7. Pittsburgh MSA 150
8. Buffalo MSA 117
9. Rochester MSA 99

Peru

1. New York City CMSA 90,415
2. Washington-Baltimore CMSA 21,620
3. Boston CMSA 3,597
4. Hartford MSA 3,366
5. Philadelphia CMSA 2,868
6. Providence MSA 604
7. Pittsburgh MSA 302
8. Rochester MSA 192
9. Buffalo MSA 144

DCKenny

July 31st, 2006, 02:17 AM

The Washington DC area has a large American Community because they had a Brazilian event in Love Night Club!

Xusein

July 31st, 2006, 05:15 AM

Lots of Brazilians and Ecuadorians in Danbury as well...

The population of that city has been thought to be near 93,000 and not 76k as thought before because of the new arrivals...

bayviews

July 31st, 2006, 06:02 AM

Lots of Brazilians and Ecuadorians in Danbury as well...

The population of that city has been thought to be near 93,000 and not 76k as thought before because of the new arrivals...

Yea, didn’t mean to overlook Danbury, which has become one of Connecticut’s bigger immigrant magnets. Danbury’s immigrants are included in NYC CMSA. Here’s a really interesting article that ran in the Hartford Courant several years ago.

A WORLDLY PLACE ; FLOOD OF IMMIGRANTS BRING INTERNATIONAL FLAVOR, AGE-OLD PROBLEMS TO DANBURY; [1N/5/6/7 SPORTS FINAL Edition]
MIKE SWIFT, Courant Staff Writer. Hartford Courant. Hartford, Conn.: Jan 13, 2002. pg. A.1

A colorful neon sign -- "Cafe Internet, Food & Drink" -- lit up for the first time on Main Street this week in a small city once known worldwide for its hat-making industry.
If the outside promised lattes and bored cyber-slackers, the inside of Portuguese immigrant Manuel Bataguas' newest business venture was far different. A row of clocks above the computers labeled in Portuguese "New York, Rio de Janeiro, Londres, Toquio" reflected the cafe's target market: immigrants from Brazil and other Latin American countries who send e-mail and have live video chats with family back home.
Downtown Danbury has the same businesses found in any vibrant city center, including florists, music stores, law offices, a wedding gown boutique and restaurants. But here, a Main Street restaurant might offer food from Ecuador, the wedding gowns come from Brazil and the largest music store's CDs throb with Musica Brasileira.
On a recent walking tour, Batagues ticked off the nationalities of the storekeepers as he passed: "This is Brazilian. Ecuador. American," he said, sounding almost surprised at encountering a non- immigrant business. "Spanish-Portuguese. That guy's Indian," he continued.
Businesses have to be immigrant-friendly to make it these days in Danbury, saysBataguas, who also owns a travel agency and publishes a bimonthly newspaper, The Immigrant.
"The mom and pop stores, you have to be able to speak Portuguese or Spanish to make it," he said. "Without the ethnics, I don't know what downtown would be."
Because of immigration over the past dozen or so years, Danbury has become perhaps the most global place in Connecticut, with large numbers of immigrants from South America, the Caribbean and Southeast Asia. The city of about 75,000 borders New York state in the northern part of Fairfield County.
As Connecticut garners a larger share of the nation's foreign immigrants, Danbury may be an early example of the benefits -- and the problems -- other parts of the state will face in coming years because of immigration.
Danbury has Connecticut's largest populations of people from Cambodia, the Dominican Republic and Ecuador, and the second-largest population of people from India, according to the 2000 Census. The city had the greatest percentage population growth -- 14 percent -- of any city of comparable size in the state from 1990 to 2000.
Last year, the Danbury public schools had immigrant students -- students here for three years or less -- from 43 nations, representing every continent except Antarctica. Students arrived from 11 countries in Europe, and 13 in Asia. There are now 45 different languages spoken in the public schools, from Albanian and Assyrian to Visayan and Yoruba.
But none of those facts touch on Danbury's biggest immigrant story: the Brazilians.
Many say there are 10,000 or more Portuguese-speaking Brazilians in Danbury and surrounding towns, although their numbers will remain an educated guess until the Census Bureau releases its count of the Brazilian population later this year.
Most have arrived during the past 10 years, and they have moved aggressively to build a beachhead in Danbury, buying a former Portuguese social club, purchasing homes and launching restaurants, shops, travel agencies, a music shop and other businesses on Main Street.
Two newspapers now serve the Brazilian and other immigrant populations: Tribuna Connecticut, which publishes in Portuguese and English, and The Immigrant, which publishes in Portuguese and Spanish. Signs saying "Fala-se Portugues" have become as common as those saying "Se Habla Espanol" in other Connecticut cities.
The Brazilians, the Ecuadorians and other immigrants have helped to breathe life into a downtown that was struggling in the years after the opening of the Danbury Fair Mall, among New England's largest, in the 1980s. The city was already struggling to recover from the decline of the hat industry; at one point there were 80 hat factories in the city.
"They've changed the city, obviously, in a very positive way, because they've brought with them a spirit. They've taken storefronts that were vacant for years on Main Street and opened businesses," said Mayor Mark D. Boughton. "They are not afraid to take a risk."
But there are problems as well.
Some business leaders think the immigrants need to do a better job of marketing to "mainstream," non-immigrant customers.
Local taxpayers have had to foot the bill for a nearly 50-percent jump in the number of students receiving bilingual or English as a second language instruction in recent years because neither the state nor federal government reimburses the full cost of mandated instruction, school officials say.
And with what everyone, including the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, acknowledges is a significant population of immigrants in the country illegally, Danbury is struggling to integrate people who are isolated by language, education and legal status from the rest of society.
Each morning around dawn, groups of immigrant men gather at the edge of downtown Danbury. They are hoping to be hired as day laborers, earning cash for doing landscaping, painting or construction or menial work across Fairfield County.
Sometimes, say immigration officials and local leaders, they are ripped off by contractors who refuse to pay them, knowing they won't report the contractor for fear of being deported.
"I have seen young men, who are 17 or 18 years old, and their family has sent them to help support the family in Ecuador," said Maria-Cinta Lowe, executive director of the Hispanic Center of Greater Danbury. "I've had people tell me, `I thought I would find heaven, and I found hell.'"
In Hartford and other Connecticut cities, Puerto Ricans, who are U.S. citizens, are the dominant Latino group. But Danbury's largest Hispanic groups are immigrants from Central and South America.
The pattern in Hartford and other cities is changing. Continuing a trend that began with the liberalization of immigration laws in 1965, the 1990s were among the busiest decades for immigration in the nation's history. And Connecticut, more than any other New England state, is drawing an increasing share of America's foreign immigration, said Sam Davis, a Census Bureau demographer.
"The old assumption kind of put most of the international migration people in these traditional places where everybody went -- California, New York, New Jersey," Davis said. "Now, they are kind of spreading them out."
A map of the world on Maria-Cinta Lowe's wall tells part of that story. Every country in Central and South America is stuck with a pin and its national flag, each anchoring a length of twine that runs north across the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea.
The strings converge on a single point: Danbury, Connecticut.
Because of its polyglot diversity of Asians, Europeans, Latinos and Brazilians, "this is like a small New York," said Lowe, executive director of the Hispanic Center of Greater Danbury.
Danbury's proximity to New York, about a one-hour drive and a two- hour train ride, is clearly one reason for the latest immigrant wave. The huge demand for labor in Fairfield County is another. Earlier waves of immigrants, such as the Portuguese, blazed a trail for the Brazilians because there was already a network of Portuguese- speakers in Danbury.
But Lowe worries about the plight of immigrants who come from places like Cuenca, Ecuador. The taut, straight strings on her map do not resemble the difficult, tangled and dangerous paths many Ecuadorians and other Latino immigrants follow to Connecticut.
Others say the pace of life in America makes it tough to preserve native values.
"We break down our relationship with the family," says Paulo Cazitta, vice president of the Brazilian Community Council of Connecticut and a longtime resident of the Danbury area. "[In Brazil], on the weekend, if you are not in your mother's house, you are in your mother-in-law's house. Brother, sister, friend, we are all together. That is something we don't have here. Work full time, work part time. Everybody wants to make money."
For many immigrants in Danbury, however, the picture is a bright one.
Boughton, a blond-haired, 37-year-old Republican who was elected to his first term as mayor in November, said the rapid influx of immigrants, who often tend to vote for Democrats once they become citizens, was anything but a political problem for him.
Having taught history and English as a Second Language at Danbury High School, Boughton said he had become familiar with the families of many Cambodian immigrants, who arrived in the late 1980s, and the more recent arrivals from Brazil and other countries.
Initially, however, he had to learn about the cultures of groups such as the Cambodians, a far smaller and less visible population in Danbury than the Brazilians or other Latinos.
"I never could get the Cambodian parents to come to parents night, and I could never figure out why," Boughton said. "But then the kids told me that in Cambodia, the teachers come to the parents' house." Mystery solved.
Danbury's Brazilians are solidly middle-class, relatively more affluent than the Ecuadorians and other Latino groups, said Elizabeth Bacelar, a Brazilian immigrant who is editor of Tribuna Connecticut and a columnist for the Danbury News-Times.
That demographic is reflected in Tribuna, a 2-year-old, twice- monthly newspaper that includes columns on real estate and "Brazilian Business" and carries international stories such as the launch of the new European currency, the euro.
Tribuna was founded by Elizabeth Bacelar's mother, Celia Bacelar, who had been a newspaper photographer in Brazil. Different family members serve as the paper's reporters, editors, photographers and business manager.
The paper publishes most of its articles in both Portuguese and in English face-to-face on the same page. When Tribuna published its first issue, the family received a negative reaction from Portuguese- speakers who felt it should not also be in English because it was for immigrants. But the family wanted the newspaper to be a cultural bridge.
"[In Danbury], there are not a lot of Brazilian- Americans yet; there's a lot of Brazilians," said Emanuela Lima, the paper's art director and Elizabeth Bacelar's sister. "We want them to be Brazilian- Americans."

Xusein

July 31st, 2006, 06:11 AM

Danbury is very diverse, I lwould not mind living there at all.

Nice location, Commuter rail to NYC, lots of jobs, and very safe. I'm guessing this is what is attracting all these immigrants...

One downside, it has a high cost of living...but compared to Stamford or Greewich, it is low.

DCKenny

July 31st, 2006, 08:18 PM

Do you have the Puerto Rican and Cuban popuation in the Northeast?

bayviews

August 1st, 2006, 05:07 AM

Do you have the Puerto Rican and Cuban popuation in the Northeast?

Sure, probably should have included these larger Hispanic Caribbean groups along with Dominicans.

Of course, the US took over Puerto Rico during the 1898 Spanish American War, Puerto Rico has since become a US Commonwealth. So since 1917 all Puerto Ricans have been US citizens, free travel between the island & the mainland. Puerto Ricans are domestic migrants rather than immigrants. Still, it’s interesting to take a brief glance at the first Latinos to arrive in the Northeast in big numbers.

Not widely known, but the first big US bound Puerto Rican migration at the beginning of the 20th century, was to Hawaii, recruited to work by the sugar plantations, with a stopover, backflow community in California.

While a trickle of Puerto Ricans came to NYC during the 19th century, the pioneer Puerto Rican migration following the steamship lines to NYC, got started during the first WW, peaking in the 1920s. After WW two, the great migration of Puerto Ricans airlifted the biggest wave of Puerto Ricans to NYC, during the late 1940s, tapering off by the early 1960s. There was smaller but significant flow of Puerto Ricans recruited to agriculatural & industrial jobs. And since then, there has been a big dispersion of Puerto Ricans to other parts of the US. And generally most of the Puerto Ricans coming to the mainland these days are highly educated.

While no longer home to the majority of Puerto Ricans, NYC still has the biggest concentration. While El Barrio (Spanish Harlem) is the best known neighborhood, the biggest Puerto Rican communities are the southeast & central Bronx, followed by Brooklyn from Sunset Park to East NY. There are now as many Puerto Ricans in Queens than Manhattan, where as now seems to be happening in Brooklyn, gentrification dislocated many Puerto Ricans. NYC's National Puerto Rican Day has become a huge summer event & smaller parades are held across the Northeast & US.

Puerto Ricans also have sizeable communities in Newark, Jersey City, Paterson & other North Jersey cities, in Bridgeport & New Haven CT, as well as around Brentwood, Suffolk County Long Island, Yonkers in Westchester & Newburgh in the downstate NY. Puerto Ricans who came as migrant workers to upstate NY have also established sizeable communities around Rochester’s Northeast quadrant & Buffalo’s West Side.

Puerto Ricans have spread out around the Northeast. Around Philadelphia, Puerto Ricans are concentrated in lower Northeast Philly & across the river in Camden, recruited to work in Campbell’s Soup, with smaller clusters in Vineland NJ, where they picked the South Jersey vegetables, & Wilmington DE, where they settled after working in the mushroom houses.

Around Boston, few Puerto Ricans are left in the South End, having been gentrified out towards Roxbury, Dorchester & other city districts, as well as Chelsea, Lawrence, Lowell, Worcester & New Bedford. Hartford became a big settlement for the Puerto Ricans who were recruited to the shade tobacco plantations in the Connecticut. Puerto Ricans are concentrated in Hartford’s Frog Hollow district, with smaller presences in the North & South Ends, & a sizeable community in New Britain CT. In Providence, Puerto Ricans are a much more recent & smaller population within the city & in the Blackstone Valley.

Many well educated professional Puerto Ricans have been attracted to Washimore by federal & local government jobs and contracts, settling in the MD & VA suburbs. There, Puerto Ricans are greatly overshadowed by Central & South Americans in numbers but comprise a lot of the local Hispanic police, teaching & other public employees. And that's the case generally in the Northeast.

As for Cubans, who are immigrants, the first 19th century settlement developed in Tampa FL &, of course, the biggest developed in Miami after Castro came to power in 1959. So Cubans are a much smaller presence in the Northeast. Around NYC, the most visible Cuban presence is across the Hudson in Union City, West NY, NJ, with smaller numbers around Newark & Elizabeth NJ, and scattered around the downstate & Connecticut suburbs. Washimore, Boston, & Philadelphia also have modest numbers of Cubans, with smaller numbers around Rochester & Hartford.

Generally though, both Puerto Ricans, with big communities in Miami, Tampa & particularly Orlando, & Cubans, where the community has spread out from Little Havana to many corners of South Florida, have been heading south to Florida’s sunshine!

Domestic Migrants/Immigrants in Major Northeast Metros
2000 Census

Puerto Rico

1. New York CMSA 511,501
2. Philadelphia 90,437
3. Boston CMSA 71,831
4. Hartford MSA 40,785
5. Washington-Baltimore CMSA 17,870
6. Providence CMSA 13,624
7. Rochester MSA 13,593
8. Buffalo MSA 9,303
9. Pittsburgh MSA 1,757

Cuba

1. New York CMSA 90,317
2. Washington-Baltimore CMSA 5,373
3. Boston CMSA 3,657
4. Philadelphia CMSA 3,431
5. Rochester MSA 1,263
6. Hartford MSA 1,151
7. Providence CMSA 470
8. Buffalo MSA 227
9. Pittsburgh MSA 71

Xusein

August 2nd, 2006, 08:56 PM

EDIT

Xusein

August 2nd, 2006, 08:57 PM

Hartford has only 40,000 PRs?

Thought it was closer to 70,000...or does not that count Puerto Ricans born here?

AndySocks

August 3rd, 2006, 04:17 AM

AndySocks

August 3rd, 2006, 04:19 AM

Oh yeah, this was a very interesting thread. I thought it was just going to be six pages of an argument between Scraper Enthusiast and people with sense, but glad it didn't turn out that way.

JAB323

August 3rd, 2006, 04:27 AM

^^ yeah, who would of thought this would get of 100 posts?

bayviews

August 3rd, 2006, 05:07 AM

Hartford has only 40,000 PRs?

Thought it was closer to 70,000...or does not that count Puerto Ricans born here?

All the population numbers for all the groups posted here & previously are just for the immigrants, internal migrants in the unique case of Puerto Ricans. What's listed is just the first-generation population born in Puerto Rico, Cuba, etc.

Yea, the total Puerto Rican population of Hartford's MSA is much bigger, 82,992. While the total numbers are way larger in NYC, etc., no big surprise, Hartford along with Springfield MA probably has the highest proportion of Puerto Ricans as a share of total MSA population.

Sure that Puerto Rican Day Parade brings out huge crowds in Hartford!

bayviews

August 3rd, 2006, 05:11 AM

My grandmother came in the 40s, I suppose in that first major wave of Puerto Rican immigration.

When she took a train down to Orlando, after crossing into the south, they didn't know whether to seat her with the whites or the blacks, haha. Amazing how diverse America has become just during her lifetime... back then no one outside of the southwest knew what the hell a latino was.

Interesting, that was quite common experience for earlier Puerto Rican migrants who traveled thru the Jim Crow era South.

These days, everyone in Orlando & Florida knows who Puerto Ricans are!

bayviews

August 3rd, 2006, 07:29 AM

^^ yeah, who would of thought this would get of 100 posts?

And still more to come! Here's a bit of a snapshot of West Indian/Caribbean immigration & where they are settling in the Northeast.

West Indians from the non-Hispanic Caribbean are another major immigrant group concentrated in the Northeast. West Indians have been coming to the US since colonial times, with a significant uptick in immigration to NYC & other Northeast ports during the first few decades of the 20th century, and again during & following WW 2. But the vast majority has arrived since 1965. Most of the generally better-educated Barbadians have faired better than most Haitians, who tend to come with less education. Still, many immigrants from all West Indian countries have tended to gravitate toward similar economic niches, particularly nursing, healthcare & homecare in the service sector. Others work in public sector, professional, financial, management, academic, tech sectors. Still other West Indians have opened restaurants, take-outs, bakeries, music stores & other neighborhood businesses.

Jamaicans are the biggest group of West Indians immigrating to the US. The largest number of Jamaicans has settled in the NYC metro, expanding from the Central Brooklyn neighborhoods of Flatbush and Crown Heights southeast into Flatlands-Canarsie. In the Northeast Bronx, Jamaicans are clustered in the Wakefield, Williamsbridge, Baychester, & Norwood. In southeast Queens, Jamaicans have settled in Cambria Heights-St Albans-Rochdale & Laurelton-Rosedale. Large numbers of Jamaicans have moved to suburbs, particularly Westchester and Nassau Counties in NY, Essex County NJ, & Fairfield County CT. Washimore has become a more recent destination for Jamaicans, who have spread out mostly into Prince Georges, Montgomery & other Maryland suburban counties. Philadelphia also has attracted a modest numbers of Jamaicans, who are fairly scattered along the city’s far northwest & far west sides. Hartford, which drew many Jamaicans recruited to work in the Connecticut Valley shade tobacco plantation beginning in the 1940s, has a sizeable settlement that has branched out from the North End to Bloomfield and other suburbs. Around Boston, in Dorchester and other neighborhoods & suburbs, the significant numbers of Jamaicans are far outnumbered by Haitians. Rochester also attracted a sizeable number of Jamaicans recruited by upstate farms & hospitals.

Haitians, from a very poor & unstable country where French is the official language but most speak Creole, have been coming in significant numbers since the Duavailer family seized power 1957. While the first Haitians were mostly intellectuals & professionals who settled in NYC, during the 1970s & ‘80s, many Haitian boat people risked their lives sailing small wooden ships to Florida & settled in Miami. NYC still boasts the largest Haitian community in the US, centered in the Flatbush & Crown Heights districts of central Brooklyn, generally alongside the Jamaicans, expanding to Vanderveer and Flatland-Canarsie. Most of NYC’s other Haitians have settled in southeast Queens. Many Haitians have moved to suburban Essex County NJ, Nassau and Rockland County NY, & Fairfield County CT. Boston also has a large Haitian community centered along Blue Hill Avenue in the city’s Mattapan district, with smaller numbers in the Dorchester & Hyde Park neighborhoods. Around Boston too, many Haitians have moved to suburbs, including Brocton, Randolph & Stoughton, Cambridge & Somerville, and Revere, Everett, & Lynn. Washimore’s Haitians live mostly in the Maryland suburbs, clustered in Silver Springs, Langley & Hyattsville. While Philadelphia is attracting Haitians branching out from NYC, Providence is also attracting Haitians from Boston.

Guyana, an ethnically divided English-speaking nation shares much more in common with other Caribbean countries than to its Latin South American neighbors. Guyanese are now the second-largest West Indian immigrants group coming to the US. While first Guyanese immigrants comprised a small flow of black immigrants, the much larger recent flow reflects the nation’s slight Indo-Guyanese majority, Afro-Guyanese minority makeup. Over half of NYC’s Guyanese immigrants live in Queens, mostly Indo-Guyanese concentrated in Richmond Hill aka “Little Guyana”, spreading to Ozone Park, Woodhaven & other areas in southwest Queens. Most of the rest are Afro-Guyanese concentrated in Central Brooklyn’s Flatbush & Crown Hts., alongside other Afro-Caribbeans. The Northeast Bronx has a smaller Guyanese population. A significant numbers of Guyanese have moved to New Jersey’s Essex County and other suburbs. Washimore has also attracted a sizeable numbers of Guyanese, which much smaller numbers in Hartford, Philadelphia & Boston.

Trinidadians & Tobagans have also emigrated from a similarly ethnically diverse nation comprised of a larger & smaller island pair at the southern end of the Caribbean. In contrast with the small numbers of less skilled arrivals who trickled in during the first half the last century, the much larger numbers of T & Ts who have immigrated since 1965 have included many more students and professionals, many women. Most have settled around NYC, in central Brooklyn, and Flatlands-Canarsie alongside other islanders. The Indo-Trinidadian minority has tended to settle largely alongside the Indo-Guyanese in Richmond Hill & South Ozone Park in SW Queens. While NYC’s West Indian American Carnival Day Parade was started by T & Ts based on Port of Spain’s Carnival, it’s become a unifying force for the region’s whole Caribbean community bringing out over half a million each Labor Day weekend. The smaller numbers of T & T immigrants in Washimore, Boston & Philadelphia have also settled alongside other West Indians and African Americans.

Barbadians are the smallest among the larger West Indian groups who have immigrated to the US. However, “Bajans” were among the first from the Caribbean to arrive in the US, & their immigration flow has increased since 1965. Most immigrants from Barbados have settled around NYC, in the same central Brooklyn, southeast Queens, & northeast Bronx neighborhoods as their more numerous Caribbean cousins, as well as those from Antigua, Grenada, St. Lucia/Nevis, St. Kitts, St. Vincent, Montserrat, & other smaller islands. Along with other islanders, Bajans have gained a reputation for their work ethic and thrift. They have have used rotating credit associations to pool funds, buying houses & opening stores that have revitalized troubled neighbohoods, as well as suburbs where they have moved. Boston also has long been a destination for Barbadians, who are particularly prominent in Cambridge. Washimore & Philadelphia have also attracted significant flow of Bajans.

As with African Americans, and with Puerto Ricans, Cubans, & some other Latino groups, and many others too, Caribbeans too have been moving southward, some to Atlanta, the Carolinas, or Texas. But most of all, to Florida, particularly metro Miami, where the West Indian communities are second only to NYC in size.

West Indian Immigrants:
2000 Census

Jamaica
1. New York CMSA 264,044
2. Washington-Baltimore CMSA 23,981
3. Philadelphia CMSA 14,515
4. Hartford MSA 14,149
5. Boston CMSA 10,783
6. Rochester MSA 2,780
7. Buffalo MSA 827
8. Providence CMSA 495
9. Pittsburgh MSA 486

Haiti

1. New York CMSA 161,027
2. Boston CMSA 33,874
3. Washington-Baltimore CMSA 6,195
4. Philadelphia CMSA 5,535
5. Providence CMSA 1,618
6. Hartford MSA 786
7. Rochester MSA 327
8. Buffalo MSA 189
9. Pittsburgh MSA 108

Guyana

1. New York CMSA 158,561
2. Washington-Baltimore CMSA 8,073
3. Hartford MSA 1,681
4. Philadelphia CMSA 1,525
5. Boston CMSA 1,215
6. Rochester MSA 301
7. Buffalo MSA 144
8. Pittsburgh MSA 75
9. Providence CMSA 21

Trinidad & Tobago

1. New York CMSA 110,719
2. Washington-Baltimore CMSA 13,902
3. Boston CMSA 5,778
4. Philadelphia CMSA 4,648
5. Hartford MSA 786
6. Pittsburgh MSA 291
7. Providence CMSA 268
8. Buffalo MSA 265
9. Rochester MSA 205

Barbados

1. New York CMSA 32,615
2. Boston CMSA 3,984
3. Washington-Baltimore CMSA 1,383
4. Philadelphia CMSA 1,205
5. Hartford MSA 582
6. Rochester MSA 277
7. Providence CMSA 82
8. Pittsburgh MSA 71
9. Buffalo MSA 32

Xusein

August 4th, 2006, 03:02 AM

Yeah, the Jamaican influence is strong here in Hartford... :cheers:

I live right near a Jamaican restaurant, and I am also going to the West Indian parade downtown when it stats...I love the Caribbean!

GasUpTheUHaul

August 4th, 2006, 03:53 AM

I don't have specific numbers but I can give an idea of what populations are growing
El Salvadorian
Ecuadorian
Colombian
Brazilian
Ecuadorian
Peruvian
Dominican
Jamaican
Haitian
Trinidadian
Ghanain
Nigerian
Russian

I don't think Puerto Rican would be counted but we have a large percentage of them as well

JAB323

August 4th, 2006, 04:39 AM

I'm surprised the Baltimroe-Washington area has that many.

bayviews

August 4th, 2006, 04:41 AM

I don't have specific numbers but I can give an idea of what populations are growing

Good to hear that Newark’s attracting lots of new immigrants!

Here’s the top ten immigrant groups with 2000 Census numbers. As you’ve no doubt heard, the latest census estimates (which tend to be understated) show that after decades of decline, Newark has started to regain population. Sure the immigrant inflow has played a big role in the comeback of a city that too many had once virtually written off!

Here’s just for Newark City

Total Immigrants: 66,057
1. Portugal 12,173
2. Ecuador 9,731
3. Brazil 6,696
4. Dominican Republic 5,774
5. Cuba 2,436
6. Haiti 2,214
7. Guyana 1,964
8. Peru 1,821
9. Jamaica 1,749
10. El Salvador 1,695

Essex County (that includes Newark & its immediate suburbs) has drawn many more immigrants.

Total Immigrants: 168,165
1. Haiti 15,474
2. Portugal 13,123
3. Ecuador 12,850
4. Jamaica 11,071
5. Dominican Republic 8,324
6. Guyana 7,827
7. Brazil 7,711
8. Philippines 6,245
9. India 4,997
10. Italy 4,995

While most of the Latino & Luso immigrants have settled within Newark city (many in the Ironbound & North Ward) most of West Indians & nearly all the Asians have settled in the Essex suburbs.

I’d guess that most of the Latinos/Lusos are coming directly to Newark, while many of the Caribbeans & Asians are moving out from NYC. Essex attracts the largest numbers of any West Indian group (Haitians) of any NYC CMSA county outside the city's five boroughs. Essex is also the region's second-largest destination for Jamaicans outside NYC.

Sure those numbers have gone up quite a bit since the census!

bayviews

August 4th, 2006, 04:47 AM

I'm surprised the Baltimroe-Washington area has that many.

Many of the earlier West Indians were were attracted to Howard University & stayed after graduation. And both Washington, & to a much lesser degree, Baltimore, & their suburbs (principally Prince Georges & Montgomery counties) have attracted many Caribbeans moving outward from NYC.

JAB323

August 7th, 2006, 12:15 AM

^^ Yeah, I mean I know all that, but I just didn't think it was that much.

bayviews

August 9th, 2006, 07:14 AM

As promised, continuing with the impact of immigrants in major Northeast metros, here’s a capsule with data on Africans, one of the newest immigrant groups.

Cape Verdians have been immigrating since the 19th century, & a sprinkle of African students have come since the early 20th century. However, the vast majority of Africans have come since 1965, many fleeing civil wars and strife in their homelands. And during the 1990s, African immigrants became a visible critical mass in many Northeast metros. Africans are starting out, (& often over, in downwardly mobile jobs) as taxi drivers, parking lot attendants, gas station operators, cashiers, street vendors, hotel staff, and other service sector jobs. Some Africans are working as civil servants, nurses, physicians, accounts, professors, real estate agents, & other positions more in line with their generally high educational levels.

Cape Verdians started immigrating from their archipelago off the coast of West Africa during the period when it was under Portuguese rule. Many worked as crew on whaling ships based in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Later Cape Verdians started a steamer service that carried immigrants to New Bedford. Cape Verdians worked in cranberry bogs and textile mills of southeastern New England. Since Cape Verde gained independence in 1975, immigrants continue to settle in southeastern New England. Most Cape Verdians live around Boston, clustered in Upphams Corner and other parts of the city’s Dorchester district as well as outlying Brocton, while the descendents of early Cape Verdian immigrants are long-established in New Bedford. Another large community is settled in Pawtucket, Rhode Island and other cities around Providence. Many of the Cape Verdians around NYC live in Bridgeport and other southeast Connecticut cities.

Nigerians, having come from the most populous African nation, have arrived in the largest numbers. The first wave of Nigerian immigrants in the 1970s comprised largely Igbo fleeing the civil war that ended with the defeat of efforts to create a separate Igbo-dominated Biafra in the southeast region. The second wave included more Yoruba’s, the largest and dominant ethnic group, who immigrated after the collapse of Nigeria’s oil boom in early 1980s. Many Igbo’s, Yoruba’s, & other ethnic Nigerians have come as college students to the US, but were unable to find decent jobs back home their notoriously corrupt nation. Around NYC, many Nigerians have settled in Brooklyn’s Flatland’s-Canarsie, and Cypress Hill districts; in southeast Queens neighborhoods of Springfield Gardens, Laurelton, Rosedale, Cambria Heights, St. Albans-Rochdale; and in the Stapletown-Todt Hill section of Staten Island. Irvington, Union, and other New Jersey suburbs across the Hudson have also attracted many Nigerians. Around Washimore, where initial arrivals came as students to Howard University or with the embassy staff, Nigerians have settled mostly in the Price Georges, Montgomery, and other Maryland suburbs, with a smaller number around Baltimore. Boston, Philadelphia, & Providence too have attracted significant numbers of Nigerians.

Ghanaians started coming in significant numbers after independence, when the new Nkrumah government awarded scholarships to study in the US. Many remained after college and they were joined by others escaping poor economic conditions in the 1970s & political unrest during the early 1980s. During the late 1980s, a second generation of Ghanaian professionals came to the US. And during the 1990s, Ghanaians took advantage of the visa lottery system to come in larger numbers. NYC has attracted the most Ghanaians, heavily concentrated in the Southwest Bronx, in the Morris Heights, High Bridge, Tremont, Belmont-Fordham-Bedford Park, University Heights districts. Other Ghanaians are scattered in Brooklyn’s Flatbush and Crown Heights districts or in Corona, Queens. Some Ghanians have moved to E. Orange, Irvington and other New Jersey suburbs. Many Ghanaians have gravitated to healthcare and business and tend to be upwardly mobile. Washimore has attracted the second-largest flow of Ghanaians, most of whom live in the Maryland suburbs along with other West Africans, West Indians, and African Americans. Philadelphia, Boston, and Providence also have attracted sizeable numbers of Ghanaians.

Liberians have come to the US in large numbers since that West African nation founded by freed slaves disintegrated into civil war during the 1980s. Liberians too have settled around NYC, particularly in northern Staten Island and in the North Jersey suburbs ringing Newark. Washimore, Philadelphia, Boston, and Providence, all with strong college connections to Liberia, are also significant destinations.

While still small in numbers, Senegalese are the largest of the French-speaking West Africans Senegalese who have come to the US. Along with Malians, Guineans, & Ivorians, the Senegalese are traditional traders who have established peddling and vending businesses, selling on city sidewalks and at African-themed festivals. NYC has the largest number of Senegalese, clustered in Harlem and in the South Bronx, where Amadou Diallo was killed by police. Gentrification & rising housing costs have led many Senegalese to branch out, down the coast to Philadelphia, Washimore, & points further south. Or to the Midwest.

Ethiopians are the largest immigrant group from the Horn of East Africa. Some Ethiopians came to the US as students during the 1950s and 1960s when Haile Sellase was Emperor. Most came as refugees after 1979, fleeing the Stalinist “dirge” regime that came to power and the famine that devastated Ethiopia during the early 1980s. Most of the Ethiopians who came to the US are ethnic Amharas, who while a national minority dominated politics until losing power to Tigre-speaking Ethiopians when the dirge was ousted after a long civil war in 1991. Coming mostly as refugees, Ethiopians gravitated to Washimore, spreading from Adams-Morgan and Petworth-Brightwood Park in DC, across the Potomac to South Arlington, Alexandria’s Landmark section and other Northern Virginia suburbs. Far fewer Ethiopians settled around NYC, as it’s not a significant refugee destination. Boston and Philadelphia also have sizeable Ethiopian communities. While they have fought wars, aside from politics, Ethiopians and Eritrean find common cause when it comes to culture & food.

Small numbers of Somalians started coming to the US beginning in the late 1970s, when Somalia and Ethiopia fought over the Ogaden and conditions began to deteriorate. More Somalis came to the US after 1991, when Siad Barre’s regime was ousted, the ill-fated US Marine landing at Mogadishu ended with Blackhawk down, and Somalia disintegrated into chaos. From refugee camps in Ethiopia, Djibouti, Sudan, and Kenya, Somali refugees streamed to the US, mostly settling in the Midwest. Ethnic Bantu Somalis comprise the most recent wave coming since the early 2000s. The latest wave of Within the Northeast, Washimore has the largest Somali community, generally overlapping with the Ethiopian and Eritrean communities in the Northern Virgina suburbs. While Somalis are thinly scattered around NYC, Boston, Buffalo, & Rochester, in proximity to Canada’s large Somali communities, have become significant destinations.

South Africans began immigrating to the US during the 1950s, fleeing Apartheid, racial injustice and strife and the economic conditions that worsened in the 1980s as the embargo was tightened. Another wave of South Africans has come since the Apartheid system was dismantled and replaced by a democracy, creating uncertainty among some whites. South African immigrants reflect the reflect divisions of their homeland, some black, some white, others colored, or East Indian. South African immigrants also come from a much more affluent country. So the South Africans around NYC, Washimore, Boston, and Philadelphia are quite different and less cohesive as contrasted with other African immigrant groups. Maybe South African American can add more detail!

While the census published details on only a few African immigrant groups, there was more data on African ancestry groups, so some of these are also included. However, aside from the Cape Verdians, most Africans are first-generation, so the ancestry populations are only modestly larger than the immigrant populations.

African Immigrants/Ancestry
2000 Census

Africa (immigrants)
1. New York CMSA 169,307
2. Washington-Baltimore CMSA 106,415
3. Boston CMSA 47,069
4. Philadelphia CMSA 23,572
5. Providence CMSA 12,380
6. Hartford MSA 3,169
7. Rochester MSA 2,329
8. Pittsburgh MSA 2,275
9. Buffalo MSA 1,929

Cape Verdian (ancestry)
1. Boston CMSA 40,637
2. Providence CMSA 16,526
3. New York CMSA 4,553
4. Washington-Baltimore CMSA 1,267
5. Philadelphia CMSA 447
6. Hartford MSA 408
7. Pittsburgh MSA 45
8. Rochester MSA 41
9. Buffalo MSA 22

Nigeria (immigrants)
1. New York CMSA 26,910
2. Washington-Baltimore CMSA 17,966
3. Boston CMSA 3,116
4. Philadelphia CMSA 3,048
5. Providence CMSA 1,394
6. Hartford MSA 451
7. Pittsburgh MSA 244
8. Buffalo MSA 230
9. Rochester MSA 157

Ghana (immigrants)
1. New York CMSA 23,242
2. Washington-Baltimore CMSA 12,401
3. Boston CMSA 2,815
4. Philadelphia CMSA 1,481
5. Providence CMSA 549
6. Hartford MSA 451
7. Buffalo MSA 76
8. Rochester MSA 75
9. Pittsburgh MSA122

Liberian (ancestry)
1. New York CMSA 5,382
2. Washington-Baltimore CMSA 3,362
3. Philadelphia CMSA 2,086
4. Providence CMSA 1,099
5. Boston CMSA 714
6. Pittsburgh MSA 59
7. Rochester MSA 26
8. Buffalo MSA 12
9. Hartford MSA 12

Senegalese (ancestry)
1. New York CMSA 2,434
2. Washington-Baltimore CMSA 988
3. Providence CMSA 81
4. Boston CMSA 75
5. Pittsburgh MSA 73
6. Hartford MSA 58
7. Philadelphia CMSA 46
8. Buffalo MSA 6
9. Rochester MSA 0

Ethiopia (immigrants)
1. Washington-Baltimore CMSA 15,744
2. New York CMSA 3,340
3. Boston CMSA 1,804
4. Philadelphia CMSA 1,055
5. Rochester MSA 447
6. Hartford MSA 99
7. Buffalo MSA 37
8. Providence CMSA 22
9. Pittsburgh MSA77

Somalian (ancestry)
1. Washington-Baltimore CMSA 2,837
2. Boston CMSA 994
3. New York CMSA 470
4. Buffalo MSA 457
5. Rochester MSA 208
6. Philadelphia CMSA 77
7. Pittsburgh MSA 58
8. Hartford MSA 33
9. Providence CMSA 0

South Africa (immigrants)
1. New York CMSA 6,609
2. Washington-Baltimore CMSA 2,457
3. Boston CMSA 2,098
4. Philadelphia CMSA 1,151
5. Hartford MSA 320
6. Pittsburgh MSA 258
7. Providence CMSA 159
8. Rochester MSA 84
9. Buffalo MSA 73

Xusein

August 9th, 2006, 07:34 AM

Thanks... :)

Hartford has a very little African immigrant community, but they are growing. East Hartford has a few African stores and restaurants, mostly Ghanian or Nigerian. The population is growing mostly from migrants from NY. Not that suprised to see that Providence is a much larger magnet.

Hartford's Somali community, which I am a part of, is a very small, but tightly-knit community. Everyone knows each other. The community is relatively affulent and assimliated in American society. The major disconnect and isolation that Somalis have in other cities is absent here. But I'm gonna have to go to Toronto or Minneapolis to find a girl.... :scouserd:

Somalian (ancestry)
1. Washington-Baltimore CMSA 2,837
2. Boston CMSA 994
3. New York CMSA 470
4. Buffalo MSA 457
5. Rochester MSA 208
6. Philadelphia CMSA 77
7. Pittsburgh MSA 58
8. Hartford MSA 33
9. Providence CMSA 0

Ha...that's something that Pittsburgh and Buffalo have more of that Hartford...Somalis...

Somalis are VERY undercounted, as are most African Immigrants...DC has the most, but most of them live in NOVA/Fairfax co and Alexandria, and there are estimates of the Somali population of being closer to 10,000.

Buffalo and Rochester, I presume, have moderate Somali communties because of their proximity of Toronto, which has a LARGE Somali community nearing 100,000 (by some more liberal estimates). I loved living there for some time, a neighborhood of Etobicoke is known as Little Mogadishu. I think Pittsburgh has seen some of a spillover from Columbus, Ohio.

Boston has a large community of Somalis in the Charlestown and Roxbury neighborhoods, the suburb of Framingham also has a moderate community. Liberal estimates have the estimate of Somalis near 5,000.

New York and Philadelphia, for some reason, has never had large Somali communities for some reason. Somalis in the US move to more mid-size metros...not a lot in the large cities.

Note: Many cities might have seen a bump in their Somali populations thanks to the refugee asylums of the Somali Bantus since 2000. Hartford saw 200 move here alone...most moved to Ohio though.

The Midwest trumps here, though...Columbus and Minneapolis have huge communities...Atlanta, Maine (which was not on this list, because of not having a large metro), San Diego, Seattle have larger communities than the East coast cities, with the exception of DC.

bayviews

August 10th, 2006, 07:16 AM

Yea, the biggest Somali communities are in the Midwest. Here's an article about Columbus, which has become the second-largest Somali destination in the US, & a significant factor in increasing the city's population.

TALES OF TWO SOMALI CITIES - PART 1 OF 2 ; COLUMBUS struggles to take in nation's second-largest group Stories by Encarnacion Pyle; [Home Final Edition] THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH, Encarnacion Pyle. Columbus Dispatch. Columbus, Ohio: Jul 11, 2004. pg. 01.A
By the time Amina Mohamed had stepped onto American soil, she had watched rebels kill several family members, been widowed twice, been forced to leave a third husband behind and had discovered that one of her children had cancer.
Like so many other refugees who fled Somalia with only the clothes on their backs and the will to survive, she and her six children wouldn't have made it without the kindness of strangers.
A social worker helped Mohamed find housing and enroll her children in school and steered her to Columbus State Community College, where she learned English and is taking nursing classes.
"Coming here saved our lives," said Mohamed, 43, of the Far West Side. "At the very least, I can provide a better life and an education to my children."
Columbus already has the second-largest population of Somali refugees outside of Africa. And some think it soon could surpass the top city, Minneapolis, if affordable housing, good jobs and support remain plentiful.
"The world is coming to Columbus," said Samuel Gresham Jr., president of the Columbus Urban League, which provides several services to Somalis. "If you want to work hard and keep your nose clean, this is the city to live in."
But the continuing flood of Somalis -- including hundreds more expected to arrive in Columbus by year's end -- increasingly has tested social-service agencies, schools, health centers, law- enforcement agencies and other groups.
Worried that the wave of newcomers will further tax resources, the Franklin County commissioners have sounded the alarm.
They've called for a review of the county's refugee-assistance programs. And they're questioning whether central Ohio is doing enough to provide counseling, education, food, housing and job training. Without such services, new immigrants could become a drain on the community instead of strong citizens.
They also are concerned about the federal government's proposal to cut its funding for refugee services by $40 million nationwide next year, all at a time when resettlement costs and humanitarian needs are on the rise.
"All over the world, people are fleeing violence, political instability and poverty, and our country is still a beacon of hope to people," Commissioner Mary Jo Kilroy said. "I think we should welcome and assist them to be able to join our society, but it can be awfully challenging, as it extends our schools and social services."
Increasing costs
The federal government will spend more than $1.2 million this year -- a 23 percent increase over last year -- helping Somali and other refugees resettle in Franklin County, covering English lessons, health screenings, job training and other programs that teach them about life in their new land. Minneapolis-St. Paul will receive more than $6 million in federal grants for comparable refugee programs and millions more for food benefits.
In Columbus, United Way agencies, other social-service groups and churches also will pay tens of thousands of dollars for food, shelter and other services to help immigrants get on their feet.
In addition, Somalis and other refugees nationwide are entitled to eight months of public assistance, including cash payments, Medicaid coverage and subsidized housing. After that, families with kids are eligible for the same benefits as Americans.
But some Americans resent that entitlement, saying Somalis get preferential treatment or underserved breaks. Rumors of big checks, free cars and limitless assistance run rampant. But several social- service workers say the meager public assistance available hardly guarantees new immigrants a smooth start to a new life in a foreign land.
"Many of our Somali refugees have endured horrors that would weaken the strongest survivors," said Laurie Pappas of Lutheran Social Services of Central Ohio. "Even short of resources and facing jolting cultural changes, they make ends meet."
The arrival of up to 250 members of a persecuted African tribe during the next year is expected to add to the challenge.
"The Somali Bantus will be the test," said Gresham.
Experts say Bantus generally are arriving with fewer skills than many other Somalis. Many have lived in rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa and have never used running water, flush toilets or electricity.
Unlikely immigrants
Many Somalis would have had no desire to leave their homeland had civil war not sent them fleeing, said Hassan Omar, president of the Somali Community Association of Ohio.
Mohamed and her family were living a comfortable life in Mogadishu in late 1991 when eight armed rebels stormed their house at dawn and gunned down her mother, father, husband and a brother.
The government of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre had collapsed, and though Mohamed's husband was not a sympathizer of Barre's, he was a military officer -- and therefore marked for death by the militia that ousted the president.
Even with assistance and low housing costs in Columbus, it's still difficult for a Somali family, which may have as many as six children -- as Mohamed does -- and no job or credit history, to rent an apartment.
Long waiting lists and federal rules limiting the number of people per bedroom to two add to the challenges, said Dennis Guest, executive director of the Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority.
"The waiting list for our Section 8 vouchers has 7,000 people on it and is closed," Guest said. "We're still accepting people for public housing. But even there we have a waiting list of 2,500."
Welfare-reform rules requiring all adults to work or go to school are a shock to women who never have worked outside the home, don't know the language or don't have a way to get to work, said Ahmed Diriye, a Somali liaison to South-Western schools who also heads the Somali American Services Organization.
It can be especially traumatic for women whose husbands have died or haven't been able to come to the United States.
"Many haven't lived here long enough to have trusted neighbors or relatives to watch their children," Diriye said. "And if they leave their children, they could face criminal prosecution or even lose their kids to Children Services."
Lack of transportation can limit the jobs refugees take and the movement of Somali seniors, many of whom are baffled by the bus system, said Loodar Farah, a Somali case manager for the county's Senior Options program.
Job stress
There are other pitfalls to starting over.
Many of the first Somali immigrants in Columbus were educated government workers and professionals with impressive resumes who had been targets of warlords, said Abdullahi Omar, a Somali social worker.
Like other East African refugees, they've had to sacrifice their professional standing. Once doctors, lawyers and engineers, they're now driving taxis, working on factory assembly lines or packing meat.
"This career downgrading can be terribly humiliating," Omar said.
On the other spectrum, many newer refugees lack language and job skills, making transition to American life even more difficult. They often take jobs others shun but also are the first fired and last hired in tough economic times, said Keith Ewald, a labor analyst for the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.
Many are making their mark by starting small businesses, including travel agencies, taxi companies, dollar stores and used- car dealerships.
"Give Somalis two coconuts, and they'd go into business selling the milk," said Hassan Osman, 25, who volunteers at his friend's African Auto Repair shop in South Linden when he isn't attending computer classes at DeVry University. "We're merchants by trade."
Jewish Family Services has trained more than 1,800 people and helped more than 580 local entrepreneurs, 80 percent of whom are refugees, start and maintain businesses, said Inna Kinney, who oversaw that program.
"Somalis are so entrepreneurial," said Kinney, who heads the Economic and Community Development Institute, which was created last month to help immigrant-owned businesses. "They have a great sense of independence and freedom."
Many are motivated to work hard because they send money home or are trying to bring family to the United States, Osman said.
Religious issues
Sometimes, Somalis' religious values -- most are Muslim -- collide with the practices of American employers.
"No matter what shift a Muslim works or when he chooses to sleep, five prayers must be done at fixed times each day -- approximately noon, midafternoon, sunset, early evening and about 6 a.m." said Adan Mursal of the Somali American Friendship Association.
Though the prayers take about five minutes, some employers balk about the time, especially in warehouse or assembly jobs.
As a result, some Somali Muslims have been fired for asking for time to pray. Others have sought other employment, said Jad Humeidan, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Ohio chapter.
Muslim women, with their floor-length skirts, long-sleeve shirts and hijab -- the religiously mandated head scarf, have even tougher times than men.
Those working at Ohio State University Medical Center won a minor victory last month by maintaining their right to wear a hijab, provided it is white, Humeidan said.
Life has been more difficult for Somali Muslims since the Sept. 11 terrorist attack and the recent indictment of Nuradin Abdi, a Somali native accused of plotting with al-Qaida to blow up a Columbus-area shopping mall.
"Nuradin Abdi has already been tried in the court of public opinion, thanks to the federal government," said Mahmoud El- Yousseph, Palestinian-American advocate in Westerville. "The government is guilty of inducing public panic, not against just Mr. Abdi but all Muslims."
Community leaders attribute a lack of religious and cultural understanding between black Americans and their Somali-born neighbors to recent clashes between the two groups. They also predict that the flare-ups will subside, as did the tensions between blacks from the agrarian South and more industrial North during the mid-1960s.
"Despite these economic, political and religious struggles, the American dream is still alive and well, and Columbus is at the epicenter," Mohamed said. "I'm living proof."

bayviews

August 10th, 2006, 07:23 AM

And here’s an article from Minneapolis, the largest Somali American community, which also was key to ending that city's long population decline in the 1990s, & has become quite well established over the past 15 years.

TALES OF TWO SOMALI CITIES - PART 2 OF 2 ; MINNEAPOLIS groups embrace refugees after bumpy start; [Home Final Edition]
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH, Encarnacion Pyle. Columbus Dispatch. Columbus, Ohio: Jul 11, 2004. pg. 01.
MINNEAPOLIS -- A crowd of men sip sweetened tea and chew homeland politics over steaming-hot plates of sanbusas (a type of turnover) while watching Al-Jazeera television.
A woman in a flowing silk head scarf calls her husband on a cell phone as a butcher uses a purring saw to slice through the rib cage of a skinned goat.
An officer kneels beside a small boy in the middle of a colorful bazaar and practices his Somali. "Booliis baan ahay (I am the police)," he says.
At first blush, an often-frigid city that averages 45 inches of snow each winter seems an unlikely haven for a group of sub-Saharan refugees. But Minneapolis and its twin city, St. Paul, have hosted large waves of immigrants needing lots of services since Hmong started arriving from Laos and other Southeast Asian countries shortly after the Vietnam War 30 years ago.
Minneapolis and Columbus have become the first- and second-most popular destinations for Somalis.
The Somali populations in both cities continues to grow -- not just because of new refugees but also because of Somalis who relocated from other U.S. cities in search of housing and jobs or to join family or friends.
That secondary migration has made it difficult to determine the number of Somalis living in each city. Minneapolis boasts 35,000 to 60,000 Somalis. Columbus lays claim to about 30,000.
"Where Somalis succeed, others follow -- kinda like follow the leader," said Mohamed Moalin, who lived in Washington, D.C., Utah and Columbus before settling in Minneapolis.
"We're a nomadic, clannish culture," said Moalin, 33, a former Ohio State University student who now works with the Somali Mai Community of Minnesota. "Our ancestors moved their goats and sheep from one watering hole to the next on Somalia's vast desert. Here in the United States, we move from city to city, following the Somalis who have come before us."
American dream
In many ways, Minneapolis' Somalis are living the classic immigrant experience while chasing the classic American dream, said Saeed Fahia, executive director of the Confederation of Somali Community in Minnesota.
They pinch pennies to send money to relatives living in their war- torn homeland or in refugee camps in neighboring countries. And they struggle to adapt to a new culture, while clinging to their ethnic identity.
"It's what this country is built on," Fahia said in slightly accented English. "We want what every American wants: a better life for our families."
At the center of Little Mogadishu is Riverside Plaza, a collection of nondescript, 40-year-old high-rises at Cedar and Riverside avenues southeast of Downtown.
Nicknamed "the United Nations of Minneapolis," Riverside Plaza has some 1,300 tenants -- 60 percent of whom fled wars in Somalia and other parts of eastern Africa.
"We've always been Minneapolis' unofficial refugee welcome center," said Jason Elmes, the complex's resident services director. "We're a cosmopolitan city within the city."
Neatly-dressed men in colorful turbans and koofiyads (embroidered caps) conduct animated conversations in the plaza's courtyard, cutting the air with their hands as they argue the news of the day.
Women in billowing dresses drag young children into the complex's meat market for halal chicken, goat and hamburger, suitable for devout Muslims.
Teacher Diane Lunde instructs a class of new arrivals on the finer points of English.
The lilting chant Allahu Akbar (God is great) rings out as worshippers in ankle-length robes queue up in the shadows of the Masjid Dar Al-Hijrah mosque for afternoon prayers.
Years ahead
Ali Egale, a 35-year-old who moved to Minneapolis from Columbus, chats with a customer as he solders a computer board in his fledgling business in a Somali mall.
"I feel like Columbus is four or five years behind Minneapolis," Egale said. "There aren't as many racial or religious tensions here. It's as though the Twin Cities has already gotten through the getting-to-know-you phase between the refugees and the Americans."
Despite a generally welcoming atmosphere, Minneapolis has had its share of growing pains.
In June 2001, 40 people protested after officers frisked 11 visiting Somali basketball players waiting for a bus to take them to their dormitories.
Shortly after Sept. 11, Somalis started feeling the effects of the federal government's pursuit of local links to the terrorist network al-Qaida.
The next month, the community complained that police were too slow to investigate the beating death of a 66-year-old Somali man.
In November 2001, the U.S. Treasury Department shut down a handful of Somali-run money-transfer offices in Minneapolis that allegedly had ties to Osama bin Laden. (The same happened in Columbus.)
Three months later, residents presented a petition to city leaders charging that Somali security officers and public housing tenants had been targets of a hate campaign.
In June 2002, detectives fatally shot a machete-waving, mentally ill Somali man, sparking protests demanding the resignation of then- Police Chief Robert Olson.
"One of the toughest stumbling blocks is teaching people not to fear the police," said Hassan A. Mohamud, a lawyer for the Legal Aid Society of Minneapolis. "Police corruption is rampant in Somalia, and things have not always gone too smoothly between Somalis and police here because of fear, ignorance and a lack of tolerance on both sides."
Police training
It has helped, Mohamud said, that many Minneapolis officers have taken it upon themselves to learn simple phrases in Somali such as Subah Wanaagsan (good morning). All police in St. Paul are learning about Somali culture and Islam. And the Minneapolis force has hired Somali crime-prevention and community-service officers.
"The officers are learning invaluable subtle cultural differences, like using a forefinger to beckon a Somali refugee is a no-no," said Fahia Warsame, a legal assistant for the Legal Aid Society. "While an officer thinks he has asked someone to come here, the Somali believes he's been (given) an obscene gesture."
Nonetheless, Somalis in Minneapolis are thriving, she said Lula Warsame, a former Columbus resident and domestic-abuse counselor who works with Somali women.
Many have jobs and U.S. citizenship. Public assistance is helping others get on their feet. Tutoring programs after school and during weekends and summer have sprouted up for children. Somali students are exceeding state and national averages on standardized tests. And for the first time, thousands of new Somali citizens are expected to vote in the November presidential election.
"Warfare drove Somalis to refugee camps. U.S. policy admitted us into this country. And we're doing our best to live up to the great American way," Moalin said

BuffCity

August 10th, 2006, 08:12 AM

bayviews

August 11th, 2006, 05:36 AM

bay views...check my newest thread about office space...see if you can find some stuff to post on there.

Somalians...poor people, they have been thru alot of shit. Food sucks though right? lol

Just keep them from getting telephone tech support jobs...OH god!!!

BuffCity, hope this thread has provided you a sense of the role that immigration has played in Northeat metros.

bayviews

August 12th, 2006, 06:13 AM

Here’s a recent article on the growing African community in Lowell in the Merrimack Valley north of Boston & included within that CMSA. Lowell, an old textile mill city that experienced half a century of decline. But's been brought back to life since 1980 by the arrival of tens of thousands of new immigrants, mostly from Latin America, Southeast Asia & now also Africa

Local Africans band together to ensure 'bright future' in U.S

HIROKO SATO. The Sun. Lowell, Mass.: Aug 4, 2006. pg. 1
George Foryoung knew his life was about to change last year when he received mail from the U.S. government.
The letter said the Cameroonian father of two had just won the Diversity Visa Lottery, a program that grants U.S. permanent residency to randomly selected foreign citizens. That meant his family's dream to build a new life in the land of opportunity had come true. His wish to give his children a better future became a reality.
What Foryoung didn't know, though, was that his 15-year experience as a physical-education instructor at Buena Vista University wasn't going to help him here. His online searches for jobs that require his expertise in teaching handball -- a high- speed, ball-passing Olympic sport with worldwide fans -- turned up nothing.
That's when his fellow Cameroonians in Lowell started telling him what to do to survive here.
America has its own system, they told him, and newcomers must put themselves through it to rebuild their resumes. He may have to go back to school. If he needs a job immediately, the health-care field is the best one to look into. And they took him to potential employers and helped him fill out applications.
From them, the 43-year-old learned how to stand on his feet again. The fast-paced American life can be stressful, Foryoung said. But he manages because he is surrounded by his new Cameroonian friends. He goes to church with them. He can look forward to old- fashioned weekend parties that help him relax. The warm "fufu," a bowl of starchy food, gives him comfort. Exchanging news from home brings him a sense of nostalgia and peace.
"It refreshes you mentally," said Foryoung, who works at a Methuen group home as a nursing assistant.
Staying close to his friends is important because it makes him "remember your culture, think about your roots," he said.
Foryoung isn't alone in his venture to adopt America. It's an experience repeated by many immigrants in the growing Western African community in Greater Lowell.
There are an estimated 6,000 African-born residents in the region, and according to Cecilia Okafor, a Nigeria native who is executive director of African Assistance Center of Greater Lowell, half of them are from western sections of the continent, including Cameroon, Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Cote D'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Senegal and Nigeria, the largest country in Africa.
Many of the groups also have their own organizations. The Lowell region has always been home to many African immigrants, but the number began to swell rapidly during the 1990s as civil wars and economic slumps prompted many to leave their native countries, said Fru Nkimbeng, co-founder of the Cameroonians of Lowell Association Inc. and a member of African Cultural Association.
The producer of African House of Lowell Telecommunications, Nkimbeng is the coordinator of the African Festival 2006.
The latest wave of African immigrants also includes those who won permanent residency, commonly known as a "green card," just as Foryoung and his sister did.
As the immigrant population grew, the community became more organized, serving as a home away from home for newcomers.
Unlike immigrants from other continents, most Africans do not have language problems because their first language is English. Many of them are also highly educated. Still, they struggle to put food on the table because American institutions often do not recognize their education and training, forcing them to take jobs for which they are overqualified, said Ann Tsewole, president of Cameroonians of Lowell Association.
Adopting a new culture isn't easy, either.
"The first year is very difficult to go alone," Nkimbeng said.
Immigrants who are already settled here take new arrivals around the town, show them how to get a driver's license, teach what dimes and nickels mean -- and how to find jobs. They also try to replicate the close-knit community back home. If somebody gets sick, somebody else will cook for the family. When someone dies, the community raises money.
"I know, for sure, within the Sierra Leone community, we do not depend on life insurance," said Bowa Tucker, a program director at the University of Lowell Center for Family, Work and Community. "The community is the source of life insurance."
For many African immigrants, knowing those who share the roots means having "a safety net," Nkimbeng said.
Immigrant organizations coordinate events to provide a meeting place for members and a chance to come out and enjoy the greater community they live in. Leaders encourage new arrivals to get involved in civic duties. They also work with city officials and other civic organizations to introduce their cultures. For example, local police officers now know African drivers are likely to get out of their cars when stopped by police because that's how they show respect to the authorities in their countries, Nkimbeng said.
Those efforts help remove immigrants' fear and frustrations that the public at large can mistreat them because of misunderstanding and stereotyped images people have about African countries and African-Americans.
Though the organization for Sierra Leoneans that Tucker founded some years ago didn't last, another similar group was recently formed. Tucker said all African immigrant associations have one goal -- helping immigrants become Americans while preserving their cultures and educating the public about them.
And they believe that's how the American dream can be made true.
Foryoung is now planning to go back to school to become a physical therapist.
"I still see a bright future," he said.

bayviews

August 12th, 2006, 06:17 AM

And here’s another article on the growing African immigrant community in Worcester MA, that's also included within the Boston CMSA. Worcester too has started regaining population as large numbers of new immigrants have moved in over the past few decades.

Extending hands to city's Africans ; Community center goal of group; [FINAL Edition] Melanie Mangum. Telegram & Gazette. Worcester, Mass.: May 9, 2005. pg. B.1
WORCESTER - Kwasi Sarpong runs through the numbers: Over the course of about four months, working sometimes seven days a week with a staff of five volunteers, he has seen 1,500 African immigrants come through his 420-square-foot office on Main Street.
Mr. Sarpong wants the Worcester community to consider some other numbers. At the time the 2000 U.S. Census was taken, a reported 6,000 African immigrants were living in the city, most of them Ghanaian, Nigerian or Liberian. Mr. Sarpong believes that statistic is very conservative and estimates the current number of African immigrants living in Worcester is closer to 50,000.
The African Community Development Corp.'s outreach to these immigrants continues to grow and, if the nonprofit community organization wants to keep its current pace in supporting the African immigrant community, it will need more than 420 square feet to do it.
The organization has begun a campaign to raise $800,000, with the goal of developing a center that will provide community support services to African immigrants.
Mr. Sarpong has been working to make the community organization a reality since 2000, when he came to Worcester. The Ghanaian native had a master's degree in business management and worked for high- tech companies, but it was after working in community health education at University of Massachusetts Medical School that he realized the need for a support organization for African immigrants.
"We would go to churches and promote health and we found many problems, like domestic abuse," Mr. Sarpong said.
Instead of focusing simply on the health needs of African immigrants, Mr. Sarpong wanted to develop an organization that would provide support for all the aspects of African immigrants assimilating into the community - everything from English as a second language courses to starting a minority business.
"There are so many Africans coming here," Mr. Sarpong said. "We love America, but when we come here we cannot get ourselves together."
He said many immigrants who were doctors or engineers in Nigeria or Ghana come to America and become frustrated with the process of becoming certified or finding a job in their chosen occupation.
"They end up just working in factories," Mr. Sarpong said.
But their work ethic is strong, he said.
"We're good people where we come from, and when we come here we work hard," Mr. Sarpong said. "We want people to recognize we bring great talent."
Over the past few years, a small group of volunteers with the African Community Development Corp. has gone mainly to churches, both to gather estimates on the population of African immigrants and to let them know that support was being made available to them. The organization's goal is to "advocate and promote the welfare of African immigrants in Worcester."
Through informal counts at many churches, the organization estimates there are about 20,000 Ghanaians alone living in Worcester, and between 40,000 to 50,000 African immigrants in total living in the city.
With funding in hand, the organization will search for a facility of about 26,000 square feet that will house a support center for African immigrant women, a center for technical training, English as a second language classes and perhaps a restaurant serving African food.
Mr. Sarpong said the organization's plan for a new center has the support of Mayor Timothy P. Murray and Dr. Leonard Morse, commissioner of public health.
Peter A. Stefan, who owns Graham Putnam & Mahoney Funeral Home, is also a supporter of the African Community Development Corp. Mr. Stefan is a community activist who has, through a number of personal and partnership endeavors, provided help to other immigrant communities and the poor.
Mr. Sarpong said Mr. Stefan has provided some financial support to help the new community organization get off the ground, calling him an activist whose "heart goes to immigrants." Mr. Stefan downplays his role, saying he has "given them a few bucks here and there" when needed.
Mr. Stefan, whose parents were Greek immigrants, likens the new wave of African and immigrants of other nationalities to the wave of immigrants in the 1900s.
"They come here to work and then try to buy a house. This is what we have to recognize," Mr. Stefan said. "These are new immigrants that just need a shot. On the grass-roots level, we need some help.
"This is a new wave of people coming in and they will be a large population here," he said. "If they don't blend in to the scenery here, we're not going to have anything going for us."
The African Community Development Corp.'s first fund-raising event will be an African Food Festival from noon to 5 p.m. June 23 at Wesley United Methodist Church, 114 Main St.
Donations to the building fund for the African Community Development Corp. can be sent to 340 Main St., Suite 863, Worcester, MA 01608. The office is open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

bayviews

August 12th, 2006, 06:28 AM

From the other corner of the Northeast, here’s an article that ran on the big African immigrant community around Washington DC focusing on the Ethiopians & Somalis in Northern Virginia:

Home Away From Home For Africans; Immigrant Population Expanding in Area; [FINAL Edition] Chris L. Jenkins. The Washington Post. Washington, D.C.: Jun 13, 2002. pg. T.03
They come in the late afternoon, usually, to sip exotic coffee, smoke cigarettes and talk about the motherland.
It could be a corner in Mogadishu, it seems, with the men batting around conversation in Arabic, talking about the fix that the East African nation of Somalia is in, shouting, laughing, slapping one another on the back. But the two dozen or so men are gathered at a Starbucks just across the Alexandria-Fairfax County line on Leesburg Pike, drinking lattes at what has become the local hangout for the area's Somalian immigrants.
"Everyone knows that if you need to find some Somalians, you go to Alexandria, or maybe Fairfax," said Siyad Waismad, 22, who came to the United States three years ago as a refugee from the war-torn country. "This is what we do at home after work. . . . This is what we do here," he added with a chuckle.
The men are part of a growing number of East Africans who are making Alexandria and Arlington their home. According to recently released census figures, Alexandria's foreign-born population grew by 81 percent during the 1990s, and Arlington's increased by 44 percent. But the increase in the area's African-born population was even more profound. In Alexandria, the number of Africans more than tripled, from 1,959 to 7,665, during the last decade. In Arlington, the population more than doubled, from 2,428 to 5,014, during the same time period.
"The numbers are quite interesting," said Ralph Rosenbaum, an Alexandria city demographer. "I wouldn't have expected those kind of numbers, particularly concentrated in one area."
Many of the residents have settled in the city's West End in a neighborhood near Landmark Mall, which has become the city's most polyglot and affordable area. There, women from the Sudan walk along Pickett Street in head scarves and dresses flowing to their ankles. Like their Somalian counterparts, recent immigrants from Ethiopia, just off from work, sit at the Starbucks on Beauregard Street and catch up. They go there because the general manager, Danny Fisseha, is from Ethiopia himself, and they want to support his business, several said.
In Arlington, along Columbia Pike, a Somalian restaurant beckons patrons from the homeland with a spiced stew from the north part of the country, the only place in the county where you can find such a delicacy.
"It's been astounding, really, how many people have come here and helped form this community," said Abdul Malik Al Masry, an immigrant from Ethiopia.
Al Masry opened a store six years ago and has seen his business expand mainly because of the increasing numbers of African immigrants. The all-purpose store, Queen of Sheba, serves as a butcher shop, record store, food emporium, clothier and jeweler. "I started with a simple store and have been able to expand."
Like the Vietnamese and Salvadoran immigrants who came to the Virginia suburbs in the 1970s and 1980s, many of the Africans who came during the 1990s arrived as political refugees, seeking asylum. Washington and the Virginia suburbs often serve as a stopover for immigrants headed to other parts of the country -- for Somalians, that might be Minneapolis; for Ethiopians, perhaps Oakland, Calif. But many others decide to stay because they have family here -- those who were part of the first wave of migration from East Africa in the early 1980s.
"I think you'll find that many Africans are coming to major metropolitan cities in general for two main reasons: the changing political climate in many East African countries and because they are following where many immigrants feel comfortable, in the urban areas," said Joseph Takougang, a professor of African history at the University of Cincinnati who has studied African immigration to the United States.
"The key issue lately, however, has been political situations in these countries that are causing many people to flee," Takougang said.
According to census data and interviews, the largest population of African immigrants appears to be from Ethiopia, which has long had a substantial community in the Washington region. A sizable number are also arriving from Eritrea and Sudan. Most said that because there was already a smattering of people from their country here -- having come on student visas or looking for work -- they simply followed the transatlantic bridge that had brought previous generations.
"I was able to come here because I had cousins who had been here for some time," said Sabir Farah, 40, a native of Dongla, Sudan, who now lives in Alexandria. "I was able to get a visa and I knew he was here, so I came," said Farah, who has been here nearly four years.
While both Somalians and Ethiopians hang out at their respective Starbucks, they shop for groceries -- and anything to remind them of home -- at the Skyline strip mall on George Mason Drive just north of Beauregard Street in Baileys Crossroads. There, along with Al Masry's store, a small African bazaar has slowly developed, with butchers from Eritrea, all-purpose stores from Sudan and restaurants dishing up Ethiopian food -- all over the past 10 years.
"Now I have competition," said Elizabeth Taye, 39, an Eritrean immigrant who opened a store nearly two years ago. "When I first came here, you wouldn't have found that."
Her store, like many of those in the cluster, is a mishmash of exotic goods and American staples. A refrigerator full of American sodas rests next to shelves filled with Eritrean delicacies: from alsi, a special grain from her home country, to entati, a spice. People wander in and out all day to talk with her in their native language Tigrinya, similar to the Ethiopian Amharic language.
"People get so happy when they see that we have what they want," she said. "Most are surprised."
Yet even those who have been in the region for a while and have watched the communities develop concede that African immigrants still lack many of the facilities and much of the infrastructure that other immigrant populations have had for years.
There are few community organizations that cater directly to the Ethiopian and Somalian populations, for example, and many of the new immigrants still rely on family for support.
"We still have a long way to go," said Said Sirag, 45, an Eritrean immigrant who owns a store in the Skyline mall.
"We still have a lot of work to do to make this place home."

bayviews

August 12th, 2006, 06:38 AM

As a matter fact, the African immigrant community in the Washimore metro has grown so big that last year, a 456-page “African Yellow Pages” was printed & distributed. While some retain stereotypes about Africans, those who have come here are among the best educated of immigrants & have opened tons of small businesses wherever they have settled in a “critical mass”. Here's an article.

Rolling Out a Rainbow of Yellow Pages; African Phone Book Is Part Of a Trend; [FINAL Edition] S. Mitra Kalita. The Washington Post. Washington, D.C.: May 5, 2005. pg. T.12

Flipping through entrepreneur Tesfu Sintayhu's Yellow Pages yields some expected results: dentists who will whiten teeth, contractors who install granite countertops and lawyers promising divorces in three weeks or less.
But Sintayhu's pages also contain the name of the capital of Swaziland, the country code for calling Kenya, deejays who can remix Ethiopian music and answers to questions on the U.S. citizenship exam.
Last year, Sintayhu and three friends published what they believe is the first African Yellow Pages in the United States. Intended to help African immigrants, from the newly arrived to the firmly established, the 456-page publication offers bus schedules, information on individual countries and their embassies, travel resources, listings of schools, churches, mosques and hospitals, and a business directory that runs from African stores to video services.
Now, from their office in Falls Church, the team behind the African Yellow Pages is preparing to publish a second edition this summer. They promise that it will be bigger, better and, in some ways, less African.
"The best gynecologist may not be an African," said Ahadu Woubshet, a managing partner. "We're targeting the market for any business owner. . . . from multinationals to small mom-and-pop shops."
Woubshet said that as long as a company wants to do business with Africa or its emigres in the U.S., he can talk them into buying advertising space in the book. And by that logic, Woubshet suggests he should be talking to most businesses in Northern Virginia, which has been redefined and transformed by immigration.
On doorsteps, in supermarkets and at trade fairs, ethnic business directories are piling up one heavy book after another. Vega Hispanic Yellow Pages, which was distributed in the Washington area for decades, was sold last year for $4 million to Hispanic Yellow Pages Network LLC, a growing Tampa, Fla., chain trying to acquire Latino directories nationwide. Business directories targeting Korean, Arab, Indian and Chinese immigrants also serve the region.
On the fifth-floor offices of the African Yellow Pages, many of these phone books sit stacked high on a desk. The office down the hall houses the Indian Yellow Pages and members of that staff helped the Africans put their book together. Managing partner Mimi Alemayehou said the competing books were a source of inspiration as she worked on the African version.
"We looked at them," said Alemayehou, who also works as an international consultant for organizations doing development work in Africa. "Why reinvent the wheel when we can just learn from them? There's definitely a need for Yellow Pages dedicated to specific immigrant communities. A family arrives in America and they want to know where to get their spices, where to take an English as a Second Language class."
With full-page ads costing about $3,000 and DaimlerChrysler Corp. serving as their lone corporate sponsor, the partners estimate the first book generated $250,000 in revenue.
"When you get into smaller and smaller niches, the prospect gets more daunting," said Charles Laughlin, an analyst with the Princeton, N.J.-based Kelsey Group, which tracks the phone book and directory industry. "Small businesses tend to think, 'If I am going to spend a dollar, I want to get 5, 10, 20 in return. If they can demonstrate that members of the community favor the businesses, they may have a reasonable proposition."
Beyond the book, Alemayehou and her partners have lofty goals. They want the Yellow Pages to promote African unity and help Americans get beyond images of Africa as impoverished, war-torn and famine-ridden. They don't ignore the problems -- statistics on AIDS in Africa fill the book, for example -- but the entrepreneurs also cite a surge in development on the continent, especially in Ethiopia (where all four partners were born), the boom in the Nigerian Stock Exchange, tourism in Mozambique and the deep pockets of African immigrants. In the 2000 Census, the African emigre population in the U.S. was shown to earn a median income of $42,000 and number around 881,000 -- although the Yellow Pages publishers assert that the number is closer to 1.8 million.
The Washington area has more African immigrants than any other region in the U.S., with many of the immigrants lured by jobs at the World Bank or other development agencies. But the publishers of the Yellow Pages say the mainstream knows little about their community.
"Half the population doesn't know we have cars and buildings in Africa," said Ben Mitiku, vice president and co-founder of the African Yellow Pages. Mitiku also works at CVS as a pharmacist and promotes African concerts and festivals. "We get frustrated with the representation of Africa."
About 50,000 copies of the first directory were printed, and the publishers are scrambling to distribute the remaining 20,000 or so before the next phone book comes out. In early April, they handed some out at an African bridal show. Alemayehou recently brought a suitcase of books with her to London, where she attended a conference on the African diaspora.
Like the entrepreneurs who fill the pages of their book, they are trying to think of new markets, trying to think beyond their yellow book, trying to think big. There's been interest in a directory for New York's African community. Perhaps other marketing opportunities can be mined if a database of African businesses is created, they said. Or perhaps a partnership with the D.C. United soccer team, since marquee player Freddy Adu was born in Ghana.
"This is going to be a very, very big business," said Sintayhu, who quit his job as a network programmer to work on the Yellow Pages and other products full time. "I see the potential."

bayviews

August 14th, 2006, 06:08 AM

Well, from Asians to West Indians, I think we’ve covered all the major new immigrant groups that have come to the US primarily since the 1965 Immigration Reform Act.

So what has been the impact of immigration upon Northeast metropolitan population trends? Well, the data below compares the population gains or loses between 1960 and 2000 for the nine Northeast metros that had a million plus population as of the most recent census. Note that the 1960 metro populations are adjusted to be consistent with the 2000 definitions to correct for metro “boundary sprawl”.

Most, but not all the, immigrants counted in 2000 have arrived since 1965. In Washimore, nearly all have, while in case of metros like Pittsburgh and Buffalo, significant share of the foreign-born population reflect the last aging survivors from the earlier, largely European immigration wave.

Well, no big surprises, the metros that have attracted the most immigrants have experienced the most growth. Around NYC, the biggest immigration gateway in the Northeast, as well as nationally, immigration has accounted for all of the region’s net growth, indeed substantially more than total growth. So immigration has allowed NYC’s metro to grow despite large-scale domestic out-migration.

In Washimore, a distant second in attracting new immigrants, the metro that had been the least significant in terms of attracting earlier European immigration, added the second-largest number of people and experienced the biggest growth rate. However in contrast to NYC, Washimore’s natural increase and domestic migration accounted for most of Washimore’s growth.

The metros ones that have attracted moderate levels of immigration have attained modest growth. Here we are talking about Boston and Philadelphia and the largest metros and Providence, Hartford, and Rochester among the ones further down.

Finally, the metros that have attracted the least immigrants have declined. Pittsburgh and Buffalo that have drawn the least immigrants in the Northeast are also the only major US metros which have lost population since 1960.

Anyway, here’s the trend data for the major Northeast metro, ranked by immigration population:

New York City CMSA

• 1960 Population: 17,428,140
• 1960 Ranking: 1
• 2000 Population: 21,199,865
• 2000 Ranking: 1
• Change Number: 3,771,725
• Change Percent: 21.6%
• 2000 Immigrant Population: 5,182,255

Washington-Baltimore (Washimore) CMSA

• 1960 Population: 4,274,255
• 1960 Ranking: 7
• 2000 Population: 7,078,743
• 2000 Ranking: 4
• Change Number: 3,331,204
• Change Percent: 78.0%
• 2000 Immigrant Population: 980,621

Boston CMSA

• 1960 Population: 4,492,029
• 1960 Ranking: 6
• 2000 Population: 5,819,100
• 2000 Ranking: 7
• Change Number: 1,327,071
• Change Percent: 29.5%
• 2000 Immigrant Population: 721,060

Philadelphia CMSA

• 1960 Population: 5,073,747
• 1960 Ranking: 4
• 2000 Population: 6,188,463
• 2000 Ranking: 6
• Change Number: 1,114,716
• Change Percent: 21.9%
• 2000 Immigrant Population: 433,919

Providence MSA

• 1960 Population: 959,887
• 1960 Ranking: 27
• 2000 Population: 1,188,613
• 2000 Ranking: 39
• Change Number: 228,726
• Change Percent: 23.8%
• 2000 Immigrant Population: 142,784

Hartford MSA

• 1960 Population: 873,209
• 1960 Ranking: 30
• 2000 Population: 1,183,110
• 2000 Ranking: 41
• Change Number: 309,901
• Change Percent: 35.5%
• 2000 Immigrant Population: 120,355

Rochester MSA

• 1960 Population: 854,652
• 1960 Ranking: 31
• 2000 Population: 1,098,201
• 2000 Ranking: 46
• Change Number: 243,549
• Change Percent: 28.5%
• 2000 Immigrant Population: 62,794

Pittsburgh MSA

• 1960 Population: 2,689,414
• 1960 Ranking: 10
• 2000 Population: 2,358,695
• 2000 Ranking: 21
• Change Number: -330,719
• Change Percent: -12.3%
• 2000 Immigrant Population: 62,286

Buffalo MSA

• 1960 Population: 1,306,957
• 1960 Ranking: 19
• 2000 Population: 1,170,111
• 2000 Ranking: 42
• Change Number: -136,846
• Change Percent: -10.5%
• 2000 Immigrant Population: 51,381

The basic conclusions for metros in mature areas like the Northeast are simple. Clearly, the best way to grow is to attract new immigrants. And the best way for metros to decline is not to attract immigrants. Not exactly rocket science!

bjfan82

August 14th, 2006, 07:21 AM

Why do so many on skyscrapercity support the full-scale third worldization of their cities? Do you not realize that this is a global plan to destry the west, ala the New World Order. It is being instrumented throughout most western white nations, and you individuals act like its by chance. This is intentional, and it is the destruction of your civilization, yet you want to embrace your own demise.

Ok white trash, go back to the trailor park and get ready for the cross burning. I'm not even going to dignify your post by debating your "points." You need to put down the Mein Kampf and pick up the Constitution of the United States of America. May God continue to bless America.

bayviews

August 15th, 2006, 07:57 AM

New Data Shows Immigrants’ Growth and Reach
Monica Almeida/The New York Times

By RICK LYMAN
Published: August 15, 2006

The number of immigrants living in American households rose 16 percent over the last five years, fueled largely by recent arrivals from Mexico, according to fresh data released by the Census Bureau.

And increasingly, immigrants are bypassing the traditional gateway states like California and New York and settling directly in parts of the country that until recently saw little immigrant activity — regions like the Upper Midwest, New England and the Rocky Mountain States.

Coming in the heart of an election season in which illegal immigration has emerged as an issue, the new data from the bureau’s 2005 American Community Survey is certain to generate more debate. But more than that, demographers said, it highlights one reason immigration has become such a heated topic.

“What’s happening now is that immigrants are showing up in many more communities all across the country than they have ever been in,” said Audrey Singer, an immigration fellow at the Brookings Institution. “So it’s easy for people to look around and not just see them, but feel the impact they’re having in their communities. And a lot of these are communities that are not accustomed to seeing immigrants in their schools, at the workplace, in their hospitals.”

By far the largest numbers of immigrants continue to live in the six states that have traditionally attracted them: California, New York, Texas, Florida, New Jersey and Illinois.

Immigrants also continue to flow into a handful of states in the Southeast, like Georgia and North Carolina, a trend that was discerned in the 2000 census.

But it is in the less-expected immigrant destinations that demographers find the most of interest in the new data.

Indiana saw a 34 percent increase in the number of immigrants; South Dakota saw a 44 percent rise; Delaware 32 percent; Missouri 31 percent; Colorado 28 percent; and New Hampshire 26 percent.

“It’s the continuation of a pattern that we first began to see 10 or 15 years ago,” said Jeff Passel, senior research associate at the Pew Hispanic Center, who has examined the new census data. “But instead of being confined to areas like the Southeast, it’s beginning to spill over into some Midwestern states, like Indiana and Ohio. It’s even moving up into New England.”

Over all, immigrants now make up 12.4 percent of the nation’s population, up from 11.2 percent in 2000. That amounts to an estimated 4.9 million additional immigrants for a total of 35.7 million, a number larger than the population of California.

Unlike the full census, which measures all population, the American Community Survey covers only what census officials call “household” population — that is, people living in households, rather than in “group quarters” like universities, long-term care facilities and prisons.

Thus, the 16 percent increase in immigrants since 2000 refers only to the household population. (The nation’s household population in 2005 was 288,378,137, up from 273,637,296 in 2000.)

From 1990 to 2000, the total population showed a 57 percent increase in the foreign-born population, to 31.1 million, from 19.8 million.

Still, the rise in the immigrant household population since 2000 seems to indicate that the blazing pace of immigration seen throughout the 1990’s has continued into the first half of this decade.

And along with the increase in the overall number of immigrants, the survey found an increase in the numbers who are not United States citizens — an estimated 2.4 million more since 2000. The survey did not try to distinguish between noncitizens in the country legally, like students or guest workers, and those in the country illegally.

Georgia and North Carolina, states that had already seen significant increases in their immigrant population in the 1990’s, continue to see rising numbers. In Georgia, for instance, foreign-born residents accounted for 7.2 percent of the state’s population in 2000, and 9 percent in 2005.

“We’ve been getting very diverse down here,” said Judy Hadley, statistical research analyst for the Georgia Office of Planning and Budget. “You name any country and we’ve got it.”

Ms. Singer pointed out that much of the growth in immigrants was in “suburban areas and a lot of other places that really have no history of immigration.”

Immigration was just one area covered by the first release of data from the American Community Survey, which also covered such demographic information as race, age, education and marital status.

The survey detected a significant increase in the number of Americans over age 25 who hold a bachelor’s degree or higher — 27.2 percent of that population in 2005 compared with 24.4 percent in 2000.

This contributes to what has been a half-decade surge in Americans’ educational attainment. In 1940, only 4.6 percent of Americans held a bachelor’s degree.

The survey found that the percentage of Americans who are 65 or over is shrinking, from 12.6 percent of the population in 1990 to 12.4 percent in 2000 and 12.1 percent in 2005.

Partly, this is driven by the huge influx in immigrants, who tend to be of working age or younger. But demographers caution against seeing this as a long-term trend.

“It’s more like the lull before the storm,” said William H. Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution. “Before long, the baby boomers are going to start getting into that age group in large numbers and the percentage will shoot up.”

The survey is intended as an annual bolster to the bureau’s constitutionally mandated census of the country’s population every 10 years. It began as a test program in 1996 and has gradually expanded to where it can now provide detailed data for nearly 7,000 geographic areas, including all Congressional districts and counties or cities of 65,000 or more.

In coming months, more data from the survey will cover income, poverty and housing.

Besides getting larger, the survey found shifts in the composition of the nation’s immigrant population.

“Essentially, it’s a continuation of the Mexicanization of U.S. immigration,” said Steven Camarota, director of research at the Center for Immigration Studies. “You would expect Mexicans to be increasing their share in places like Georgia and North Carolina, which already saw some increases, but they’ve also increased their share of the population, and quite dramatically, in states like Michigan, Delaware and Montana.”

More of America’s immigrants, legal or not, come from Mexico than any other country, an estimated 11 million in 2005, compared with nearly 1.8 million Chinese and 1.4 million Indians.

Conversely, the percentage of immigrants who were born in European countries has dropped sharply — 29.4 percent in the last five years, demographers say, because immigrants who came to the United States in the mid-20th century are now dying.

A study of this data by Mr. Passel for the Pew Hispanic Center showed that while 58 percent of the immigrants who arrived in the United States since 2000 settled in 5 of the traditional gateway states, 24 percent settled in 9 second-tier states (including Georgia, Massachusetts and Washington) and 11 percent found homes in 11 third-tier states, many of which have seen little immigration before (stretching from Connecticut to Minnesota to Nevada).

And while many of those first- and second-tier states saw the largest numbers of new arrivals from Mexico, Mr. Passel found, it was some of the third-tier states that saw the largest percentage increases: Alabama, South Carolina, Missouri, Kentucky, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Two decades ago, demographers said, some 75 percent to 80 percent of new immigrants settled in one of the half-dozen gateway states and tended to stay there. Then, in the last 10 to 15 years, the pattern shifted and increasing numbers began to stay in the gateways briefly and then move. Now, they say, the pattern is that more immigrants are simply bypassing the gateways altogether.

“The biggest thing that drives immigration to specific destinations is that the immigrant already knows someone who is living there,” Mr. Camarota said.

The common pattern, demographers said, is that a handful of immigrants move to a new region from one of the gateway states and put down roots. Then, once settled, they become a pipeline for others in their family or their home village to move directly into the same area.

“It’s looking like what happens is that a person from a given community, say in Nicaragua, is getting established,” said Bob Coats, the governor’s census liaison in North Carolina. “And then they send word home that they have a good job and other people — neighbors, family members — come to join them and you have these enclaves of people from one country, one region, becoming established in the same area.”

Xusein

August 15th, 2006, 08:38 PM

Hartford MSA

• 1960 Population: 873,209
• 1960 Ranking: 30
• 2000 Population: 1,183,110
• 2000 Ranking: 41
• Change Number: 309,901
• Change Percent: 35.5%
• 2000 Immigrant Population: 120,355

Interesting...while I don't really care for population estimates, I have to say...

Hartford gained the second most (after DC-Baltimore) in percentage growth, while in recent decades it has faltered (2.2% 1990-2000, 3.4% 2000-05). The Hartford metro must have really boomed back in the 1960s and 70s, immigrants have also helped offset the losses obviously.

The Immigrant population (from abroad and foreign born coming from other states) has been growing faster now than it has before, probably that is due for Hartford's moderate growth since 2000? Or it is more because people are leaving the area less?

Xusein

August 15th, 2006, 08:43 PM

And increasingly, immigrants are bypassing the traditional gateway states like California and New York and settling directly in parts of the country that until recently saw little immigrant activity — regions like the Upper Midwest, New England and the Rocky Mountain States.

-------------

“It’s the continuation of a pattern that we first began to see 10 or 15 years ago,” said Jeff Passel, senior research associate at the Pew Hispanic Center, who has examined the new census data. “But instead of being confined to areas like the Southeast, it’s beginning to spill over into some Midwestern states, like Indiana and Ohio. It’s even moving up into New England.”

Now this I disagree with...

New England has always been a magnet (not a major one) of immigrants, cities like Boston, Providence, and Fairfield county have continuously been attracting immigrants, and not losing them...is it because the new small immigration is from Mexico?

The article saying that New England has not seen little recent immigrant activity is probably saying this new kind of immigrant flow from a country that this region has gotten few immigrants from, until recently.

bayviews

August 16th, 2006, 06:36 AM

Interesting...while I don't really care for population estimates, I have to say...

Hartford gained the second most (after DC-Baltimore) in percentage growth, while in recent decades it has faltered (2.2% 1990-2000, 3.4% 2000-05). The Hartford metro must have really boomed back in the 1960s and 70s, immigrants have also helped offset the losses obviously.

The Immigrant population (from abroad and foreign born coming from other states) has been growing faster now than it has before, probably that is due for Hartford's moderate growth since 2000? Or it is more because people are leaving the area less?

True, by Northeast standards metro Hartford really boomed (state government, insurance, financial services, areospace/military contractors) from the 1960s thru the mid-1980, until the local economy crashed when the Northeast real estate & financial boom crashed at the end of that decade. There again it was rather like Rochester.

Hartford's black population grew quite a bit from the 1960s thru the 1970s. A much more significant factors in Hartford's gain during that period was the tremendous growth in the Puerto Rican population (from less than several thousand in 1960 in Hartford & New Britain) which is not counted with immigrants. Hartford really has one of the biggest PRs populations on the mainland for its size.

The Puerto Rican migration to Hartford & the Northeast generally has slowed down over the last decade, as lots of PRs have moved to down to Florida, another factor why Hartford (& Springfield-Holyoke) stagnated during the 1990s. Providence attracted a lot fewer blacks & PRs compared to Hartford, but many more Dominicans & other Latino immigrants.

Yea, I take the post 2000 estimates, which usually turn out to be understated, with a big grain of salt. But obviously as you indicate, the uptick in immigrants over the past decade has halted Hartford city's decline & again brought new growth to the region.

bayviews

August 16th, 2006, 06:42 AM

Now this I disagree with...

New England has always been a magnet (not a major one) of immigrants, cities like Boston, Providence, and Fairfield county have continuously been attracting immigrants, and not losing them...is it because the new small immigration is from Mexico?

The article saying that New England has not seen little recent immigrant activity is probably saying this new kind of immigrant flow from a country that this region has gotten few immigrants from, until recently.

Yea, I thought the same exact thing when I saw that statement. New England has always had a big immigrant population & substantial Latino population since the 1960s. Although the Mexican immigration is new. Maybe he was refering to New Hampshire & northern New England.

bayviews

August 16th, 2006, 06:45 AM

Another interesting update on the continued growth of the immigrant population around the NYC CMSA.

August 15, 2006
Immigrants Swell Numbers Near New York
By SAM ROBERTS
Immigrants have continued to surge into metropolitan New York since 2000, according to census figures released today, and that increase, combined with high birth rates, has elevated the foreign-born and their children in New York City itself to fully 60 percent of the population. The rate of change was even more pronounced in the 24 suburban counties around the city, where a record 20 percent of the residents are now born abroad.
The figures, while showing that the city’s gains from immigration were not nearly as marked as they were in the 1990’s, are nonetheless striking in their detail and magnitude.
In the city, the number of people who identified themselves as Mexicans, here legally or not, soared 36 percent in five years, and not merely as a consequence of improved counting. More than half the residents of Queens and the Bronx do not speak English at home. Nearly one in three black residents in New York City was born abroad.
The trends are reported in the American Community Survey, a new annual version of the federal Census Bureau’s long-form questionnaire designed to capture the nation’s demographic profile in a more timely moving picture, rather than a once-a-decade snapshot.
That moving picture is changing most in the counties just outside New York City. In New Rochelle, where the number of Mexicans rose to nearly 12,000 from under 7,000 in five years, the share of foreign-born residents swelled to 32 percent of the population, up from 27 percent. In Danbury, Conn., a developing magnet for Asian immigrants, the proportion of Asians doubled, to 11 percent of all residents in the state’s seventh-largest city.
Among children younger than 15, white residents who are not Hispanic have become a minority in the metropolitan area, an indication that within just a few years the New York region will become the first large metropolitan area outside the South or West where non-Hispanic whites are a minority.
Some of the developments in the city over the first half of the decade amounted to modest but significant reversals. In Manhattan and, more recently, Brooklyn, the number of whites actually increased, and the number of blacks in the city, primarily native-born, declined, probably for the first time since the Civil War.
Considered most broadly, the overall population of the city appeared to grow, but more slowly than in the 1990’s. Still, nearly a half million new immigrants have poured into the city since 2000, surprising some experts who estimated that the influx had slowed considerably after 9/11.
The latest figures indicate, though, that many of those new arrivals may have chosen to go to the suburbs outside the city, suggesting that the melting pot was, in effect, overflowing. The total number of foreign born residents in the city, in fact, increased by only 60,000 over five years, or 2 percent.
City officials were heartened by the number arriving from overseas and said the departure of many of them to the suburbs and beyond could be interpreted in two ways. “Yes, the ebb of people has become more substantial over time,” said Joseph J. Salvo, director of the population division of New York’s Department of City Planning. “You have enhanced mobility among the foreign-born where they’re picking up and going to other places quicker.”
On the other hand, he said: “We may be reaching a point where the city’s population gets to be so large you can’t keep adding. The pressure on housing and our neighborhoods is still on.”
The survey detected a number of other trends.
“Manhattan is becoming a specialty location — the home and workplace of highly educated, highly skilled and highly paid professionals,” said Andrew A. Beveridge, a demographer at Queens College of the City University of New York, “and you also have the Manhattanization of traditional neighborhoods in Queens and Brooklyn.”
In the city, where the proportion of immigrants reached nearly 37 percent, inching toward the record 40 percent registered early in the 20th century, Mr. Salvo estimated that the number of foreign-born and their children “is easily in excess of 60 percent, maybe even two-thirds.”
The latest American Community Survey also revealed aspects of how New Yorkers live and what they have achieved.
New York ranked fourth among the nation’s 15 largest cities in the share of adults with at least a bachelor’s degree — 32.2 percent, up from 26 percent just five years earlier — after San Francisco, San Diego and San Jose, Calif. In Manhattan the proportion neared 58, placing it fifth among the nation’s major counties.
There were vast disparities, however, in educational attainment. Among whites, 43 percent have a bachelor’s or graduate degree. About 42 percent of Asians, 21 percent of blacks and only 14 percent of Hispanic New Yorkers do.
Among the nation’s 15 largest cities, New York ranked second to San Francisco for the oldest median age (35.8), and third after San Francisco and Philadelphia in the proportion of people 65 and over (11.9 percent).
About a million households in the city are occupied by people living alone, about the same number as married couples living together. In Manhattan, which generally ranks lowest among the nation’s counties in household size, just about half the households are made up of people living alone.
New York ranks first in the proportion of men and women — 35.2 percent and 30.2 percent, respectively — who have never married. The median age for first marriages by women is highest in Connecticut, at 27.5, and for men in New York, at 29.3. New York State also has the lowest proportion of households composed of married couples, 45 percent. Barely half the children in the city, 53 percent, are being raised by a married couple.
As ever, within the borders of the city there were great differences. In Manhattan, where the number of black and Hispanic residents declined, married couples with children living at home made up about 10 percent of households, but the rate is 27 percent on Staten Island. In the Bronx, more than half the families with children are headed by women.
The census counted more American Indians, about 33,000, than in any other city. Chinese is spoken by more than 350,000 New Yorkers, Italian by 103,000, Yiddish by 77,000.
While the number of Puerto Ricans in the city declined slightly, they remain the largest group among Hispanics, with 787,000. Dominicans, who number 532,000 — the largest number among foreign-born — are catching up with Puerto Ricans. More city residents still identify their ancestry as Italian than any other group, but West Indians are closing.
In New Jersey, the number of immigrants grew to 19.5 percent, the third-highest proportion of any state after California and New York. The number of metropolitan area suburbanites claiming West Indian ancestry soared 16 percent.
Officials warned against making precise comparisons with the 2000 census, since this survey uses a different method of sampling and is intended to measure characteristics rather than to provide an actual population count. Also, the 2005 sample did not include people living in group quarters, such as prisons, nursing homes or mental institutions. In 2000, the census counted over 180,000 residents of those facilities in the city.
This summer and fall, the Census Bureau will release results on income, poverty and housing from the 2005 survey

bayviews

August 16th, 2006, 07:14 AM

At the other end of NY State, it’s a very different story around Buffalo, which has a “zero tolerance policy” for Latino immigrants. Here’s an article from the Buffalo paper about what happened a few days ago to a group of Latino immigrants from Mexico & Central America who were sent up from Atlanta to clean up at the county fair.

Just another sign that the brain-dead officials around Buffalo would simply rather the area continue its long population & economic plunge than attract the types of immigrants (documented or otherwise) that have adding vitality to so many other places across the rest of NY state & the rest of the Northeast.

IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT
41 workers at fair detained as illegals
By ANTHONY CARDINALE
News Staff Reporter
8/11/2006

Forty-one men and women hired to clean up at the America's Fair in Hamburg were detained Thursday as illegal immigrants.
Thomas DiSimone, acting special agent in charge of the federal Immigration & Customs Enforcement office in Buffalo, said a tip led his agents to round up 23 men and 18 women who were working for a cleaning company that was a subcontractor at the fair.
The workers were from Mexico, Guatemala, Peru and Honduras, he said. No criminal charges have been filed against the company, Extreme Clean Inc., according to authorities.
"I don't know a lot about the workers," said Matt Peach, event manager for Extreme Clean. "We hired them through a temp company, Skyworks."
Peach said the workers, who had been hired to clean up trash during the fair, had not been on the job very long when agents arrived between 6 and 7 a.m.
Agents were investigating how the workers got here, where they obtained fraudulent documents and whether their employer knew that they were not authorized to work in the United States.
"One of the cornerstones of Homeland Security's interior enforcement strategy is to aggressively deter illegal employment in this country," DiSimone said. "[The agency] does that by arresting illegal workers and by pursuing criminal charges against those who knowingly hire [them]."

bayviews

August 16th, 2006, 08:28 AM

Washington's metro immigrant population has also jumped, topping a million:

Area Immigrants Top 1 Million; Education Levels Are Higher Than Elsewhere, Census Finds; [FINAL Edition]
Lyndsey Layton and Dan Keating - Washington Post Staff Writers. The Washington Post. Washington, D.C.: Aug 15, 2006. pg. A.1
The Washington metropolitan region is home to more than 1 million immigrants, solidifying its position as a gateway to America, according to census figures released today.
Last year, one in five people in metropolitan Washington were immigrants, compared with one in six in 2000. And the immigrants who have flocked here are better educated than elsewhere.
Washington is now among eight metropolitan areas with immigrant populations of 1 million or more: New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago, San Francisco, Houston, Washington and Dallas, according to William H. Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution.
"This is a significant benchmark," said Audrey Singer, another Brookings demographer, referring to the census numbers from the 2005 American Community Survey. "It clearly demonstrates that Washington has emerged as an immigrant destination."
The region's immigrant population has more than doubled since 1990, and the overall population grew by about a quarter. Advocates for immigrants say that the survey undercounted the immigrant population and that actual numbers are even higher.
Rising numbers of immigrants in this region have enriched the culture and the economy while they have challenged local governments and triggered sharp controversies over such issues as day laborers. Unlike some other metropolitan areas, the region has no dominant immigrant group.
Most of the region's immigrants live in its three biggest counties, each of which has a different demographic profile. Fairfax County has the region's largest Asian immigrant population, which makes up more than half of its immigrants. Montgomery County is home to the region's largest South American population, with Asian numbers second only to Fairfax. Prince George's County has larger African and Caribbean communities than the other two, reflecting the region's racial divide.
The immigrants here are more highly educated than those nationwide, the data show. Four in 10 hold at least a college degree, compared with less than three in 10 nationally.
This trend is particularly striking in Loudoun County, where 51 percent of immigrants hold college or advanced degrees.
Suresh Narasimhan is among them. The India native has two master's degrees; his wife holds three. They moved from Fairfax to Loudoun 10 years ago and have watched the Indian population mushroom.
"When I moved to South Riding, I was one of only two colored families among 500 families," said Narasimhan, a senior executive at a telecom company. Now, he said, his neighborhood has more than 5,000 families, and 12 to 15 percent are "straight from India."
The dot-com boom of the 1990s and Y2K computer concerns drew many Indian software programmers to the Dulles high-tech corridor, Narasimhan said. Loudoun offered affordable homes and a strong school system -- an attractive combination to Indian families that place a premium on education, he said.
Singer said, "The education levels among the foreign born is not surprising, given the fact that Washington is an information economy and immigrants in highly skilled jobs are bringing their talents here for good reason."
Education is often connected to an immigrant's country of origin, said Mark Mather of the Population Reference Bureau. The Washington region does not have as many Mexicans as other areas with large immigrant populations. Mexican immigrants are less likely to have a college degree, Mather said. On the other hand, Asians -- who make up 36 percent of the region's immigrants -- are likely to have attained college or advanced degrees, he said.
But more education doesn't always translate into top jobs. Many well-educated immigrants do not speak English well enough to land high-level jobs that match their skills, or they may possess credentials from their home countries that cannot be used without additional education or training, said Jeffrey S. Passel, demographer with the Pew Hispanic Center.
Mukhtar Ahmad was a lawyer in Pakistan. Now, he drives a cab on District streets. He immigrated to the region in 1988. "I would like extremely to practice law here," said Ahmad, 62, who lives in Woodbridge and became a U.S. citizen 10 years ago. "But unfortunately, the school, it is so expensive. The United States is a very nice country, and everyone is coming here. Driving a cab is okay."
Immigrants in the region are more likely to speak English well, compared with those elsewhere in the nation. According to the census data, four in 10 Washington area immigrants don't speak English "very well." Nationally, the figure is 52 percent.
Still, with native-born residents included, the number of poor English speakers adds up to more than half a million of the region's 5.1 million residents, the data show.
Language barriers pose a particular problem for immigrants in Prince William County, where the Hispanic population has surged and 54 percent of foreign-born residents do not speak English "very well," up from 42 percent in 2000, according to the data.
Those figures ring true to Prince William school officials, who say enrollment in their program for students who do not speak English has risen 274 percent in the past five years.
Carol Bass, who supervises the county's program, said 80 percent of students come from Spanish-speaking countries, with a growing share recently from Africa.
But it's not just new immigrants moving to Prince William. Many are resettling there after being priced out of such inner-ring suburbs as Arlington County, which has lost some of its Hispanic population and is growing more white and Asian, the data show.
And Bass said some immigrants are leaving Prince William for opportunities farther out. "We're seeing more and more of what we call the second and third migration," she said. "We're seeing a continued southward migration."
Staff writers D'Vera Cohn and Sue Anne Pressley Montes contributed to this report.

bayviews

August 16th, 2006, 08:44 AM

Baltimore, which has made attracting immigrants a key in its repopulation efforts has also seen a jump in its smaller immigrant population:

Marylanders older, educated, diverse ; RACE -- Black, Hispanic, Asian populations grow significantly; GENDER -- Snapshot shows 93 men for every 100 women in state; Changes could sway politics; CENSUS REPORT; [FINAL Edition]
TIMOTHY B. WHEELER. The Sun. Baltimore, Md.: Aug 15, 2006. pg. 1.
Marylanders are older, better educated and more diverse than ever before, according to a statistical snapshot of the nation released today by the U.S. Census Bureau.
The median age of the state's nearly 5.5 million residents crept up to 37 last year, about nine months older than at the beginning of the decade.
With one of the nation's best-educated populations, the proportion of Maryland residents with college degrees also inched upward, to almost 35 percent.
And in a state where blacks make up one of the largest percentages of the population of any in the nation, their presence grew, to 29 percent of its residents. Maryland's Hispanic and Asian populations, though relatively small overall, also grew significantly in the past five years.
The shifts in the state's population, as detailed in the Census Bureau's 2005 American Community Survey, could if they continue sway state and local elections, experts say. Latinos, at least in recent elections, have tended to vote more for Democrats.
The population changes already are affecting commerce and culture throughout Maryland. Asian-owned businesses, for instance, have increased 20 percent in recent years, census data show. They generated $7.1 billion in revenue in 2002, the last year for which figures are available.
Maryland "has been getting more diverse for a couple of decades," says Mark Goldstein, who analyzes population data for the Maryland Department of Planning. "But it may be accelerating, that trend."
Overall, minorities accounted for nearly 96 percent of the state's population growth from 2000 to 2005, according to an analysis by state planners. As a result, the population of non- Hispanic whites slipped to just under 60 percent of the total last year - well below the national average of 67 percent.
At a time when the nation is debating immigration policy, the survey reveals that nearly one in eight Marylanders says he or she was born outside the United States. Five years ago, one in 10 Marylanders claimed foreign birth. More than 85 percent of Marylanders reported that they speak only English at home. But about 300,000 Marylanders, or nearly 6 percent, say they are not fluent in English - an increase of roughly 20 percent since 2000.
Montgomery County, the state's most-populous jurisdiction, is one of its most diverse. It has the largest proportion of Hispanic and Asian residents. And 29 percent of its residents say they were born outside the United States. Prince George's County has the largest black population in the state - 542,000, or about two-thirds of the total.
African-Americans make up two-thirds of Baltimore's population, or about 396,000 people. Nearly 14,000 city residents said they are Hispanic or Latino, a 27 percent increase from five years before.
While municipal officials - anxious to rebuild Baltimore's population - have laid out a welcome mat for immigrants, the census survey indicates that Baltimore County has a larger Hispanic or Latino population than the city, nearly 19,000 people. That is roughly 5,000 higher than in 2000.
"It snuck up on everybody," said Eduardo D. Hayden, who represents the Latino community on an ethnic diversity council organized by Baltimore County government. Compared to the highly visible concentration of Latino businesses and residents in East Baltimore, Hayden said, "We're more spread out here in the county."
Unlike the once-per-decade census, the survey released today is an estimate rather than a true head count. It is based on interviewing a sample of the population. Each tally has a margin of error; the smaller the group, the less reliable the estimate. Also unlike the census, the survey does not include people living in group quarters, such as college dormitories, military barracks, prisons and nursing homes.
In both the survey and the census, community leaders and others who serve the Baltimore area's Latino population contend that the government seriously underestimates the actual number of residents. Language barriers, fear or distrust of government or immigration status may be factors in the undercount, advocates say.
Even so, the growth of Hispanic residents in the suburbs is becoming noticeable. A bilingual newspaper and Spanish radio station have sprung up in recent years to serve the Baltimore area's growing Hispanic population. LatinoFest, which for 26 years has celebrated Hispanic food, music and culture in the city, is branching out to hold its first suburban bash Aug. 26 in Towson.
"It's growing, growing, growing, and it continues to grow," Jose Ruiz, executive director of Education Based Latino Outreach, said of the suburban Hispanic growth. "I don't see it stopping."
Ruiz said his Baltimore-based group, which has been working with city schools for years, plans to offer its first after-school program in Baltimore County this fall, at Deep Creek Middle School. That is just one of several "pockets" of Hispanic residents that are forming in the county, observers say.
"Within the last five years, everywhere we go, you see Hispanic people," said Hayden, a Parkville resident who works on the counseling team for the Baltimore County Police Department. A native of Colombia, he said his family moved to Maryland from Miami about six years ago when his wife got a teaching job at Towson University.
"That is a trend we see in a lot of places ... where the suburbs have become more important than the central cities," said Audrey Singer, a demographer with the Brookings Institution who specializes in immigration.
She said similar dispersals of immigrants and ethnic group members into the suburbs are occurring in other older metropolitan areas in the East. Unlike faster-growing metro areas in the Sun Belt, Singer said, a higher proportion of immigrants drawn to Maryland may be relatively well educated, seeking good-paying government and technology jobs.
Experts offer various reasons why the Hispanic population growth in the suburbs may be outstripping that in the city.
"Bigger homes, a better life, better school systems - you know, the American dream," said Ileana Luciani, executive director of the Latino Providers Network, a group of social service providers. "It's the same thing that drives every ethnic group to come to this country. Nothing has changed. Of course, now we know the cities aren't paved with gold."
The growth of jobs in the suburbs, especially those paying entry- level wages, may also be drawing at least a portion of the newly arrived, said Charles M. Christian, distinguished professor at Coppin State University. "While the suburbs are not offering necessarily the least costly housing, there is a glut of rental space, particularly in the inner suburbs."
Asians, another rapidly growing ethnic group, also are drawn to Maryland by the educational and economic opportunities, community leaders say. The high test scores in Howard County schools lure Koreans and Korean-Americans, said David Han, president of the Korean Society of Maryland. "They know River Hill High School and Mount Hebron by name and address," Han said.
Howard County's location midway between Baltimore and Washington also is appealing. The county's growing Korean population helps support an Asian supermarket and other businesses.
Howard is home to two large Christian churches with predominantly Korean-American members. The Korean-American Church of Philippi, founded 13 years ago with about 50 members, now draws about 1,000 every Sunday to space it rents in an office park in Columbia, said the Rev. Jonathan Song, the senior pastor. The church hopes to build its own, larger quarters on 18 acres it bought in Hanover in Anne Arundel County.
The increasing diversification of Maryland's population portends eventual political and social changes, political scientists say.
"Overall, it bodes for an overwhelmingly `blue' state moving forward," predicted Thomas F. Schaller of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Hispanic voters have tended to vote Democratic in presidential elections, he said, though President Bush and his father fared better than most GOP candidates. Asian- American votes have swung from party to party in recent presidential races, he said.
But James Gimpel, a professor at the University of Maryland, College Park, contended that the electoral impact might be muted for a while at least, because minority populations, especially Hispanics, tend to be slow to register and vote. The census data show that of the state's foreign-born, more than 55 percent say they are not U.S. citizens.
"There could be a lot of nonparticipation to overcome," he said. "As new populations come in, wherever they are from, the question always is, who's going to mobilize them, to teach them the local ropes?"
Gimpel said he expects the state's increasing diversity to add fuel to the debate over immigration. "We have to be concerned about the general pattern of population growth and the burden it imposes," he said, "not just on schools but on transportation and other infrastructure." As the number of foreign language-speaking immigrants grows, communities may have to spend more on teaching them English, he said. And the lack of affordable housing near jobs for the new arrivals could worsen traffic woes.
Mark Mather, a demographer with the Population Reference Bureau, said more attention ought to be paid to the needs of the growing minority youth population. About 45 percent of children under age 5 nationally are minorities, and their ranks are growing, he noted.
"All of these aging baby boomers are going to need to rely on this diverse, youthful population we have here in the United States," said Mather, "which will probably create some conflict and difficulties in communicating. But it's something we're going to have to adapt to."

bayviews

August 16th, 2006, 08:59 AM

Even largely rural Maine is seeing a jump in its Somali & Latino immigrant population.

Maine's black population doubles ; Resettled Somali refugees and Hispanic workers are changing Maine's makeup.; [Final Edition]
ANN S. KIM and JOSIE HUANG Staff Writers. Portland Press Herald. Portland, Me.: Aug 5, 2006. pg. A.1
Copyright 2006 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.
POPULATION CHANGES CHANGES IN MAINE population between the 2000 census and 2005 estimate: TOTAL: 1,274,923 to 1,321,505, a 3.7 percent increase. WHITE: 1,236,014 to 1,269,178, a 2.7 percent increase . BLACK: 6,760 to 13,456, a 99 percent increase. AMERICAN INDIAN: 7,098 to 13,276, an 87 percent increase. ASIAN: 9,111 to 13,957, a 53.2 percent increase. PACIFIC ISLANDER: 382 to 819, a 114.4 percent increase. HISPANIC ORIGIN: 9,360 to 13,045, 39.4 percent increase. (Figures may not add up to 100 percent of the total because some racial groups are not included and Hispanic origin is not considered a racial category)
When Hamza Haadoow moved to Portland in December 2000, the Somali community was so small that everybody recognized each other.
Now there are so many Somalis that Haadoow is often mistaken for a new arrival.
"The population has increased so the people don't know each other now," said Haadoow, a 32-year-old father of four.
The number of blacks in Maine nearly doubled between 2000 and 2005, but the state still has the nation's whitest population, according to data released Friday by the U.S. Census Bureau.
A significant portion of the black population is in Portland, a resettlement area for refugees, including those from Somalia and Sudan. Many other Somalis have made the Lewiston-Auburn area their home in recent years.
The Census Bureau estimated the number of blacks in Maine in 2005 at 13,456, or 1 percent of the population. That's up from 6,760, or 0.5 percent of the population, in 2000. During the five-year period, the white population declined from 96.9 percent of the total to 96 percent.
Among other racial minority groups, Asians and American Indians also gained, but their percentages hovered around 1 percent of the population. Hispanics, who are not considered a racial category by the federal government, also grew to that level.
Androscoggin County, where Lewiston and Auburn are located, had the largest increase in black residents. The population increased from 709 to 1,492, or 110.4 percent.
Haadoow, who drives a cab while studying accounting and working at group homes, came directly to Maine from a refugee camp in Kenya. But many Somalis are moving from larger cities such as Atlanta, where they were initially resettled.
Lewiston, with its affordable housing, is an increasingly popular destination. The city gained a reputation among some as an unfriendly place, Haadoow said, when a former mayor in 2002 tried to discourage more Somalis from moving there. Controversy struck again in July, when a Lewiston resident was charged with desecrating a house of worship by rolling a pig's head into a mosque.
But Haadoow predicted Somalis will continue moving to Maine because they like its slower pace and safer streets. It's a trend he's happy about.
"I believe it will help us to live close together," said Haadoow, a volunteer for the East Africa Family Association, which assists Somalis and other Africans in Maine. "That way, culturally we may survive."
From the Somali-language bus advertisements about asthma in Portland to the storefront mosque down the street from a handful of Somali-owned businesses in downtown Lewiston, signs of the community's growth are evident.
Maine's fast-growing southernmost counties have the state's other large populations of blacks. The number of blacks increased from 817 to 1,058, or 29.5 percent, in York County, and from 3,083 to 4,056, or 31.6 percent, in Cumberland County.
The state is getting more new residents from Massachusetts, and it makes sense that the areas to which they move reflect, to a degree, the greater ethnic diversity of the Bay State, said Catherine Reilly, Maine's state economist.
The 2005 figures are estimates made with the use of administrative records on births, deaths and migration, with the 2000 census used as a base.
Maine's Hispanic population increased from 9,360 to 13,045, or 39.4 percent.
Interpreters fluent in Spanish are a hot commodity Down East because hundreds of Mexicans and Central Americans have settled in the area to take jobs raking blueberries and processing seafood.
Juliana Vazquez, once the only Hispanic student at Narraguagus High School in Harrington, estimates that at least 15 other Latinos are there now.
"We like how the community tries to involve the Mexican people," said Vazquez, who is raising a 1-year-old daughter in Milbridge. "They even try to learn Spanish."
Reilly, the state economist, said the growth of minority and immigrant groups can help balance Maine's aging population. That change can affect the economy because businesses that might open or move here look for work forces and growing markets, she said.
Noel Bonam, director of the new state Office for Multicultural Affairs, said the census data confirm anecdotal evidence that Maine's immigrant population is growing, but he cautioned that it may not reflect the true numbers.
Lewiston city officials, for example, estimate Somalis may number as many as 3,000, far more than the estimate of 1,492 black residents in all of Androscoggin County.
To get a better sense of how many immigrants are living in Maine, Bonam said, it will be important to count everybody for the 2010 Census. His office plans to raise awareness about the census with help from grass-roots immigrant groups, starting next year.
With undercounting, "a lot has to do with people who tend to slip through the cracks or don't think it's important enough to do it," he said.

Xusein

August 17th, 2006, 03:31 AM

True, by Northeast standards metro Hartford really boomed (state government, insurance, financial services, areospace/military contractors) from the 1960s thru the mid-1980, until the local economy crashed when the Northeast real estate & financial boom crashed at the end of that decade. There again it was rather like Rochester.

Hartford's black population grew quite a bit from the 1960s thru the 1970s. A much more significant factors in Hartford's gain during that period was the tremendous growth in the Puerto Rican population (from less than several thousand in 1960 in Hartford & New Britain) which is not counted with immigrants. Hartford really has one of the biggest PRs populations on the mainland for its size.

The Puerto Rican migration to Hartford & the Northeast generally has slowed down over the last decade, as lots of PRs have moved to down to Florida, another factor why Hartford (& Springfield-Holyoke) stagnated during the 1990s. Providence attracted a lot fewer blacks & PRs compared to Hartford, but many more Dominicans & other Latino immigrants.

Yea, I take the post 2000 estimates, which usually turn out to be understated, with a big grain of salt. But obviously as you indicate, the uptick in immigrants over the past decade has halted Hartford city's decline & again brought new growth to the region.

I agree wholly... :yes:

But living here for 8 years, and seeing the worst and the best...I am still suprised that my metro actually boomed before, when coming when the area hit rock bottom.

Xusein

August 17th, 2006, 03:35 AM

Somalis in Maine, yes...

I have never been to Maine, so I can not critique...but when they moved in back in 2001-03...I heard bad things, honestly I do not know why they went so far up. But, I am happy that the whole city is benefitting from the boom...

Not suprisingly, I am sure the doubling of the population is mostly from Somalis migrating up north, from mostly Georgia.

Great Articles, BTW...it shows how areas not thought of a immigrant hotspots are gaining, and that is good...sharing the wealth, I say.

bayviews

August 20th, 2006, 07:38 AM

Boston & Massachusetts have also seen significant jump in immigrants since 2000

IMMIGRANT NUMBERS UP 15% IN STATE SINCE 2000 ; BIGGEST HIKE COMES FROM LATIN AMERICA; [THIRD Edition]
Michael Levenson, Globe Staff and Yuxing Zheng, Globe Correspondent.
Boston Globe. Boston, Mass.: Aug 16, 2006.
The number of immigrants living in Massachusetts households climbed 15.4 percent in the first half of this decade, a sharp increase driven by an influx of Brazilians and others from Latin America, according to new data released by the US Census Bureau.
About 14.4 percent of the state's population was foreign-born in 2005, up from about 12.2 percent in 2000, according to the census data. The number rose from 772,983 in 2000 to 891,184 last year, the data showed. About 55 percent of the immigrants in the state last year were not US citizens, though the census did not tabulate how many reside legally on work visas or other documents.
The surge of immigrants to Massachusetts offset an exodus of people from the state that has alarmed policy makers and business people. The latest figures under scored how Massachusetts is changing and suggested that while others have left the state for less expensive housing, better jobs, and milder weather, immigrants are keeping the state's population level at about 6.4 million.
"Immigrants are going to be a prime demographic engine for growth in Massachusetts," said William H. Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. "It's an area that has been losing domestic migrants out of the Boston area, an area that goes up and down in terms of the economy. But one constant is going to be the steady flow of immigrants, and I think that's important."
The biggest increase in immigration to Massachusetts came from Latin America. The census found that 321,321 people living in Massachusetts last year were born in Latin America. The figure represents 37 percent of the total immigrant population in 2005 and amounted to a 40.7 percent increase over 2000, the census reported.
Among Latin Americans in Massachusetts, the population of Central Americans rose by 67.7 percent between 2000 and 2005, and the number of South Americans rose by 107.5 percent, the census found. And among South Americans, the largest group to increase appeared to be Brazilians, whose numbers rose by 131.4 percent, to 84,836.
"Then we start to open businesses," said Fausto da Rocha, executive director and founder of the Brazilian Immigrant Center in Allston. "We bring a labor force, a young labor force. And a lot of Brazilians have a high school diploma, and many of them have a higher education. And that makes it easy to open a business and help more in the economy."
Mary Silveira, 39, who moved from Brazil to Boston five years ago to study English, works as a secretary at St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Allston and takes English classes at Jackson Mann Community Center.
"A person my age in my country doesn't have anywhere to work, like you're too old, retired," she said yesterday at the Catholic Community Center in Allston. "If I came back right now to my country, I have to fight a lot for a job."
Silveira said she also loves living in Boston because she feels secure and enjoys the every-day freedoms of American life.
"I feel very safe here. I can walk at 10 p.m. by myself," she said. "In my country, I couldn't do that. I feel that I don't need to observe one style of life. I'm free here to dress how I want, how I like. If I want to walk barefoot, I can."
After Latin Americans, the second fastest- growing immigrant group came from Africa, which saw a 26.7 percent increase in its population, to 59,322 in 2005, the census showed. The population of Asian immigrants grew by 20.3 percent, to 242,546 in 2005, and the number of Caribbean immigrants increased by 16 percent, to 128,979.
Europeans, meanwhile, were the only immigrant group to decrease in population during the period, dropping by 4.6 percent to 229,556 in 2005, the data showed.
The figures came from the US Census Bureau's American Community Survey, an annual tally of residents conducted by mail, telephone, and in person, which supplements the full count of Americans conducted every 10 years. The figures represent a tally of people living in households, which excludes what the Census Bureau considers "group quarters," such as dormitories, prisons, and military bases.
Nationally, the number of foreign-born residents living in households increased by about 16 percent, to 35,689,842, in the first half of this decade, the census found.
In Massachusetts, a majority of immigrants are moving to Boston, Cambridge, Somerville, Lynn, Lowell, Lawrence, Quincy, and Brockton.
But in the next five or 10 years, as many find more economic stability, they will move out to suburbs beyond that traditional urban core, said Marc Draisen, executive director of the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, an urban planning group that represents 101 cities and towns around Boston.
"Because we have tended to lose some native-born population, it's actually helpful that we have seen robust international immigration," Draisen said. "We need people to fill jobs, and we need to attract employers. And, in many in cases, international immigrants fill those roles."
The city's Brazilian population rose by 17 percent over the first half of the decade, to 5,454 in 2005, the census found.
"Between 10, 20, 30 years from now, the Brazilian community, especially in Boston, I think we're going to be in some key positions politically and economically," da Rocha said. "We're going to be like the Italians and the Irish are now."
Overall, Boston lost 30,107 residents in the first half of the decade, a steep drop that ranked the city among the biggest population losers of any major municipality in the country, according to Census Bureau estimates earlier this year. Immigrants were a part of that loss: The figures released yesterday showed that the city's foreign-born population decreased by about 5 percent.

bayviews

August 20th, 2006, 07:51 AM

More immigrants are also branching up from downstate to Albany & the Capital District

Immigrants a flourishing part of population ; 2005 census finds faster growth rate in foreign-born households in region; [THREE STAR Edition]
Times Union. Albany, N.Y.: Aug 16, 2006. pg. A.1
ALBANY - The number of immigrants moving into the Capital Region has been picking up speed at the start of the 21st century, mirror ing the change in the national landscape.
During the first five years of this decade, 12,025 foreign-born residents set up households in Albany, Saratoga, Rensselaer and Saratoga counties, according to figures from the 2005 American Community Survey by the U.S. Census Bureau.
That was a much faster rate of immigration than was shown in the 2000 census, which found that 14,044 foreign-born residents moved into the four-county region during the preceding 10 years.
New immigrants are becoming less likely to settle in Albany County, which, based on the 2000 census, attracted about half of incoming foreign-born residents. That figure has dropped to about 40 percent, according to the 2005 survey, with Saratoga and Rensselaer counties becoming increasingly popular destinations.
Nationally, the number of immigrants living in American households rose 16 percent during the last five years.
The 2005 survey measured only people living in households, which includes singles, but does not include those living in so-called "group quarters" like colleges, prisons and healthcare facilities. The figures include legal immigrants only.
The survey did not indicate the countries from which new immigrants came.
"Upstate New York is like a lot of states in the country and is continuing to grow more diverse," said Robert Scardamalia, chief demographer of the State Data Center of the Department of Economic Development.
"Immigration increases are occurring in every metropolitan area, and most probably in some of our smaller communities, too," he said. The 2005 survey measured only places with populations of 65,000 or more.
However, he cautioned that the American Community Survey is a new measurement by the Census Bureau, which intends to issue the reports annually as a way to track population and demographic trends between the once-a-decade census.
Since the survey was not based on actual counts and relied on sample surveys, there is greater chance for some figures to be unreliable, he said. That was the feeling in Albany City Hall after survey results found that the city's household population had dropped from 85,756 to 78,402 between 2000 and 2005, a decrease of more than 8 percent.
"There may be a decrease in city population, but it can't be that big," said Robert Van Amburgh, a spokesman for Mayor Jerry Jennings. "It is nowhere near as alarming as the figure that was released. We are extremely confident that there may have been a decline of one or two thousand, tops."
That view was shared by Leif Engstrom, planner manager for the Capital District Regional Planning Committee. He said previous population estimates for the city "have come in very low, and then at the full census, the city gets a big boost."
Engstrom said the city may have contributed to the seemingly low count in the 2005 survey by not supplying its building permit information to the Census Bureau, which used that as part of its formula to estimate population.
Van Amburgh said he was not familiar with that scenario and could not comment.
In Colonie, Supervisor Mary Brizzell was crowing about the survey figures, which showed that the town - long the predominant bedroom community in the county - had 78,973 household residents to the city's 78,402.
In terms of total population, the city was still ahead of the town by 93,523 to 80,975, according to 2005 census estimates. Total figures include students, who make up a significant piece of the city's population.
Brizzell said more people were choosing the town because of low crime and tax rates.
Brian Nearing can be reached at 454-5094 or by e-mail at bnearing@timesunion.com.
FACTBOX:
Making strides
The Capital Region's foreign-born population has increased over the last five years more rapidly than over the previous decade.
2,405
the annual average of new foreign-born residents in the Capital Region* between 2000 and 2005
1,404
the average of between 1990 and 2000
*Albany, Schenectady, Saratoga and Rensselaer counties
Sources: 2005 American Community Survey; 2000 U.S. Census
County comparisonThe number of new foreign-born residents moving into Capital Region counties: COUNTY2000-20051990-2000 Albany4,8977,567 Rensselaer2,9012,334 Saratoga2,0671,693 Schenectady2,1602,450 Total12,02514,044
Sources: 2005 American Community Survey; 2000 U.S. census

bayviews

August 20th, 2006, 08:08 AM

Meanwhile, a much larger scale of immigration continues to change the face of suburban Long Island, NY.

Census data show, LI's changing face Nonwhites make up more than 25 percent of Island, with Asians fastest-growing group in Community Survey; [NASSAU AND SUFFOLK Edition] KATIE THOMAS AND T.W. FARNAM. STAFF WRITERS, Staff writer Tom McGinty contributed to this story.. Newsday. (Combined editions). Long Island, N.Y.: Aug 15, 2006. pg. A.14
Immigrants from Latin America and Asia are settling on Long Island in growing numbers, changing the face of the region so that nonwhites now make up more than a quarter of the Island's 2.8 million people, according to new data by the U.S. Census Bureau.
While Long Island's population continues to grow slowly - by about 47,000 in the first half of the decade - fewer young adults are calling Nassau and Suffolk home, the data reveal.
The numbers are part of the agency's annual American Community Survey, released today, along with a similar census population estimate made public last week. While the report's small sample size makes it difficult to draw some conclusions, it provides an intriguing glimpse at Long Islanders midway through the first decade of the 21st century.
Both census reports show that Long Island, while still predominantly white, is becoming more racially and ethnically diverse as immigrants make new lives in the suburbs. Increasingly, immigrants are arriving on the Island first, instead of gaining a foothold in New York City.
"Since there are established immigrant communities here, they go directly to the suburbs," said Pearl Kamer, chief economist for the Long Island Association.
Nassau and Suffolk counties are still about 73 percent white, according to the Population Estimates program, but that has decreased since 2000, when whites made up 77 percent of the Island.
In one telling segment of the population - Nassau residents between the ages of 25 to 29 - whites are no longer the majority, making up 50 percent of the population, according to the Population Estimates program. Hispanics account for 24 percent of the age group.
Asians are the Island's fastest-growing ethnic group, with an estimated increase of about 36 percent since 2000. The largest group is still people from Latin America, with the census calculating that about 35,400 newcomers arrived from Mexico and other Latin American nations since 2000. About 14,000 Asians moved to Long Island since 2000, although that number is only a guess because of the small number of people interviewed in the survey.
The Island's growing diversity has mixed implications for Long Island's future, some said. On the one hand, it is contributing to the growth of the region's population and reinvigorating otherwise aging communities with entrepreneurs and young families.
But some, including Kamer, worry that the trend may hurt the overall marketability of the labor force. As high-skilled baby boomers retire from their jobs, newly arrived but less educated immigrants will take their place in the workforce.
"We may be facing a situation in which skill levels will drop, rather than rise as they have in the past," Kamer said.
However, Seth Forman, the acting executive director of the Long Island Regional Planning Board, said many immigrant groups quickly make up for their lack of education. The rate by which many new arrivals attain middle class by the second generation "is very much at the same pace that it had been for white ethnic groups in the past," Forman said. "That's a very positive sign."
The new data also confirm a trend policy makers have long been eyeing with concern - the disappearance of adults in their 30s. In Nassau County, the number of people in their 30s declined by 19 percent, down from 97,595 to 79,363, according to the Population Estimates program. In Suffolk, the decrease was 16 percent, from 117,986 to 99,664.
"That's what we've been seeing right along and that's what concerns us so much," Kamer said. People in their 30s are the heart of the economy, she said - adults who are highly skilled, well paid and starting families.
Still, Forman said he was encouraged by growing numbers of people in their 40s and 50s - an indication that, as people earn more money and advance in their careers, they are still choosing to live on Long Island. With excellent schools and other amenities, "I think Long Island remains an attractive place," he said.
Staff writer Tom McGinty contributed to this story.

bayviews

August 21st, 2006, 07:18 AM

Great timing as the 2005 American Community Survey results has come out this month. It is a mid-decade update published by the U.S. Census Bureau based on a less complete survey than the census. They include updated numbers for immigration. Here the results for the major Northeast metros. All but Providence are CSAs. Note that Albany has been added to the million-plus list & that some of the coverage definitions may have changed somewhat since 2000.

TOTAL POPULATION, 2005

1. New York City 21,392,437
2. Washington-Baltimore 7,954,699
3. Philadelphia 5,784,351
4. Boston 5,623,982
5. Pittsburgh 2,404,679
6. Providence 1,565,972
7. Hartford 1,251,979
8. Buffalo 1,190,755
9. Albany 1,102,287
10. Rochester 1,085,995

TOTAL FOREGN-BORN IMMIGRANT POPULATION, 2005
1. New York City 5,523,899
2. Washington-Baltimore 1,212,256
3. Boston 809,213
4. Philadelphia 495,590
5. Providence 198,286
6. Hartford 132,467
7. Pittsburgh 67,081
8. Rochester 61,712
9. Buffalo 54,061
10. Albany 52,536

NEW IMMIGRANTS ENTERED SINCE 2000, AS OF 2005
1. New York City 1,011,514
2. Washington-Baltimore 326,008
3. Boston 202,486
4. Philadelphia 139,293
5. Providence 34,665
6. Hartford 25,750
7. Pittsburgh 17,111
8. Rochester 12,943
9. Albany 12,784
10. Buffalo 11,229

bayviews

August 21st, 2006, 07:21 AM

And here are the total immigrant populations from the 2005 American Community Survey by continental source for the Northeast Metros. The numbers by continent have more margin of error than the totals & the individual countries have much greater margin or error, some look rather shaky, so they are not included. No big changes side from a general continued growth since 2000.

TOTAL EUROPE IMMIGRANTS, 2005

1. New York City 1,109,407
2. Boston 174,101
3. Washington-Baltimore 142,876
4. Philadelphia 121,068
5. Providence 78,461
6. Hartford 46,353
7. Pittsburgh 26,943
8. Rochester 22,805
9. Buffalo 21,338
10. Albany 16,871

TOTAL ASIA IMMIGRANTS, 2005

1. New York City 1,419,453
2. Washington-Baltimore 441,370
3. Boston 237,417
4. Philadelphia 184,612
5. Hartford 29,823
6. Pittsburgh 28,052
7. Providence 27,228
8. Albany 19,833
9. Buffalo 18,094
10. Rochester 16,850

TOTAL AFRICA IMMIGRANTS, 2005

1. New York City 200,204
2. Washington-Baltimore 152,421
3. Boston 57,296
4. Philadelphia 42,305
5. Providence 20,044
6. Rochester 5,754
7. Hartford 3,600
8. Pittsburgh 3,192
9. Buffalo 3,118
10. Albany 1,582

TOTAL OCEANIA IMMIGRANTS, 2005

1. New York City 16,042
2. Washington-Baltimore 4,290
3. Boston 2,818
4. Philadelphia 1,269
5. Pittsburgh 597
6. Albany 267
7. Rochester 139
8. Buffalo 116
9. Hartford 66
10. Providence 45

TOTAL LATIN AMERICA IMMIGRANTS, 2005

1. New York City 2,720,441
2. Washington-Baltimore 454,730
3. Boston 299,438
4. Philadelphia 136,548
5. Providence 67,597
6. Hartford 44,473
7. Albany 12,311
8. Rochester 10,705
9. Pittsburgh 5,118
10. Buffalo 4,974

TOTAL NORTHERN AMERICA IMMIGRANTS, 2005
1. New York City 57,352
2. Boston 38,143
3. Washington-Baltimore 16,569
4. Philadelphia 9,788
5. Hartford 8,152
6. Buffalo 6,421
7. Rochester 5,459
8. Providence 4,911
9. Pittsburgh 3,197
10. Albany 1,762

DBR96A

August 21st, 2006, 07:42 AM

Xusein

August 22nd, 2006, 12:52 AM

bayviews

August 22nd, 2006, 01:50 AM

Looks like Pittsburgh is in the beginning stages of an upswing in immigrant population. It continually ranked at or near the bottom of all the U.S. Census Bureau's 2000 statistics, but based on the lists from 2005, it appears to be closer to mid-pack in terms of new immigrants since 2000. I think Hartford and Providence lucked out being in such close proximity to New York and Boston, so it's understandable that their numbers are higher than Pittsburgh's. But Pittsburgh now appears to be the "growth leader" in the interior Northeast with regard to foreign immigrants.

The only thing that puzzles me is how Hispanic immigrants STILL overlook Pittsburgh. Europeans, Asians and Pacific Islanders have begun moving to Pittsburgh in increasing numbers since 2000, but not Hispanics. I imagine that the interior Northeast will be among the last areas of the country to see a major influx of Hispanic immigants. The Hispanics in the Midwest haven't yet made it that far east, and the Hispanics on the East Coast haven't yet bothered to jump over the Appalachian Mountains.

Good point, that issue came up earlier, here a repost. Here's a repost:
Quote:

Originally Posted by Evergrey
Wow... I knew Pittsburgh had a low number of immigrants... but I am blown away to see that it has less immigrants than Rochester and only 9 thousand more than Buffalo, a stagnant metro half its size (must be a lot of ex-Canadians). One major reason Pittsburgh has so few immigrants is that is has made a transition from the most blue-collar major metro in America to the least blue-collar major metro in America. There is a lack of "blue-collar" opportunities to attract Mexican immigrants. However, I feel that immigration is starting to pick up in Pittsburgh... a Latino community is finally starting to form in the Beechview neighborhood.

Pittsburgh may have one of the country's smallest immigrant communities... but interestingly it is also the most educated (highest percentage with a post-secondary degree). The city's many hospitals, universities and high-tech firms attract educated immigrants from around the world.

Yeah, Pittsburgh that was a big gateway to immigrants a century ago isn't at that today. Pittsburgh still boasts lots of great Irish, Italian, Polish, Slovak, Croatian, Ukranian, & other Old World ethnic flavor, but few are recent immigrants. But its good to see that Pittsburgh realizes the need for newcomers and seems to be starting to make at least some headway in reaching out to attract new immigrants, particularly Asian professionals.

True, Buffalo & Pittsburgh have lots in common in terms of their lack of new immigrants. Your right, the biggest differeance is that a lot more foreign-born Canadians settled around Buffalo (8,555) as opposed to Pittsburgh (2,663). Now, probably more Americans would like to go to Canada than vice versa, so that's not a growing flow.

So Buffalo is the only major metro where the immigrant population is still actually declining. Even Pittsburgh saw an uptick in immigrants during the 1990s. Rochester contuinues to attract the most immigrants of any of the upstate NY metros.

Historically, Pittsburgh was bypassed by the post WW II Puerto Rican migration that touched down in Philadelphia & branched out to Bethlehem, Allentown, Reading, Lancaster, & other cities in southeast PA. Puerto Ricans also touched down in Cleveland, settling also in Lorain & Youngstown OH. Some of the Puerto Ricans whose families settled in Youngstown in the early 1950s to work in the steel mills may move to Pittsburgh where there are more opportunities.

Still, there's there's never been much of an established Latino community that draws Dominicans, Mexicans, or other Latino immigrants to Pittsburgh. Dominicans are settling across eastern Pennsylania & even more Mexicans in both eastern PA (Reading has big community) & NE Ohio (Painesville, a Cleveland suburb, has growing community). So perhaps Pittsburgh will draw more of that inflow.

bayviews

August 22nd, 2006, 02:07 AM

The American community survey is a pretty good indicator, but the estimates always run counter to U.S census estimates...Hartford is actually 1.304m, not 1.251...but who cares...

Hartford has seen a large jump in it's Latin American immigrant population, it seems...as the majority Puerto Rican group is not considered a immigrant group, Asian immigration seems to have boomed as well...

Great numbers for Pittsburgh, Buffalo, and Rochester! Immigrant populations there have boomed!

Yea, always booming, just like West Virgina LOL!

The ACS numbers are always low, as its a limited sample that excludes those living in institutions, college dormatories, & other group quarters. I haven't posted any the ACS central city numbers as that would really create some panic in a few cities. Some the differeances may be due to definational changes, Providence was revamped for example, but havent looked closely at Hartford.

While not anywhere near community estimates, (& with big margin of errors), you'd be pleased to see the significant jump in Somalian ancestry numbers across the US since 2000. Metro Hartford is up to 232 according to ACS. Senegelese, which wasn't very big in 2000, is up to 307. Seem right?

Xusein

August 22nd, 2006, 02:44 AM

^^ Probably because of Somali Bantu refugees, but good news nonetheless.

bayviews

August 30th, 2006, 08:01 AM

Article from Rochester (NY) City Paper on local Somali immigrants

MARCH 29, 2006:
Hyphenated identities, fractured lives
Somali immigrants make Rochester their home
By Sujata Gupta

At right, Isha Abdi (left) and Khadija Ehow learn English at the Family Learning Center on Hart Street.
Matt Walsh
"When you flee your country, you don't even know where you're going, what direction you're going. You say, 'OK, I need to save my life.'"
IsseAbukar pulls out a box of pictures, a postcard of Mogadishu, Somalia, before it was ravaged by civil war, and a business card, frayed and yellow with age. The box, says Abukar --- a former partner in his family's weaving company --- contains everything he brought from his motherland.
In a classroom at the FamilyLearningCenter, a city school district program that holds classes for non-native English speakers, another Somali describes her family: herself, her husband, and three children. American life is good, she says through a translator. She has, she claims, never experienced much loneliness or culture shock or linguistic barriers. Later in the interview, however, she breaks down and cries. There is a fourth child left in Somalia, a daughter that immigration services refuse to recognize as part of her family. "Always, she calls and she's crying," the woman says. "And then I start crying." For the briefest moment, the woman's pain takes shape, becomes palpable. "I don't want to talk about her," she says, and she rises from her seat. A door clicks.
A tiny box; a tiny omission; a tiny store of memories containing only those things worth remembering. There is no denying it: Compared to the dangers of living in a refugee camp or hiding from rebel forces or wondering if there will be enough water to last the day, this life is better. This is heaven. This is home? Maybe.Sometimes. It depends.
Those unfamiliar with African culture and history tend to see all Somalis --- and indeed all Africans --- as a single entity. But for Somalis, who watched their country disintegrate into civil war 15 years ago, the lines dividing them run deep. Clan loyalties dominate, and though many Somalis in America and elsewhere are working to shed those distinctions, time beats to a slow drum. Somalia itself is in ruins. Anarchy reigns.
But if suffering could be measured, few would know its depths as keenly as the Somali Bantu, a minority group that has suffered centuries of social and educational marginalization. The Bantus first came to Somalia in the 18th century as slaves from Mozambique and Tanzania, but few of them managed to assimilate into mainstream society even after slavery ended in the early 1900s.
The Bantus became especially vulnerable when civil war broke out in 1991. Because agriculture networks collapsed with the war, the largely agrarian Bantus were among the few with stockpiles of food. Lacking clan protection due to their minority status, both bandits and civilian Somalis robbed, raped, and killed Bantus with impunity. An estimated 10,000 Bantu had fled to Kenyan refugee camps by 1994. In the camps, however, Kenyans and Somali refugees continued to target the Bantus, who were forced to set up along the compound's dangerous outskirts.
Recognizing that Somali Bantus could never return to their homeland, the United States government agreed to let 12,000 Bantu refugees resettle here about five years ago. It was among this country's largest relocation efforts in two decades, and its largest effort ever with African refugees. The first wave of Bantu refugees began arriving in 2002. Typical of refugees from other countries, most Bantus relocated to smaller cities, where resettlement agencies hoped they would experience less disorientation and culture shock.
In Rochester, there are now more than 300 Somali families, of which about 60 are Bantu. Ironically, as the two groups begin to reconcile their differences thousands of miles from home, it is often the Somali refugee who is best equipped to help the Bantu. Whereas most Bantus cannot speak Somali, the country's main dialect, many educated Somalis can speak at least a rudimentary form of the Bantu dialect, MaayMaay. They are also more likely to have acquired some English either during their time in America or in Somali schools.
While refugees in general face a host of challenges upon arriving in this country, from securing a job to learning English, Somalis and Somali Bantus often view their role in this country from different vantage points. What it means to be Somali-American fragments, to some extent, along class lines.
For Abukar, a senior member representative for the Genesee Co-Op Federal Credit Union, the overarching goal has been to regain what he lost when he came to the United States 10 years ago. "You see, when I start I was working different jobs," he says. "Any job I go, I don't care, you know, what I'm doing. But I was just looking about how I can support my family. Second, I was thinking about how you can change your life. Right now, I have skilled job. Still I'm not happy. You know why? Because I'm not free, because I work for someone. I used to have my own business. I never worked nobody; my father never worked nobody."

Somali children living on and around Vanauker Street congregate in Abdurahim Mukumbira's living room.
Gary Ventura
Jennifer Carroll, a family doctor with BrownSquareHealthCenter on Lyell Avenue, says Abukar's attitude is typical of those who have lost everything. "When you see that kind of dramatic drop in socioeconomic status, in the best-case scenario you work really hard to get back to where you were," she says.
But for Somali Bantus, dreaming --- even the ability to dream --- can be new and disorienting. Says 21-year-old Aweys Hussein, a Bantu who relocated here with his wife and family three years ago: "We wasn't happy. It was difficult. We don't know where we can go. It was a difficult life." Hussein's come a long way, though. Aside from becoming a father, he managed to move into his own apartment, find a job at Wegmans, and begin working toward his GED. His 18-year-old wife, BisharaKasim, is in 10th grade at JeffersonHigh School. She wants to be a doctor. And in a society that values large families, Kasim is thinking the unthinkable: two kids. But they are young and less set in their ways than their elders.
Through a translator, Hussein's father, AbdurahimMukumbira, says he hopes to own a house in a few years. But with eight children, including one just born a few months ago, limited English ability, and a job as a dishwasher at an AIDS clinic, Mukumbira must still rely on food stamps, Medicaid, reduced-price school lunches, and housing allowances. His wife stays home to tend to the baby. Asked if he wants any more children, Mukumbira chuckles. "Only God knows that," he says.
For all their differences in social status, age, and upbringing, Carroll, who has been studying the Somali community for a decade, says Somalis are bound by one of humanity's darkest and most powerful forces: trauma. "The cross-sectional studies that have been done across a variety of refugee populations show routinely across the board that over 85 percent to 90 percent have either felt their life directly threatened or witnessed the life of a loved one being threatened," she says. "The scope of exposure to traumatic experiences is staggering."
Dehydration, starvation, poverty, attackers in the bushes, unemployment, despair, nightmares: This is a refugee camp. It is a place, says Abukar, where air and waterborne diseases run rampant, where the line between life and death dims."If you need to survive, it's fine. If you need to die, it's fine," he says. "There's no medication. If you're sick and you need to go to hospital, and if you don't have money, you will die. My mom, she died in the refugee camp. Malaria. Not big disease. Malaria only."
How one responds to trauma differs from person to person, says Carroll, but she adds that many Somalis externalize emotional concerns as physical ones. That means that joint pain can signify muscle-clenching flashbacks; headaches, recurring nightmares. "There is some stigma about which symptoms get expressed and which don't," Carroll says.
But refugees here know that they are the lucky ones. That knowledge, however, carries with it the weight of responsibility. Traumatic disorders compound present-day stresses: the guilt of abandoning loved ones, the expectation of happiness, and the strains of poverty. "Another cause of mental problems that emerged is the theme of post-migration stress, such as protracted economic strain in the United States with the pressure to provide for family members remaining in Africa," wrote Carroll in a University of Rochester-funded study of how mental illness is understood, expressed and treated among Somali refugees.
MuminaShangolo, a full-time student at the FamilyLearningCenter, says finances are very tight these days. Her husband earns minimum wage and can barely support his family of five, and Shangolo periodically sends money to Africa so her father and sister can buy their medications.
Many Somalis' economic troubles are exacerbated by their large immediate families --- an asset turned liability. Abukar jokes that in Somalia, children are like social security: The more one has, the better the retirement options. Not true in America, though, where the cost of living is among the highest in the world.
Despite their myriad pressures, Somalis seldom receive private counseling, says Carroll. This disinclination toward psychiatric care likely stems from several factors, from Somalis' reluctance to discuss personal matters with a stranger to fears associated with riding public buses where signs are entirely in English.
Moreover, one of the greatest challenges for both psychiatric and medical practitioners is finding translators who speak English, MaayMaay and Somali. As it stands, many Bantus struggle to communicate through their former persecutors. "The Somali Bantus were a slave class. I've had Somali Bantus look at a translator who's more of a Somali background and say, 'Every time I look at that guy I see the guy who shot my father and raped my sister,'" says Louise Bennett, a family doctor with Westside Health Services on Genesee Street.
NibhanGudle, a Somali translator at Westside, says the need for both Bantu and female translators is essential to meet the needs of his community. He has, he says, seen many cases where patients respond to doctors' questions based on what they think he would expect to hear. Others simply never come back. "They say, 'OK, thank you very much. We'll be back to you.' That's it, they're gone," he says.

Abdurahim Mukumbira's oldest son, Aweys Hussein, left, and his wife, Bishara Kasim, discuss life in Somalia.
Gary Ventura
"Gone." These anonymous patients fade into Rochester life, much as they would have faded into life at a refugee camp, or hidden from rebels on the long trek to the Kenyan border, or, for women, shielded sexual assaults or rapes from family members.
The silent and the invisible --- few fit this definition better than Somali women. Born into a traditional Muslim culture, Somali women seldom receive education or work outside the home. Virginity at marriage is sacrosanct and most sexual crimes go unreported, says Carroll, who has spent the last year interviewing 34 Somali women with funding from the Department of Health and Human Services. "A lot of women who had been raped or sexually assaulted and several of whom had acquired HIV as a result didn't want that information included in their asylum claim even if it would be their ticket to freedom to the US," she says. "To them it would be better to have their asylum claim denied than to let people know what happened."
In addition, while female circumcision is a taboo here in America, some studies report that more than 90 percent of Somali women undergo the procedure, which ranges in severity from removal of part of the clitoris to excision of all of the clitoris and labia minora. "When I first started taking care of this community, I didn't know how to approach the issue," Carroll says. "But I would be remiss if I didn't address this because it's part of women's health."
While most Americans' reaction to the procedure is one of shock, even revulsion, many Somali women think that in light of current hardships, now is not the time to attack the time-honored tradition, Carroll says. So her approach has been to ask women if they have been circumcised, if they're experiencing any difficulties, and then move on. "Keep the moralizing, keep the political stuff out of it. Just focus on what is the meaning of this for this particular person right now. That's how I think about it," she says.
One of the greatest challenges of her project, says Carroll, was simply convincing the women that their stories were worth telling. "One of the lessons we learned as part of our project was that in certain countries or backgrounds where women don't have the same role as men...and often don't have the same educational opportunities or opportunities to become independent outside the home, they're not used to people asking their opinions about things. A common answer that we would get is, 'Well, I can't tell you anything that you don't already know. You're the doctor.' So engaging women in ways that would really allow them to speak freely and comfortably about their own experiences was actually harder than it might seem," says Carroll, who relied on female interpreters only.
HassanAbdi, an Ethiopian-born Somali who has been in America for 15 years, says Somalis must also re-evaluate gender roles. "It's not hard to change," he says. "It's a matter of not knowing how to change." Often, he says, men tell their wives that it's OK if they don't work or get a driver's license or learn English. The thought process, he says, goes like this: "I tell my wife not to drive. I'm thinking I'm doing positive. Now, 10 years, five years later, what I'm thinking now? 'Oh shit, she can't drive.'"
Ironically, says AbdullahiJama, a Somali case manager for CatholicFamilyCenter, a long history of subjugation actually helps Bantu women adjust to life in America. Compared to Somali women from more advantaged backgrounds, these women are more willing to use public transportation and get jobs, however menial, he says.
This role reversal is evident at the FamilyLearningCenter, where most of the Somali students are of Bantu origin. "Bar, car, F-F-F, fff, faaar," enunciates ESL teacher, Robert Shaver. The class repeats after him. A few giggle as Shaver feigns falling off the desk, saying: "Don't ffffall off the desk."

At center, Mukumbira's wife, Faduma Abdi, cradles her 1-month-old baby. Abdul Kadir. This is her eighth child.
Gary Ventura
Surrounded by their peers, their kids safe in the day care center downstairs, the women appear relaxed, at ease. Asked why she wants to learn English, HawaMsanda, a mother of five, says through a translator that then she will be able to do everything: drive a car, buy groceries, maybe even get a job. Her days before the learning center, she says, consisted of getting the kids ready for school and housekeeping. Even that was OK, though, she says --- much better than the 15 or so years she spent at the refugee camp.
For the women and men who spend seven hours a day, five days a week in a classroom, the struggle to learn English is admirable. Spoken fluency can take years; written ability even longer. But if before the future was too bleak to ponder, now it can at least exist. Carroll says that the move from thinking entirely in the present to pondering the future is a subtle but powerful shift. "We talked about this a lot when we were doing our analysis," she says. "When you've had a life that was so marked by uncertainty and day-to-day survival, how do you change your life framework to start to think about future-oriented goals?"
As Somalis begin to envision new possibilities in their own lives, they often look to their children to fulfill the American Dream --- to go to college or buy a house or get off welfare.
The truth is, some will and some won't. Many Somali children, especially those whose entire life was spent in an refugee camp, have never known what it's like to feel safe, or to have enough food, or to view themselves as anything but outsiders. What these children have experienced, says Mike Boucher, a social worker with St. Joseph's NeighborhoodCenter who has worked closely with Rochester's Somali community, confounds comprehension. "When I hear the word 'camp' I don't know what that means," he says.
Despite America's luxuries --- water fountains and escalators and textbooks for all --- many of these children find this country disorienting. They must struggle to belong, for the most part, in difficult urban environments without English fluency or even a basic understanding of this country's social norms. And, says Boucher, the onus is on Somali children to preserve their traditional Muslim roots, which can mean eschewing everything from alcohol to dating to premarital sex. Compounding the problem is the fact that few Somali parents --- particularly those of Bantu origin who themselves never learned to read, write or complete basic math equations --- can help their children adjust academically.
That presents a huge problem because many refugee children's education already lags behind that of their American peers, says Bennett, who visited Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya a few years ago. While the majority of children went to school in the camps, she says, their training "looks good on paper."
Aside from being behind academically, many Somali children wind up in special education classes, Bennett adds, because English as a Second Language tests typically rely on Western concepts. For example, some tests ask children to identify fruits that don't exist in their native desert climate. "If you talk about African foods or African backgrounds they might be able to test better than if you put them into an American urban setting," she says. "They should be tested in their own language, and they should be tested using some non-written and verbal materials."
Under the current system, adds Abukar, children are placed in grades according to their age, which means that a 15-year-old who has never even held a book will become a high school student. And with interpreters in short supply, Abukar and other English-speaking Somalis often translate at parent-teacher conferences, or help these children with their homework. American educators must create special programs for Somali refugee children, Abukar says.
Educating Somali children, however, is a challenge facing communities across the country. The federal Education Department recently determined that public schools in Springfield, Massachusetts, failed to provide Somali students with adequate educational services, the New York Times reported earlier this month. Although Springfield public schools will soon expand their tutoring services and concentrate Somali students in fewer schools, Mary Beach, assistant to the superintendent of the Springfield schools, said in the Times articlethat the biggest challenge is finding enough translators to meet demand.
Abdi worries that as parents and educators work out these kinks, Somali kids are getting lost in the shuffle. And increasing numbers of Somali children are getting involved with drugs, alcohol, and crime, he says.
Formal support systems for Somalis do exist, but that help typically lasts for only a few months. Most Somali families are initially paired with representatives from CatholicFamilyCenter, a nonprofit organization that receives federal funding to help refugees. CFC case workers help Somalis acclimate to all aspects of daily life, from academic placement services to job skills training to everyday logistics, such as finding the nearest grocery store or using public transportation. The goal, says Jim Morris, CFC's resettlement program manager, is to help refugees become self-sufficient as quickly as possible.
That's partially because federal funding for everything, save employment services, dries up after half a year. "Within six months, to buy a car, to get a driver's license, to get insurance --- it's hard," says Abdi. Many Somalis who have been in the States longer help newcomers with transportation, paperwork, tutoring and other daily challenges. But most Somalis interviewed agree that there is great demand for long-term assistance.
Abukar notes that very few Somali families --- even those who have been here for several years --- own a home. "To own house, some people they scared. You know why they scared? Because of mortgage payments. They scared about the long-term payment. Some people they don't have credit score. Some people, right now they need to buy a house but when you save $30,000 and you have to pay $38,000, they say 'Wow, I don't want to buy a house,'" he says. "If the government supports those families, then they can afford to live."
Aside from serving as role models, interpreters, and ad-hoc taxi drivers, Somali immigrants who arrived in America years ago have also become social educators for newcomers struggling to belong in a foreign culture. Abdi, for example, encourages parents to support their children in activities outside of academics. They have to realize that their children's sports and hobbies are important, too, he says. "I know one guy in HoneoyeFalls. This one guy, he is very good with soccer, but I asked his father, would you ever go to his game? He said, 'No,'" Abdi recounts.
But in the perpetual tension between assimilation and preservation,identity means different things to different people. Where Abdi emphasizes parental involvement in sports, others emphasize Islam or traditional dance or the virtues of respecting your elders. Or all of the above. What does it mean, really, to become American? Or more specifically, to become Somali-American?
For many children, home is a dusty field in a Kenyan refugee camp or a foggy memory or, possibly, here. America. The land of immigrants and second chances. And, for the Somali, a place where one can begin to consider the future. How awesomely frightening.
There are certain questions we must all ask, says Bennett. Not just as health-care professionals or social workers or church leaders, but as individuals. As Americans. "There is the myth of the great American melting pot. Come to the United States, the land of opportunity. This is what the United States has stood for --- opportunity and freedom," she says. "The question is, What is the reality for people when they do actually come here? What is their happiness level?"'
For the 20 or so members of the Somali Bantu Soccer Team, happiness is this: a bitterly cold February Sunday, a concrete floor inside the South Avenue Recreation Center, one soccer ball, a handful of shin guards, basketball shoes, soccer cleats, green and yellow jerseys, and a wild "Ruuun!" shouted in English. "Soccer," jokes AwesoMkomuu, "is in our blood."
For another group, happiness is knowing that in its own conflicted way America will provide. "In the camp, you wake up in the morning. You don't know where you're going. Your kids crying, they need milk. You don't have money. You don't have charcoal. You don't have furniture. You don't have bed to sleep," says Abukar. "But United States, even if you don't have insurance, you can go to a doctor. The government, they will cover. You don't have food, you go to social service, you apply. If social service doesn't give you food, you go to Open Door Mission."
For others, though, happiness still waits behind a closed door. Hidden in a gap in the floorboard, or tucked out of sight in a refugee camp half a world away. If you ask Somalis if life is good, they will always say "Yes," says Jama. Do they mean it, though? Maybe.Sometimes. It depends.
But if attitude is survival, does it matter?

bayviews

September 4th, 2006, 05:00 AM

Another raid against illegal Mexican around Buffalo, which ranks at the very bottom in Mexican immigrant population, but near the top, both in workforce raids targeting Latino immigrants, & also (no big coincidence) in population decline!

Funny that the Federal ICE (ex INS, now part of the Homeland Security Department), which rarely conducts workforce raids in major immigration gateways, has been conducting so many large raids around Buffalo, where there are virtually no Mexican immigrants.

Is this just a case of another inept federal bureaucracy taking the easy way out? Or an effort to retain a major ICE HQ in a city with so few immigrants. Rather than having it relocated closer to where more illegal immigrants have settled, where more workforce enforcement is really needed. Or could the Buffalo ICE, which has already been shown to profile Mexicans, be running a Bosnia/Rwanda/Darfur style ethnic cleansing campaign to discourage Mexicans from settling around Buffalo?

Immigration control is fine. So long as it is uniform across the nation. When it isn’t, then could it be that Federal Civil Rights laws are being violated?

Anyway, here’s the article from the Buffalo News:

Crackdown targets illegal aliens

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
34 workers arrested in North Tonawanda

By DAN HERBECK
News Staff Reporter
8/31/2006

Click to view larger picture

Dennis C. Enser/Buffalo News
Suspected illegal aliens, bused from a North Tonawanda greenhouse, enter a downtown processing center on Wednesday.

A government crackdown on illegal aliens targeted a hydroponic tomato greenhouse in North Tonawanda on Wednesday, as federal agents made 34 arrests.
Authorities said they expect that most of the men and women arrested at the Fortistar tomato facility on Shawnee Road will be deported to Mexico within a week.

They also were required to plead guilty to misdemeanor criminal charges, under a tougher government policy on illegal immigration. In the past, government attorneys in Buffalo deported thousands of illegal aliens but rarely prosecuted them criminally.

"Illegal immigration poses an increasing threat to our security, public safety and economy, and hard-hitting interior enforcement will reinforce the strong stance we already take at the border," U.S. Attorney Terrance P. Flynn said after the arrests.

A defense attorney, though, said the federal government was acting unnecessarily harshly.

"They're throwing the book at people, but it seems a rather harsh punishment for people who are only here because they're trying to start a new life in America," responded David G. Jay, an attorney for one of the Mexican men arrested. "Many of us have ancestors who came to this country to start a better life, and in the old days, our country welcomed them with open arms."

The Bush administration has said it has to try new tactics to stop the flow of illegal aliens into the United States. More than 11 million undocumented aliens - many of them farm workers - reportedly live in the United States.

Prosecutor John E. Rogowski, who presented the cases in federal court, said most of the people arrested on Wednesday immediately pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of entering the country without an inspection.

"They will be deported," said Peter J. Smith, a supervisor of immigration investigations for Homeland Security in Buffalo. "All the people who are being prosecuted criminally are people who were found to have false identification, including false Social Security numbers."

Two men, including Jay's Mexican client, Ruben Baltazar, 24, will face more serious felony prosecutions for illegally entering the country.

"The government has said he is charged with a felony because he was already deported once before - from El Paso [Texas] in June of 2001," Jay said of Baltazar.

Rogowski said the second man charged with a felony could not be found on Wednesday and is considered a fugitive.

The arrests were made at the 12.5-acre Fortistar hydroponic greenhouses, where company officials said 3.5 million pounds of tomatoes are grown annually. The company also runs a power co-generation plant in North Tonawanda.

A manager at the greenhouse referred a reporter's questions about illegal aliens to a company official in White Plains, but that official was not available.

In recent months, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from the Department of Homeland Security have made three of the largest roundups of illegal aliens in area history.

Defendants were taken from North Tonawanda by bus to downtown Buffalo.Many appeared nervous or confused as they listened to an interpreter explaining the proceedings before U.S. Magistrate Judge Hugh B. Scott.

bayviews

September 4th, 2006, 05:06 AM

Interesting article on how ethnic cuisine has followed immigration to the suburbs. It concerns Washington, where there has been very little workforce immigration enforcement & where the immigrant population as well as the overall population continues rising rapidly. But much the same is happening around many cities.

Ethnic Goes Exurban; Washington's Sprawl, As Told Through Its Migrating Restaurants; [FINAL Edition]
Tyler Cowen. The Washington Post. Washington, D.C.: Sep 3, 2006. pg. B.1
Little more than a decade ago, the quest for a dosa meant going to the District. That staple of south Indian cooking, the masala dosa (fry a moist mix of ground lentils and rice into a long, waferlike form, and stick something like potatoes inside), was a rare commodity in the Washington area.
Today, dozens of local restaurants serve dosas. The Indian restaurant Minerva, located in Fairfax, has 11 different dosas on its menu, stuffed with chutneys, spinach, onions, chicken and lamb in addition to potatoes. In much of outside-the-Beltway Virginia, where I do most of my eating these days, it's easier to find a good dosa than a decent hamburger.
If we are what we eat, this simple parable of the dosa reflects how rapidly our region has changed. Ethnic eating has gone exurban, tracking the march of immigration and the growth of small businesses from inner city to inner suburb and finally to exurbs that were virtually all-white rural outposts with cornfields just a decade ago; it has moved from Northwest D.C. to redefine dining throughout the sprawling Washington region.
I know, because since I came here 26 years ago to study at George Mason University, I've been eating my way all over Washington. I started in the Latin and Ethiopian dives of Adams Morgan in the 1980s. In the '90s, I circled the Beltway to find the Indian and Chinese restaurants that newcomers were opening in Rockville and Silver Spring. Today, I'm most likely to travel out to malls in Chantilly, Centreville and Herndon for the most authentic Middle Eastern, Chinese, Indian and Korean food. An economist by day and a diner by night, I've gradually gained knowledge of exurbia while becoming an expert on ethnic food.
One commonly held belief is that Washington area dining has been driven by refugees from political crises around the world. Back in the '80s there was some truth to this theory, when the new urban chic involved sharing a platter of lamb tibs around a basket-woven table in Adams Morgan's Ethiopian enclave. But we see no swarm of Iraqi restaurants today (there was one in Herndon -- Zuhair's -- but it closed after about a year in business); nor has civil war in Somalia brought platters of muffo patties to D.C. tables. Indeed, the cuisines with the most potent recent growth in our area -- Indian and Chinese -- have come from countries with their own booms over the past 15 years.
The emergence of ethnic restaurants depends not on refugees from global trouble spots, but on several shifting social and economic factors: a concentration of people from the ethnic community, space at low rents, and a cuisine with potential to appeal to mainstream America. Where those forces are present, expect a culinary explosion; where they are not, ethnic restaurants will retreat.
Those are the factors that have shaped this region. Between 1960 and 2006, the District's population dropped from close to 800,000 to just 550,000, about 20 percent of whom live below the poverty line. High taxes, bad schools and expensive housing impelled people to leave for the suburbs, taking their businesses with them. Immigrants also began following the new opportunities -- settling outside the city. During the same period, Tysons Corner went from a cow patch to a bunch of auto dealerships to a first-tier shopping and business center. Small wonder that would-be restaurateurs such as Nat Kittayapifon, the manager at Pilin, chose Tysons over the District. "We were the first Thai restaurant in Fairfax County 17 years ago," he remembers. "Now I can count 10 on my fingers with no problem."
Of course, the District, with its lobbyists and international organizations, continues to be a center for expense-account dining. But the good ethnic restaurants downtown are either trendy (think Rasika and Indique, both of which reinterpret Indian for upmarket American eaters), or cater to the wealthy international crowd (such as the Spanish Taberna del Alabardero near the International Monetary Fund and World Bank). For the best buys, though, you have to get in the car and head out to the sprawl. These days, the most authentic, spiciest food comes at cheap, ugly strip malls, far from the District and miles from the Metro.
Adams Morgan once served as a classic parvenu dining spot, but its signature Ethiopian restaurants are no longer fresh. Old staples such as Meskerem now attract more Americans than Ethiopians. More vital mom-and-pop Ethiopian places -- the ones that serve kitfo, raw beef sprinkled with chili peppers and a form of dry cottage cheese -- opened first on U Street and then moved down to Ninth Street just south of U.
Georgetown and Dupont Circle priced out most of their good ethnic food more than a decade ago. Even Chinatown is at risk from the forces of gentrification. It's merging with the now-fashionable Verizon Center neighborhood, which is fast crossing over to trendy fusion and mainstream chains. Zaytinya (Middle Eastern fusion), Zengo (Latin-Asian fusion) and IndeBleu (a mix of French and Indian flavors) are among the best restaurants in the District, but all are known for their bars as much as for their menus.
Outside the District, much the same pattern has reshaped close- in urban centers such as Old Town Alexandria. In the late '80s, Old Town used to lure me with its Afghan pilaus and chalows, its Asian fusion and its chili at the Hard Times Cafe (my favorite stop on the way to Bullets games in Landover). But Afghan places have now spread farther west, edgier Asian dining has moved to Maryland, and Hard Times has become a chain and softened its chili's bite to appeal to the Old Town tourist trade.
I now travel to much grittier West Alexandria, especially near Interstate 395, which boasts a culinary range from Pakistani to Thai to Szechuan. Cheap rents, easy parking and highway proximity have made possible places there like the Thai Hut on Van Dorn Street, where I go now to find my favorite mee krob.
A similar shift has taken place in Maryland, where Rockville's strip malls provide better options than upscale and closer-in Bethesda. College Park and Gaithersburg -- both fairly distant and shabbier -- are its closest rivals for their array of Caribbean, Indian and Latino offerings. But Maryland lags behind Virginia as a host state for new ethnic restaurants. The 2005 Small Business Survival Index, which ranks states according to such measures as income tax rates and health-care regulations, shows why: Virginia stands in 13th place among the 50 states -- making it a more hospitable setting for starting up a small business than Maryland, which comes in 25th.
Within Virginia, ethnic food has been on the move, heading westward toward lower rents and new population centers. As Victor Serrano of Victor's Grill, a Falls Church restaurant serving Latino meats, put it, "We have our restaurants out in the suburbs because the Bolivian and Argentine communities are spread out throughout Arlington, Falls Church, Vienna and Annandale. Our strategy is to make ourselves convenient."
And convenience for ethnic restaurant owners these days often means proximity to suburban places of work. "We wanted to be close to the offices here," says Rani Varma, the owner of Bombay Tandoor in Tysons Corner. "We get a flood of people at lunchtime."
Falls Church has held on to the reputation it established in the 1990s for Asian and especially Vietnamese food. Indeed, the Eden Center on Wilson Boulevard -- the bustling economic reflection of a county where one in every four residents is now foreign-born -- attracts Asian visitors from the entire East Coast. I used to go to this huge mall whenever I wanted; now I worry about whether I can find a parking space.
In the 1980s and early '90s, I could still find excellent ethnic food -- particularly Vietnamese -- in Arlington and Clarendon, but more recently, I've watched well-established suburban eateries march toward the exurbs. Take Madhu Ban, the excellent Indian vegetarian restaurant that used to be in Clarendon: As the area gentrified, rents rose, and the owner, Munshi Ram, moved out. He reopened his restaurant as Punjab Dhaba in Loehmann's Plaza in Falls Church, closer to the Dulles corridor and the high-tech boom that helped double the Indian population in the Washington region from fewer than 40,000 in 1990 to some 78,000 in 2000. A dhaba is typically a roadside cafe, and this one is right next to the Bollywood movie theater. I can tell when the Indian movies start and end by watching the flow of crowds at the restaurant.
Ethnic food continues to shift farther west. Later this September, Rangoli will open as the first Indian restaurant in South Riding in the Market Square strip mall, just off Route 50 in Loudoun County. As recently as 2000, there were fewer than 10,000 Asian residents in Loudoun; by 2005, that number had more than tripled to 28,813. Many of these new residents come from Fairfax and Arlington counties in search of cheaper housing and are eager to bring their favorite foods along.
The strip mall that will house Rangoli already has a Subway and Firkin & Hound -- a chain selling "pub food" -- and is about to get a place called Thai Chili, too. This mall symbolizes the new look of contemporary ethnic dining -- indistinguishable from the surrounding exurban area.
These malls have become more accessible for immigrants as they have gained wealth -- and cars. John Chia, the owner of Kam Po, says he chose Leesburg Pike near Baileys Crossroads for his Chinese- Peruvian eatery because it is convenient for the region's estimated 75,000 Peruvian transplants as well as other Latinos. "Old ethnic neighborhoods, all your restaurants were walking distance," he says. "Now 99 percent of my customers come in cars." (Kam Po is what in Lima would be called a chifa, run by Chinese immigrants to Peru who moved to the D.C. suburbs, bringing their own brand of fusion food with them.)
This new mobility is weakening the whole notion of the ethnic neighborhood. Forget the old Chinatown paradigm: Diffusion is the new model. As a result, ethnic restaurants are more like scattered outposts, drawing from a wide radius. As Serrano points out, "Our competition is not right next door. We compete with . . . restaurants five or 10 miles away."
My eating odyssey has uncovered other surprises and undermined old assumptions. Who would have guessed, for example, that good Peruvian and Bolivian restaurants outnumber Mexican ones in a region that is home to more than 32,000 Latino-owned businesses and where one in 11 residents is Latino? Or that a variety of Mexican tacquerias, soup joints and bakeries are centered in the no-man's land of Bladensburg, on and near Kenilworth Avenue? The surrounding community is largely Hispanic, and it is only a matter of time before Mexican entrepreneurs spread this food to Northern Virginia.
Of course, the march of immigration is a more complex story than that told by the restaurants I find. Filipinos, for example, are the second most numerous Asian group in the United States (some 2 million, compared with 2.7 million Chinese). But outside of Little Manila in Los Angeles and parts of San Francisco, Filipino restaurants are unusual. The Washington area -- where there are some 34,000 people of Filipino heritage -- has Little Quiapo in Arlington and Manila Cafe in Springfield. But few non-Filipino Americans have a love for fish sauce, vinegar marinade and oxtail. And, as my Filipino friend John Nye has told me, many Filipinos prefer a home-cooked meal.
Korean food also remains largely the province of Korean patrons. Most Westerners don't go beyond bul gogi (broiled beef) or perhaps bibim bap (rice bowl with egg and vegetables). The cuisine tastes harsh to the uninitiated, with its abundant garlic and unusual seafood delicacies. This also explains why Korean restaurants remain so tightly clustered near Korean communities (most of the best are in Annandale) and why just about every Korean restaurant is good. Unlike Chinese restaurants, there is little danger of Koreans taking the Americanized beef-with-broccoli route.
Not that beef-with-broccoli is always a recipe for success. In fact, exurban ethnic food typically packs a punch. Bennie Cardozo of Minerva remembers the perils of trying to adapt: "For the first several months, we tried to cook to American tastes. We nearly went out of business. Then we switched to spicy and traditional to target local Indians, and all of a sudden lines were out the door."
Louis Armstrong once said "All music is folk music." Similarly, all cuisine is ethnic cuisine. My quarter-century sampling of dosas and other delicacies has become a case study in the demographics of our rapidly changing area.

bayviews

September 4th, 2006, 07:06 AM

Immigrants from the Dominican Republic continue to branch out to smaller cities around the Northeast. Here’s an article from the Morning Call about the burgeoning Dominican community in Allentown PA, following the earlier, but still growing, Puerto Rican migration:

Finding 'tranquilidad' in Allentown city life ** Dominican immigrants increasingly attracted to area, census finds.; [SECOND Edition]
Arlene Martinez Of The Morning Call Allentown, Pa.: Aug 27, 2006. pg. A.1

Marilyn Estrella was living in New York City when she discovered Allentown. Her husband played baseball on a team that traveled each summer to this Northeastern city, and one weekend, she tagged along.
The parks, the open space, the calm it all reminded Estrella of her native Santiago in the Dominican Republic. She was smitten.
At the time, Estrellas life in New York was largely restricted to an apartment she, her husband and two daughters shared. She would not let her daughters walk to school alone out of fear for their safety, and she was uneasy about having them play in nearby parks. And driving? The dense traffic made her uncomfortable.
She was ready to move, but her husband wasnt. The final straw, however, came when he was robbed at gunpoint in a housing development in Washington Heights, a predominantly Dominican neighborhood in Manhattan. I said, Oh no, Im leaving. Then I convinced my husband.
In the 11 years since she and her family moved to Allentown for tranquilidad, Estrella estimated at least 40 members of her extended family have followed, half within the past four years. Most, like many Dominican immigrants, went first went to New York.
Immigrants heading to destinations to join family is not a new phenomenon, but its helping to fuel the rapid growth of Allentowns Dominican population. Between 2000 and 2005, the citys Dominican population has more than doubled, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureaus American Community Survey, a yearly update on the nations demographics.
In Pennsylvania, in contrast, Mexicans showed the largest percentage growth among Hispanics, from 14 percent to nearly 18 percent of the statewide population.
In Allentown, Dominicans now make up 12.2 percent of the citys 35,690 Hispanics, numbering 4,370, according to the data.
Since the 1960s, Dominicans in large numbers have immigrated to the United States and elsewhere, leaving behind the economic instability, high unemployment and poverty of their country. The instability and emigration have accelerated in the past couple of years, and with New York failing to offer them the better life for which they had hoped, many now are heading west to Allentown and other smaller cities in the Northeast. They are lured by better jobs and schools, cheaper rents and a feeling of security, although statistically New York is no more dangerous than Allentown, according to the FBI.
I can walk in the park. My daughters can walk to school alone, Estrella said. Its for them marvelous. Theyve had the kind of childhood that I had when I was little.
Increases in the Dominican population were slight in Lehigh and Northampton counties just over 1 percent and 2 percent respectively but it is Allentown where the greatest growth occurred.
Although Puerto Ricans still make up the largest percentage of Hispanics in Allentown, their share of the Hispanic population has shrunk, from 80 percent in 1990, to 68 percent in 2000 and to 62 percent last year.
The New York influence
Dominicans and Puerto Ricans have had similar initial experiences in the United States.
'In many cases, Dominicans seem to be following the path established by Puerto Ricans before them, who have been moving away from New York City for decades, looking for better employment and living conditions elsewhere, said Jorge Duany, a University of Puerto Rico professor who has extensively studied Dominican migration.
During the mid-1960s and 1970s, Puerto Ricans began leaving the city for other destinations, Allentown among them.
Even in a place like New York City, the economy became stagnant for many Latinos, said Angelo Falcn, president of the National Institute for Latino Policy.
There were roughly 789,000 Puerto Ricans in New York City in 2000, a figure that dropped to 787,000 in 2005, data from the American Community Survey showed. During that same time, because of increased immigration, the Dominican population in New York City soared from 407,000 to 533,000.
But despite still favoring New York as their first U.S. stop, Dominicans have not fared well economically in the city and have among the highest poverty and unemployment rates of any racial or ethnic group, Duany said. Competition from other immigrant groups, including Mexicans, has helped spur their unemployment.
So, many Dominicans who first began arriving in large numbers in the 1960s have left New York for cities including Newark and Jersey City in New Jersey, Boston and Providence, R.I.
Bartolo Rodrguez was a cook and a taxi driver in Brooklyn and Manhattan, having immigrated there in 1989. His wifes uncle, who was working at a restaurant on Front Street in Allentown, told him about the Lehigh Valley.
In 2004, five years after moving to Allentown, Rodrguez became owner of Tu Nueva Casa, a Dominican restaurant at Allentowns American Plaza.
It was the city I was looking for, Rodrguez said. The schools are much better. I saw very little violence, and I saw it was a city in progress.
Rodrguez sent for his family. Now, all seven of his children live in the Valley, as do at least 70 members of his extended family.
Immigrants moving to destinations to join family is just the evolution of a natural trend, said Daniel Erikson, a Caribbean specialist at the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington, D.C.
But as more Dominicans settle in Allentown, their relatives are bypassing New York. Rodrguez, for example, said the last few of his relatives have come straight to Allentown from the island.
Allentown Councilman Julio Guridy is among those who came directly to the Valley, though it was 31 years ago. He followed his cousin, who came to work for Bethlehem Steel.
People from here complain [but Allentown has] good teachers and good schools, and its a lot safer for the children, Guridy said.
Opportunity
For many Dominicans, Allentown has offered a chance to become entrepreneurs, and they are opening shops that cater specifically to their population.
Seventh Street has taken a markedly Latino turn in recent years, with many shops owned by Dominicans. But Dominican-owned stores arent hard to find in other parts of the city either.
Juan Pea, who was born in Santiago, opened a barber shop eight months ago on Linden Street in Allentown. For eight years in Brooklyn he also owned a barber shop, where he paid $950 a month for a space smaller than he has now. His rent here is $560.
And here, he owns a home, rather than renting an apartment.
Economically, its better, he said.
Luis Rivera, also a native of Santiago, worked at a fish market in New York before he moved to Allentown in 2000. He now owns Mundo 99 Cents Plus on Eighth Street.
His brother, Carlos Rivera, who worked on construction in Yonkers, N.Y., joined him in 2004.
Things are cheaper, rent is cheaper, Carlos Rivera said. Thats why a lot of people move here.
Of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of the Lehigh Valleys more- than 200 members, about 30 are Dominicans, estimated Chairman Lzaro Fuentes.
As immigrant communities grow more established in the United States, so do their needs, explained Fuentes, who is of Cuban descent.
We think about things like home ownership, we think about things like owning a business, Fuentes said. Theres opportunity here. It makes sense that Dominicans are coming here.
Life on the island
The 1990s saw the biggest influx of Dominicans yet, despite the island having one of the strongest economies in Latin America during that time, Erikson said.
Even in good times, he said, the Dominican Republic is much, much poorer than the United States. Unemployment was 17 percent last year.
Between 1991 and 2000, 335,251 Dominicans arrived in the United States.
The trend continues.
According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, roughly 118,000 Dominicans were legally admitted to the United States between 2000 and 2004. Thousands more are likely to have illegally entered the country.
Exodus from the island was exacerbated by a major bank scandal in 2003 in which 15 percent to 20 percent of the countrys gross domestic product disappeared in the corruption, Erikson said. That was a major setback for a country that had been doing relatively well. Out migration really spiked at that time.
Dominicans began immigrating to the United States in large numbers in the 1960s, later than many other Latino groups. From 1930 to 1961 when dictator Rafael Trujillo, who allowed citizens few visas, ruled the country - fewer than 17,000 Dominicans were legally admitted to the United States.
The islands recent immigration patterns mirror similar outward trends throughout the Caribbean and Central America. Thats driven by ease of travel, lax enforcement of U.S. and customs, and the varying levels of economic distress, Erikson said.
A peaceful city
Tranquilidad.
Its Spanish for calm or peaceful, and, in a word, its the first thing many Dominicans say to explain what drew them to the Lehigh Valley.
While Allentown struggles with its image as a crime-ridden city, the new immigrants see it as much safer than New York City, where there were 539 homicides last year and 54,623 incidents of violent crime.
Whether its safer in Allentown is a question of debate or, more importantly, perception.
According to the 2005 FBI Uniform Crime Report, you were more likely to be the victim of a violent crime in Allentown than New York City. In New York, the crime rate was 671 for every 100,000 people, compared with 807 per 100,000 people in Allentown.
Still, the feeling of security persists.
I dont see that its dangerous, said Pea, the barber.
Bartolo Rodrguez hopes to continue bringing relatives from the island or New York to Allentown. Lifes been good for him and his family.
Ive seen my family happy and flourish, Rodrguez said. And walking on the right path.

AndySocks

September 5th, 2006, 09:03 AM

Just this year, Nassau County, Long Island, pop 1.2 mil if I remember correctly, only has a 50% white non-hispanic population in the 25-30 age group, though overall it is closer to 80% white. While it is no surprise since the early 90s that Nassau was destined for diversity because of its proximity and extremely close relationship with Queens, this may be a sign that the change may occur sooner than many people would have expected, since in addition to migrants from Queens, nowadays many latino immigrants are moving straight to Long Island from their home country, bypassing the city.

bayviews

September 7th, 2006, 08:00 AM

FOCUS: MIGRANT WORKERS
A harvest of doubt for farmers

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As investigators grow more aggressive in policing migrant work force for illegal aliens, some fear their crops may wither in the fields

By ELMER PLOETZ
News Staff Reporter
9/6/2006

Click to view larger picture

Charles Lewis/Buffalo News
Farm owner Darrel Oakes, left, joins migrant workers inspecting newly picked apples at LynOaken Farms in Lyndonville.

This is the time of year when Western New York's biggest farmers hold their breath and hope for . . . just about anything other than federal agents pulling into the driveway.
In fact, in the wake of the arrests of 34 illegal aliens at a hydroponic tomato farm in North Tonawanda last Wednesday, most won't even talk about the issue for fear they'll be the next to have their workers checked.

"All farmers are worried about that, and few will talk to you about it," said Tim Bigham, a New York Farm Bureau associate field adviser. "Despite claims otherwise, I'm pretty sure names go on lists. It seems that way."

As Homeland Security's investigators grow more aggressive in policing the migrant work force in search of illegal aliens, farmers find themselves caught in the middle.

Immigration enforcement officials were unavailable for comment.

What has some farmers scared is that they might lose their labor force just as they're headed into the height of the harvest season - even if they've attempted to make sure their workers are all legal.

The labor force is already tight as a result of immigration crackdowns. And most of the jobs - temporary and low-paying - aren't being sought by U.S. citizens.

"As far as we know, all of our guys have their Social Security numbers and green cards," said one farmer who would speak only on condition of anonymity.

Lyndonville apple farmer Darrel Oakes said farmers are required to accept the paperwork as genuine unless they get a "no match" letter from Social Security.

"Until there's some kind of verification system in place, we're between a rock and a hard place," he said.

In the North Tonawanda case, workers had their Social Security paperwork. But the numbers were fakes.

"In many cases, the documentation presented to the farmer is forged," said Peter Gregg, a spokesman for the New York State Farm Bureau. "That's a common situation. And right now the system for checking is extremely hard to navigate. It's a Byzantine setup that's impossible for a farmer to manage.

"We're looking at a critical situation."

The migrants, many of whom have been following the crop harvests up the East Coast, arrive when they're needed most - and when the farmers can't afford to lose them.

"The labor supply is under stress," said Jim Allen, president of the New York Apple Growers. "A lot of growers have secured their labor, but they're not really getting as much as they want. And there's always worry about people not staying all the way through the harvest, or quitting."

Allen's group represents about 770 farms that produce more than 25 million bushels annually. He estimates 99 percent of those apples are harvested by migrant workers.

In addition to apples, peaches and pears still are being harvested. Grapes, squash and pumpkins will be due by the end of September, while vegetables still are being taken from fields that provide multiple crops every year.

Farmers are hoping to add one more thing to their harvest this year: an immigration bill that will create "guest worker" status and streamline verification of workers' papers.

Most farm groups support the Senate's immigration bill, which would achieve both of their major goals. Their problem is with the House of Representatives' bill, which doesn't.

"If the House version went through as passed last winter, we'd be done for," said Gregg. "Fines of $50,000 for any farmer who inadvertently employed an illegal alien . . . You could count on farms going out of business."

"It's being held hostage by the bigger debate about immigration," Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., said in a recent speech. "My point is, let's get agriculture taken care of, then we can argue about everything else."

Rep. Thomas M. Reynolds, R-Clarence, called for a balance. "In a post-9/11 world, we have an obligation to secure our borders and to crack down on illegal immigration," Reynolds said in a statement. "But we also must be responsive to employers as well as to people who enter the country legally, including temporary agriculture employees."

Allen of the apple growers groups said the House's proposal as last passed is a nightmare.

"Logistically, you can't just make everybody a felon overnight," he said. "You need a way to make sure that they can earn a green card, go home and come back the next year.

And that would be a disaster for farmers.

"Labor's going be in very short supply," Oakes said. "If there aren't adequate numbers, the harvest gets delayed and the fruit isn't as good. Or eventually it falls on the ground."

bayviews

September 10th, 2006, 02:32 AM

More Muslims Arrive in U.S., After 9/11 Dip
James Estrin/The New York Times
On Coney Island Avenue in Midwood, Brooklyn, there are many Pakistani businesses, and the local elementary school enrolls a large number of Urdu-speaking students.

By ANDREA ELLIOTT
Published: September 10, 2006
America’s newest Muslims arrive in the afternoon crunch at John F. Kennedy International Airport. Their planes land from Dubai, Casablanca and Karachi. They stand in line, clasping documents. They emerge, sometimes hours later, steering their carts toward a flock of relatives, a stream of cabs, a new life.

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After 9/11: The Immigrant Experience This was the path for Nur Fatima, a Pakistani woman who moved to Brooklyn six months ago and promptly shed her hijab. Through the same doors walked Nora Elhainy, a Moroccan who sells electronics in Queens, and Ahmed Youssef, an Egyptian who settled in Jersey City, where he gives the call to prayer at a palatial mosque.

“I got freedom in this country,” said Ms. Fatima, 25. “Freedom of everything. Freedom of thought.”

The events of Sept. 11 transformed life for Muslims in the United States, and the flow of immigrants from countries like Egypt, Pakistan and Morocco thinned dramatically.

But five years later, as the United States wrestles with questions of terrorism, civil liberties and immigration control, Muslims appear to be moving here again in surprising numbers, according to statistics compiled by the Department of Homeland Security and the Census Bureau.

Immigrants from predominantly Muslim countries in the Middle East, North Africa and Asia are planting new roots in states from Virginia to Texas to California.

In 2005, more people from Muslim countries became legal permanent United States residents — nearly 96,000 — than in any year in the previous two decades. More than 40,000 of them were admitted last year, the highest annual number since the terrorist attacks, according to data on 22 countries provided by the Department of Homeland Security.

Many have made the journey unbowed by tales of immigrant hardship, and despite their own opposition to American policy in the Middle East. They come seeking the same promise that has drawn foreigners to the United States for many decades, according to a range of experts and immigrants: economic opportunity and political freedom.

Those lures, both powerful and familiar, have been enough to conquer fears that America is an inhospitable place for Muslims.

“America has always been the promised land for Muslims and non-Muslims,” said Behzad Yaghmaian, an Iranian exile and author of “Embracing the Infidel: Stories of Muslim Migrants on the Journey West.” “Despite Muslims’ opposition to America’s foreign policy, they still come here because the United States offers what they’re missing at home.”

For Ms. Fatima, it was the freedom to dress as she chose and work as a security guard. For Mr. Youssef, it was the chance to earn a master’s degree.

He came in spite of the deep misgivings that he and many other Egyptians have about the war in Iraq and the Bush administration. In America, he said, one needs to distinguish between the government and the people.

“Who am I dealing with, Bush or the American public?” he said. “Am I dealing with my future in Egypt or my future here?”

Muslims have been settling in the United States in significant numbers since the mid-1960’s, after immigration quotas that favored Eastern Europeans were lifted. Spacious mosques opened in Chicago, Los Angeles and New York as a new, highly educated Muslim population took hold.

Over the next three decades, the story of Muslim migration to the United States was marked by growth and prosperity. A larger percentage of immigrants from Muslim countries have graduate degrees than other American residents, and their average salary is about 20 percent higher, according to Census Bureau data.

But Sept. 11 altered the course of Muslim life in America. Mosques were vandalized. Hate crimes rose. Deportation proceedings were begun against thousands of men, and others were arrested in an array of terrorism cases.

Some Muslims changed their names to avoid job discrimination, making Mohammed “Moe,” and Osama “Sam.” Scores of families left for Canada or returned to their native countries.

Yet this period also produced something strikingly positive, in the eyes of many Muslims: they began to mobilize politically and socially. Across the country, grass-roots organizations expanded to educate Muslims on civil rights, register them to vote and lobby against new federal policies such as the Patriot Act.

“There was the option of becoming introverted or extroverted,” said Agha Saeed, national chairman of the American Muslim Task Force on Civil Rights and Elections, an umbrella organization in Newark, Calif., created in 2003. “We became extroverted.”

In some ways, new Muslim immigrants may be better off in the post-9/11 America they encounter today, say Muslim leaders and academics: Islamic centers are more organized, and resources like English instruction and free legal assistance are more accessible.

But outside these newly organized mosques, life remains strained for many Muslims.

To avoid taunts, women are often warned not to wear head scarves in public, as was Rubab Razvi, 21, a Pakistani who arrived in Brooklyn nine months ago. (She ignored the advice, even though people stare at her on the bus, she said.) Muslims continue to endure long waits at airports, where they are often tagged for questioning because of their names or dress.

To some longtime immigrants, the life embraced by newcomers will never compare to the peaceful era that came before.

“They haven’t seen the America pre-9/11,” said Khwaja Mizan Hassan, 42, who left Bangladesh 30 years ago. He rose to become the president of Jamaica Muslim Center, a mosque in Queens, and has a comfortable job with the New York City Department of Probation.

But after Sept. 11, he was stopped at Kennedy Airport because his name matched another on a watch list.

A Drop, Then a Surge

Up to six million Muslims live in the United States, by some estimates. While the Census Bureau and the Department of Homeland Security do not track religion, both provide statistics on immigrants from predominantly Muslim countries. It is presumed that many of these immigrants are Muslim, but people of other faiths, such as Iraqi Chaldeans and Egyptian Copts, have also come in appreciable numbers.

Immigration from these regions slowed considerably after Sept. 11. Fewer people were issued green cards and nonimmigrant visas. By 2003, the number of immigrants arriving from 22 Muslim countries had declined by more than a third. For students, tourists and others from these countries who were designated as nonimmigrants, the drop was even more dramatic, with total visits down by nearly half.

The falloff affected immigrants from across the post-9/11 world as America tightened its borders, but it was most pronounced among those moving here from Pakistan, Morocco, Iran and other Muslim nations.

Several factors might explain the drop: more visa applications were rejected due to heightened security procedures, said officials at the State Department and Department of Homeland Security; and fewer people applied for visas.

But starting in 2004, the numbers rebounded. The tally of people coming to live in the United States from Bangladesh, Turkey, Algeria and other Muslim countries rose by 20 percent, according to an analysis of Census Bureau data.

The uptick was also notable among foreigners with nonimmigrant visas. More than 55,000 Indonesians, for instance, were issued those visas last year, compared with roughly 36,000 in 2002.

The rise does not reflect relaxed security measures, but a higher number of visa applications and greater efficiency in processing them, said Chris Bentley, a spokesman for United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, part of Homeland Security.

Like other immigrants, Muslims find their way to the United States in myriad ways: they come as refugees, or as students and tourists who sometimes overstay their welcome. Others arrive with immigrant visas secured by relatives here. A lucky few win the green-card lottery.

Ahmed Youssef, 29, never thought he would be among the winners. But in 2003, Mr. Youssef, who taught Arabic in Egypt, was one of 50,000 people randomly chosen from 9.5 million applicants around the world.

As he prepared to leave Benha, a city north of Cairo, some friends asked him how he could move to a country that is “killing people in Iraq and Afghanistan,” he recalled. But others who had been to the United States encouraged him to go.

It was the same for Nora Elhainy, another lottery winner, who left Casablanca in 2004 to join her husband in Queens. “They think I am lucky because I am here,” she said of her Moroccan friends.

When Mr. Youssef arrived in May 2005, he found work in Manhattan loading hot dog carts from sunrise to sundown. He shared an apartment in Washington Heights with other Egyptians, but for the first month, he never saw his neighborhood in daylight.

“I joked to my roommates, ‘When am I going to see America?’ ” said Mr. Youssef, a slight man with thinning black hair and an easy smile.

Only three months later, when he began selling hot dogs on Seventh Avenue, did Mr. Youssef discover his new country.

He missed hearing the call to prayer, and thought nothing of unrolling his prayer rug beside his cart until other vendors warned him against it. He could be mistaken for an extremist, they told him.

Eventually, Mr. Youssef found a job as the secretary of the Islamic Center of Jersey City. He plans to apply to a master’s program at Columbia University, specializing in Arabic.

For now, he lives in a spare room above the mosque. Near his bed, he keeps a daily log of his prayers. If he makes them on time, he writes “Correct” in Arabic.

“I am much better off here than selling hot dogs,” he said.

Awash in American Flags

Nur Fatima landed in Midwood, Brooklyn, at a propitious time. Had she come three years earlier, she would have seen a neighborhood in crisis.

Hundreds of Pakistani immigrants disappeared after being asked to register with the government. Thirty shops closed along a stretch of Coney Island Avenue known as Little Pakistan. The number of new Urdu-speaking students at the local elementary school, Public School 217, dropped by half in the 2002-3 school year, according to the New York City Department of Education.

But then Little Pakistan got organized. A local businessman, Moe Razvi, converted a former antique store into a community center offering legal advice, computer classes and English instruction. Local Muslim leaders began meeting with federal agents to soothe relations.

The annual Pakistan Independence Day parade is now awash in American flags.

It is a transformation seen in Muslim immigrant communities around the nation.

“They have to prove that they are living here as Muslim Americans rather than living as Pakistanis and Egyptians and other nationalities,” said Zahid H. Bukhari, the director of the American Muslim Studies Program at Georgetown University.

Ms. Fatima arrived in Brooklyn from Pakistan in March after her father, who has lived here for six years, successfully petitioned for a green card on her behalf. Her goal was to become an interpreter and eventually practice law. She began by taking English classes at Mr. Razvi’s center, the Council of Peoples Organization.

She has heard stories of the neighborhood’s former plight but sees a different picture.

“This is a land of opportunity,” Ms. Fatima said. “There is equality for everyone.”

Five days after she came to Brooklyn, Ms. Fatima removed her head scarf, which she had been wearing since she was 10.

She began to change her thinking, she said: She liked living in a country where people respected the privacy of others and did not interfere with their religious or social choices.

“I came to the United States because I want to improve myself,” she said. “This is a second birth for me.”

bayviews

September 13th, 2006, 02:14 AM

Here's a very interesting article from this past Sunday's NY Times Real Estate magazine that adds support to what some of us have long suspected. That immigrants play & major role in driving real estate markets. Clearly housing values have risen much faster in areas which have attreacted larger numbers oif immigrants than in those which haven't.

September 10, 2006
By the Numbers
The Immigration Equation
By DAMON DARLIN
It’s often said that immigrants do the jobs Americans don’t want to do. They’ve just been assigned another task: Buy the homes of the baby boom generation. But this task is one that native-born Americans simply can’t do. There won’t be enough of them.

Many of the 78 million boomers, the first of whom turn 60 this year, will sell their property over the next two decades, says George Masnick, a research affiliate with the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University. Some will move to a smaller home or to their second home, others will move into a managed-care complex. And for some who never moved, it will be their estate making the sale. What many boomers should be asking right now is who will buy their 34 million homes. The buyers may well be immigrants, and not necessarily legal ones (about 12 million of the 35 million foreign-born people in America are illegal immigrants, according to estimates from the Center for Immigration Studies, in Washington).

Demographers say there aren’t enough potential homeowners in the echo boom (the children of the baby boomers) or in the generation that comes after that (still without a catchy name) to soak up that supply, no matter how slowly it goes on the market. (It is presumed that the bulk of the Gen Xers will have done their home buying by then.)

Without sufficient demand, prices will fall. Masnick predicts that as many as 90 percent of the homes will be bought by native-born Americans. “But the last 10 percent is central,” he says. “Without that 10 percent, it will be a buyers’ market.”

The good news is that there are enough young first- and second-generation immigrants to do the job. The popular telling of the American dream that has Smith selling to Schmidt who then sells to Shapiro will record the next chapter with Sung and Sanchez doing the buying. Dowell Myers, a professor at the University of Southern California who studies the impact of demography on urban planning, says, “The odds are that a white baby boomer won’t be selling to another white.”

He or she will be selling to what we today call a minority, though in many communities, whites may then be in the minority. “The immigrants will take up the slack,” Myers says, “and it will be huge.”

The even better news, Masnick says, is that “the second-generation immigrants will hit the housing market just when they are needed most.”

Demographers are sure this will come to pass, because they have studied the baby boom population bulge, or as they call it, “cohort dynamics.” And they see immigrants as another large cohort moving steadily upward. California, where more than 25 percent of the residents are immigrants, is their observation booth. “What happens in California is a precursor to what will happen in the rest of the United States,” says John Pitkin, who runs a demographic forecasting firm in Cambridge, Mass. “There is no question that real estate in California will be shaped by immigrants and their children.”

What forecasters have seen happen in California is encouraging. The per-household homeownership rate among native-born Americans is about 61 percent, 14 percentage points above the rate for immigrants. But immigrants who have lived in the United States for 30 years or more exceed the homeownership rate of native-born Americans by about 10 percentage points.

Myers now finds ownership rates of 60 percent among Hispanics in the Los Angeles area. “They are buying really cheap housing, but it creates a base of demand that pushes everyone up,” he says.

Myers also found that home prices rose faster in areas that Hispanics are moving to, like the Los Angeles County cities El Monte and Montebello, than in surrounding neighborhoods. According to figures compiled by Dataquick, prices for single-family homes in these cities rose at least 25 percent between 2004 and 2005, compared with the 20 percent average gain for all of the county. Prices in parts of Compton, a predominantly black city that has turned increasingly Hispanic, were up almost 40 percent in that one year. “Immigrants have strong upward mobility in housing,” Myers says.

If this all seems overly rosy, a 2006 Harvard housing study found that foreign-born residents already account for 37 percent of the new growth in households.

But it’s no sure thing that immigrants will save the day. A lot can go wrong. “The danger is downward mobility,” says Fred Siegel, a professor at the Cooper Union for Science and Art, who has studied immigration patterns. “If a significant portion of recent immigrants are downwardly mobile, then that is bad news for the boomers. Who will afford the McMansions?”

And while United States Census data now show that immigrants are spread all over the country — even well into suburban areas of the heartland — they certainly aren’t evenly dispersed. In 2000, more than half of the foreign-born population lived in just three states — California, New York and Texas — and in 10 metropolitan areas. And even though they continue to fan out into other areas in increasing numbers, there may not be enough of them to help homeowners in places like West Virginia and Indiana.

Predictions also become murky for demographers because no one knows what will happen to immigration in the next decade. Will borders really be tightened? Will illegal immigrants be deported?

Will amnesty be granted?

The political picture will have as much impact on the housing market as the demographic one will.

bayviews

October 31st, 2006, 09:38 AM

First part of interesting series on Buffalo's Somali community from Artvoice.

Cover Story

The Long Journey
by Peter Koch

This is the first of a two-part series about Buffalo’s Somali refugee population. The stories herein are not meant to represent the experiences of all local Somalis. Rather they are portraits of a handful, which, when put together, form not only an African mosaic, but also tell a distinctly American story that readers will find familiar. It is a story that must be retold, though, especially as it now unfolds in our own city.

For many of us, our only experience of Somalia is the movie Black Hawk Down, which depicted an American Special Forces raid into the capital city of Mogadishu in October 1993. The mission of the 120-odd Delta Force, Army Rangers and Navy SEALs was to capture several key lieutenants of Somalian warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid, who opposed a United Nations-led effort to cobble together a coalition government out of Somalia’s warring clans. In the end, 18 American soldiers were killed and nearly 500 Somalis lay dead in the streets of Mogadishu. International news outlets later played gruesome footage of the bodies of American soldiers being dragged through the streets and burned.

That episode came in the middle of a bloody civil war in Somalia. In 1991, rival clans ousted the corrupt government of Somalian President Mohamed Siad Barre, leaving a power vacuum that plunged the nation into a chaos from which it has yet to recover. As rival warlords battled back and forth across southern Somalia (with the most intense fighting occurring in and around Mogadishu), throngs of Somalis of all ethnicities fled the country for refugee camps in Kenya. Over the course of the next 13 years, the UN resettled hundreds of thousands of Somali refugees in the United States and abroad.

Scores of those refugees now call Buffalo home. Two major waves of Somali refugees—the first in 1996 and the second in 2004—have swelled the city’s Somali population to well over a thousand, most of whom live on the West Side. They are a colorful people, and they bring with them not only their unique cultures and traditions, but also fresh ideas and perspectives that will help our city grow as long as they remain.

Somalia

Located on the far side of the world, in eastern Africa, Somalia forms the cap of the Horn of Africa (so-called because it resembles a rhinoceros horn), which separates the Gulf of Aden from the Indian Ocean. The Egyptians called it Punt, and sent commercial expeditions to its northern coast for frankincense and myrrh as far back as the 15th century BC.

Somalia’s history is as turbulent as most of Africa’s. In the 15th and 16th centuries, it became a centerpiece in the ongoing battle between Christianity and Islam in the War of 128 Years. The Portuguese later helped to end the era of republican coastal city-states (similar to that of Greece), wreaking havoc on Mogadishu, Zeilah, Berbera and Brava.

In the late 1800s, historical Somalia, which included parts of modern-day Eithiopia and Djibouti, was arbitrarily partitioned between the Christian colonial powers of England, Italy and France, They used the country for economic gain while supplying Ethiopia’s Christian Emperor Menelik with modern weapons, which he used to make raids on the Muslim Somalis.

When the country finally gained its independence in 1960, the dozens of tribes identified as strongly with their bloodlines as with the nation. Part of the reason for this is that the people of Somalia are named after their fathers (middle name) and grandfathers (last name). This means that bloodlines can easily be traced back for centuries. Also, arranged marriages were frequently kept within a tribe, to keep the wealth inside a family, instilling further identification to a tribe or clan. These pressures finally erupted in 1991, with the overthrow of Siad Barre and the subsequent civil war.

Buffalo’s Somali refugee population is as rich in diversity as that of its troubled homeland, Somalia. Whether Benadir, Brava, Bantu or part of a Somali clan, they’ve all come here for the same reason: to escape the horrors of civil war and start anew. None of us can imagine what it’s like to walk a mile in their shoes, and nobody should ever have to.

Juweria Abdalla

Juweria Abdalla remembers clearly the day the civil war started. It was a bright Tuesday morning, and she was just a 12-year-old girl in school. “I didn’t know what was happening,” says Juweria, from across the small table, “but all I could hear was gunshots. That was all you could hear.” There were also huge explosions, she says, making a boom sound. School was immediately dismissed, and Juweria stayed home for the next week. The situation continued to degrade, until one day when strangers started asking those threatening questions: “Who are you? Who’s your tribe?” “That’s when things really started getting ugly,” says Juweria.

We’re sitting in the living room of Juweria’s apartment, which she shares with her mother. The room is comfortably furnished, and I sip on ginger-infused Somalian coffee and nibble some sweets while Juweria talks. She is in her late 20s, a Somali Banadiri who came to Buffalo 10 years ago (“July 24, 1996 to be exact,” she says, smiling, “so we just had our 10th anniversary). She wears a hijab wrapped Somali-style around her head and neck, with the extra material draped over her shoulders. Juweria works for the state as an income franchise tax editor, which keeps her on the road about a week each month. She has an easy smile and clear eyes, and speaks with confidence. She is eager to talk about her people.

She tells me about the Banadiri, or Reer Hamar, an urban coastal people and minority in Somalia. Juweria’s people were the first to inhabit the region immediately surrounding Mogadishu. That’s where she grew up, in the city’s oldest district—Hamar Wayne—which is closest to the beach. The Banadiri are fishermen, businessmen, textile makers and sometimes go into politics, though Juweria says they are “like the Green Party of Somalia.” When the war broke out, Juweria’s family fled Hamar Wayne to the small town of Afgoye, about 30 kilometers from Mogadishu. The fighting died down after a month, and her family returned to find their house emptied out. “At that time, though, nobody cared about where their stuff is. It was more, ‘Thank God I’m alive and okay.’” She said that most of the city was looted. “During that time you either got robbed, or you were robbing someone else,” Juweria says, shaking her head.

In 1991, a four-month war forced her family to again flee to Afgoye, where they lived in a farmhouse with more than 50 other people seeking refuge. One day, while visiting the market in Afgoye with her cousin, a bomb exploded. A piece of shrapnel tore up her cousin’s intestines, and she could only stand by helplessly while her cousin bled to death. “So that was the first person in our family that we lost to the war.”

Ten of her family left after that, by boat from Merka to Mombasa, Kenya. In April 1992, her family entered the Utanga Banadiri refugee camp. The schooling in the camps was limited, mainly a place for kids to have fun together and play. There were no jobs for adults. The United Nations High Commission of Refugees provided oil, flour, rice and corn—something to get people by. Like everyone else, Juweria’s family often ended up bartering away their food to get water. Four years later, Juweria was resettled to the United States with her mother, sister and two brothers, making them five in all for the long journey. “Our plane was 500 people, all Somalis. We flew from Mombasa to Paris, where there was a three-hour layover. Nobody was allowed to leave the plane. The crew changed, but we stayed on.”

Then they flew on to New York and the unknown, each family carrying only a white bag with the “IOM” acronym for the International Office of Migration printed in blue lettering on the side. “We were all carrying those bags. They had our I-94s, our visas, our health information, x-rays, our shots—all of our information. We were told, ‘If you lose this bag, you are lost.’ So everyone was so careful with that bag to make sure we don’t get lost in the middle of nowhere.” Juweria and her family didn’t know what to expect, where they were going, who they were going to face.

They were settled by Catholic Charities in an East Side home, the sixth or seventh Somali family to come to Buffalo. After a midnight scare from a ne’er-do-well, her family decided to leave. All seven Somali families chose the West Side, because of the high concentration of Italians there. “We could speak Italian, because Italy colonized southern Somalia. Also, we ate the same foods, so we thought they’d be the least trouble to live with.”

Asked whether she’d ever go back to Somalia if there was peace, Juweria answers quickly and confidently. “I would love to, it’s my real home.” Right now, though, she’s not sure there will ever be peace. “To be honest, I’ve kind of lost faith. It’s been such a long time. But, who knows, when I get to be 55 or 60, there might be peace.” And Juweria knows that with her education and understanding of the world, she’d be a great help to her family.

“I am a proud American, an American citizen, and this is my home for now. But deep down inside, I know that I am from another place where half of my family still lives. And they need me desperately, as we speak now.”

Ahmed Hassan

Ahmed Hassan, 47, stands across from me in a pool of light on Grant Street, a cigarette dangling from his lips. “Sit down,” he says, motioning to a white plastic chair outside of a small restaurant. His restaurant. In his lifetime, Hassan has had nearly everything taken away from him, but through persistence, the kindness of others and a fair amount of dumb luck, fate has dealt him a second chance, and he’s not taking it for granted.

Originally from Mogadishu, Hassan figures he’s been in Buffalo about 10 years and four days. Though he was a member of the Bravanese minority there, he made a good living as a businessman selling cooking oil. Until the civil war came, that is. In 1991, he was shot in the back and robbed by one of Mogadishu’s countless khat-chewing, gun-toting street children. “I’ll show you,” he says to me, standing up and removing his jacket. He rolls up his shirtsleeve and shows me the light brown circle of scar tissue on his bicep, where the bullet exited. It went into his back and came out his side before penetrating his arm. “They shoot first, ask questions later. But what can I do?”

What Hassan did was take his daughter and flee the country by boat from the port of Merka. They sailed to Mombasa, Kenya and from there were taken to Utanga Brava refugee camp. Camp life was dismal. Mosquitoes frequently brought the malaria virus, and there were no jobs for the adults. However, Hassan did meet his second wife in Utanga Brava, and they were married there. That camp closed in April of 1995, so they took their five children by bus to Kakuma refugee camp, where the UNHCR processed them for resettlement in the States.

“My wife passed away in Kakuma refugee camp,” Hassan says, pausing to light another Marlboro Light. “So I take care of her children alone.” Now with three girls and two boys, he had to fetch the water, wait in the food lines and wash the children’s clothes himself, duties that were traditionally the responsibility of women. On top of that, there was no school for the children to go to. Finally they got approvals from the UN in late 1996, and the 36-hour trip to Buffalo began. A bus took the family to Nairobi, where they boarded a plane bound for Amsterdam. From there it was on to New York City, and finally Buffalo. When he arrived here, Hassan spoke no English, had no belongings besides the clothes he was wearing and had five children to care for. Catholic Charities settled Hassan on the lower East Side, near Fillmore and Olga Place.

“I get new life. I get welcome. I get welfare and health for eight years.” Hassan is not ashamed of having received welfare for so long, nor should he be. He worked several entry-level jobs to support his family (since he didn’t speak English) before settling for several years on dishwashing at Tandoori’s in Williamsvile. After that, he drove a taxi for four years. And now he has the Somali Star, a modest, pastel yellow takeout stand of a restaurant between Lafayette and Ferry on Grant. Hassan has only owned the restaurant for two weeks. His older stepson and a friend opened the restaurant in mid-July, but it didn’t generate enough business, so they gave it to Hassan.

The restaurant is closed for the day, and Hassan’s family is busy cleaning up the kitchen. Occasionally throughout our conversation, various silhouettes lean out the door to ask Hassan a question in Somali. His younger stepson, Adan, stops now and again to listen to Hassan talk. “I was 11 when we came here,” Adan tells me. “It was a hard time. He worked in a factory at first.”

Now Hassan’s hard work is paying off. His daughter is married and going to ECC, his oldest stepson finishing up at UB.

This seems to remind him of something, and he yells in Somali through the open door of the restaurant. “The one who’s young,” he explains to me, “I don’t want her to go here until her homework is done. She likes the music here, though.”

Hassan is bald on top, though he still has graying hair on the sides. He has a trim moustache set on a friendly face, and gray stubble sprouts from his chin and jaw line. He is a genial man, though he doesn’t smile as much as you’d expect. It’s when he talks about his children that his face softens and his eyes smile. At 13, Hanan, his middle daughter, is first in her class every year. “She is no student,” her teacher tells Hassan, “she is a miracle.” He beams with pride.

“If the war ends in Somalia, would you ever go back?” I ask Hassan.

“Oh no,” he responds, staring out into the street. “Never. I am safe here. I think that if I stayed there, I’d be dead already from disease or violence.”

“God bless America,” he says over and over again during my visit. “She opened her heart to me, so that I could live. She saved me and saved my kids.”

Abdikadir Yusuf

The Somali Bantu Community Organization is set in the lower half of a modest duplex in Buffalo’s Riverside neighborhood. When I knocked on the door there on a recent sun-shining Monday morning, an imposing silhouette emerged from the darkness within. An African man with a brush-cut and thin moustache opened the door and stood aside, beckoning me in without saying a word. Once inside, Chairman Abdikadir Yusuf offered me his hand and a chair. He looked at me with intense eyes through thin, gold-rimmed glasses. “There is a lot I must tell you.”

And so he began to weave the history of his people, the Bantu, into being, the way his elders have done countless times before him. Yusuf is a master storyteller, whose voice rises and lowers at just the right moments. At 57 years old, he is considered an elder and has already outlived his country’s life expectancy by 12 years.

The Bantu have a very different history from the rest of Somalis, he says. Bantus are not from Somalia at all, but were brought there from southeastern Africa—Tanzania, Mozambique and Malawi—by Arabic slave traders. Damaged slave ships would limp into the port at Merka for repairs before rounding the Horn of Africa. Many slaves continued on from here to European markets, but some were sold at these stops and forced to work on plantations in the Shabelle River valley. Tens of thousands of Bantu were brought to southern Somalia’s riverine areas from 1800 to 1890. In the 1840s, fugitive slaves found and settled the more remote, forested Juba River valley. “They stayed in the bush, in places like Jilib, Baidoa, Chisimayu, Jamaame,” says Yusuf. “My people, the Wazigua tribe, remained in the lower Juba River valley.” The villages they founded became safe harbors for runaways, and were named for the family that first settled them. By the 1900s, there were an estimated 35,000 ex-slaves in the Juba River valley.

Though the Italian colonial authority officially abolished slavery in the early 1900s, it reintroduced coerced labor laws and involuntary conscription of Bantus for economic purposes in the 1930s. They were forced to abandon their own farms and work as laborers on Italian plantations. British rule in the 1940s and 1950s was the most just, Yusuf says. “The British get seed from Nairobi and England—watermelon, mango, sugar cane. That’s how we started to have our own big farms.”

In 1960, the British north and Italian south of Somalia became independent and merged to form the United Republic of Somalia. Life only became worse for the Bantu, according to Yusuf. “’You came here by ship, you came here as slaves,’ the Somalis say to us. ‘You must find another land.’” In 1969, President Abdi Rashid Ali Shermarke was assassinated and Mohamed Siad Barre, a general in the army, took power in a coup d’état. “Before, everyone was fighting with his ability, but now they are government and they start again to attack the Bantu,” Yusuf says, his hands dancing in the air. “They can take your daughter to the bush, and nobody can say anything, because they have power, they have guns, they start to take whatever they wanted.” He repeats the last phrase twice.

Siad Barre’s regime was brutal, dramatically reducing Bantu rights and making them third-class citizens. They weren’t allowed to go to school, or be in the army or government. They couldn’t get Somali passports, which prevented them from entering neighboring countries and complaining of the human rights violations. As a means of control, Bantus weren’t allowed to speak the national language, and could only speak their own languages. Over time, the Bantu became uneducated and illiterate—prisoners in their own land. They were a ghost people, existing entirely off the books and denied the basic rights of education, citizenship and freedom from persecution.

“We were dhubwashi,” Yusuf says, his voice lowering and his eyes flashing. “It’s like something over there,” he says, pointing to a corner, “where anytime you need it, you can pick it up. If you don’t need it, you just leave it there, like a stone. We were people living inside a hole.”

The civil war provided the Bantu with their first real chance to leave the country. UNHCR officers were already at the Kenyan border to screen and accept refugees from the civil war. The Somali clans, particular the Hawiye and Darod, were busy fighting each other. “They hit each other, they kill each other. Sometimes they pass through our villages and kill us. That’s how they killed my mother,” he says, almost shouting to convey the violence and chaos of the war.

The Bantu people began to run from their villages and into the bush. They walked for days on end, sometimes hundreds of miles, to the Kenyan border. Some died of hunger, some of thirst and some were killed by lions.

At the Kenyan border, the Bantu faced the problem of convincing the UNHCR of their identity. They were clearly Bantu, but Somalia had no official record of Bantu people living there, at least not that the rest of the world knew about. With Kenyan soldiers providing security, the Bantu refugees met with UNHCR officials, and told them of their origins in Tanzania and Mozambique. The UNHCR brought in the Minister of Foreign Affairs from Tanzania, who speaks Zigua. “He said, ‘You can’t speak Zigua. Where are you from?’ We told him we’re from Somalia, and how we were brought there. ‘These are my people,’ he said. And they took 3,000 of us Wazigua to refugee camp in Tanzania.” The rest of the Bantu were brought to Dadaab, which refers to three refugee camps—Ifo, Dagahaley and Hagadera. The Bantus languished in the camps for over a decade total, because they were illiterate, and couldn’t properly petition the UN for resettlement.

In Dadaab, conditions were no better for the Bantu than in Somalia. Dadaab is located in the most remote, harsh area of Kenya. There is little vegetation besides some scruffy trees, and the Kenyan tribes in the area, primarily nomadic camel herders, regularly attacked the camps for the UN-rationed food. “At night, they walk around in the camps,” Yusuf says. “They knock on your door, and if you don’t open it, they break the door, kill you and rob you of your UNHCR food—oil, beans, maize.” Women were the most vulnerable, since they often had to venture as far as 20 kilometers from the camps to collect firewood to keep their cooking fires going. “Bandits watch the women and catch them and rape them.” But danger didn’t only come from outside the camp. Somalis within the camps continued the mistreatment of the Bantu in the refugee camps, attacking them at will for their rations or money sent from relatives abroad.

After two years in the camp, the Bantu finally understood that the UNHCR field officer, Dan Van Lehman (“Professor Danny,” Yusuf calls him) was running the show at the camp. One day, while Van Lehman was walking through the camp with his guards, some Bantu stopped him and told their story to him in Swahili. Van Lehman began an earnest search into their background, writing to the governments of Mozambique, Tanzania and Malawi. Mozambique sent a delegation to Dadaab. “They said, ‘We want to see your tradition.’ So we start to dance to show them how they dance in Mozambique. They said, ‘Yes, these are our people.’” The same thing happened when the Tanzania and Malawi delegations came. Van Lehman was able to finish his report to the UN, and nine years later the Bantu were finally resettled to the States.

“Up to now, we have problems because our people are not literate. We do not read and write, we are not technicians, we have no skills. So for Bantu to be in the United States is not the end of our problems.” Yusuf grew up in Mugambo village in Somalia, and his childhood was unique for a Bantu. A wealthy Italian who lived there made it his business to help Yusuf’s father, a teacher, because the Italians had built a Catholic mission on his land. As a favor to Yusuf’s father, the missionary educated him and protected him from Somalis. He went to Rome for high school, where he learned electrical engineering.

These advantages certainly didn’t make life easy for Yusuf. He lost all nine of his children from Africa, either separated from him in Somalia or the refugee camps, or perhaps killed. He lived 14 years in the lawless refugee camps before coming to Buffalo in 2002. But now he’s compelled to use his education to help his fellow Bantu. Together with his wife, Rashana Saunders, an American whom he met on a city bus only days after his arrival, he runs the fledgling Somali Bantu Community Organization.

Yusuf is eager to solve his people’s problems. “We can’t talk about all of this,” he says, referring to his background. “There’s so much…we need to help these people.”

Isha Ramadhani and Kerey Imam

Before I can even walk through the door of #8 at the Wingate Apartments, there are three giggling Somali Bantu children jumping all over me, trying to hang from every available limb. This apartment belongs to Kerey Imam, 33, and her husband. Together they raise six children here.

With mid-afternoon sunlight pouring through the tall front windows, Kerey and her friend, Isha Ramadhani, tell me about their journey to Buffalo through translator and resettlement caseworker Anna Ireland. Anna spent two and a half years in Kenya with the Peace Corps, and now speaks fluent Swahili. As a caseworker for both women, Anna has become very close to them, making herself available around the clock to offer any help she can. She helped them prepare to give birth Isha even named her youngest daughter Anna in her honor.

They start with their lives in the refugee camps. The story is similar to the tales told by other refugees. “It was always hard to get food,” Isha says, “hard to get water, hard to get wood for cooking, hard to get clothes, there was no work and there was no money. It was always a big problem, just surviving. But here,” she smiles, “we don’t have the problem of hunger.” They couldn’t send their children to school in the camp, because they didn’t have shoes or clean clothes.

Both women are housewives, and their husbands work full-time jobs. Isha’s husband works at WNY Pallet Services in Kenmore, making wooden pallets. Kerey’s husband works at Tuxedo Junction. Before the civil war in Somalia, they were subsistence farmers, growing beans, corn, pumpkins and many other crops. They also picked bananas to sell at the market. The farms they worked were small. Isha points out the window to a small parking lot across Wadsworth, indicating the size of a typical farm.

The apartment is spare, but cozy when filled with the women’s warm voices and children’s shrieking laughter. The furniture includes a table, a handful of kitchen chairs and a desk, upon which sits the television. The windows are usually covered by long curtains, but today one is pulled back to let the sun heat the room. The only wall decorations are a Ramadan calendar, a wall calendar and a clock. The children, which include some of Isha’s four, settle down after a while, and play a simple card game called “Match.”

Next Isha and Kerey talk about the walk from the Juba River valley to Kenya. It was all at night, and lasted 12 days, with many people dying from hunger and thirst. For Kerey, the trip was particularly arduous, because she had two children with her. Both grew sick and died later on in the refugee camps.

After two years in Buffalo, their children are growing comfortable with school. “The only problem is,” says Isha, “that we can’t help them with their homework.” Though the two women are trying to learn English—Kerey in ESL courses from Catholic Charities and Isha from a private tutor—there’s not always time to raise a large family and learn a new language. In fact, the children are often able to help them with their English.

Various children come and go from the apartment while we talk. Here at the Wingate Apartments on Wadsworth near Allen, all but two of the apartments are inhabited by Somali Bantu. Because there are so many families from similar backgrounds living together, they exercise community care over their children. Early on a school day, you can see a clutch of Bantu women loading their children onto the school bus. They are hard to miss, dressed in bright, flowing robes called bati (in the Zigua language) and equally colorful ndangas, or head wraps.

What Isha and Kerey hold above all else is their children’s education. “What we’re happiest about is the progress of the children,” says Kerey.

BuffCity

October 31st, 2006, 09:42 AM

oh god help us:nuts:

veryprotourism

October 31st, 2006, 02:26 PM

i was wondering what happened to bayviews.

i thought the article was interesting. i've been pushing my sister to go check out that little somalian restaurant but she's a slacker.

BuffCity

October 31st, 2006, 05:28 PM

not to sound too ethnocentic or whatever...but It says the Somli people will help the city grow and prosper...the last I seen Mogadeshu looked a little shitty. I'm not seeing the big deal here, I mean great we have a new culture in town but I don't see how this group or any group is going to save the city.

In my opinion it will take everyones input, contribution and help to bring the city back and firing...not a group or two from a place not in North America.

While it is said that a sign of economic revitalization is made possible by the influx of migrants, wouldn't be proper to say that the influx is due to the city and business atmosphere creating a "want" for more people...regardless of where they come from?

I would say that the greatest economic driver could draw those from other US cities...American citizens and native to our soil...but to compete on a national level like Atlanta and Charlotte have for workforces is tough...so its easier to draw from 3rd world nations. Detroit has one large "ethnic" population yet the city looks pretty bad still and I don't hear too much good news coming from the city...so what gives?

Xusein

November 1st, 2006, 01:30 AM

Wow, this thread just wont DIE, lol...

Immigrants are not the way to help a city prosper again. Not at all. The only way a region is going to prosper is if it can compete economically. But immigrants do help, they bring business and life to a neighborhood that has been abandoned from it's "native citizens". It isn't the definite answer to helping a city, that has to do with economics.

I don't know how Somali Bantus are going to help Buffalo (honestly, they probably will leave it in a couple of months, and go to Columbus like the most of them here) but compared to what they dealt with back in Somalis...I think that is honorable that Buffalo accepted to let some in their city.

sargeantcm

November 1st, 2006, 02:04 AM

I'm not going to say they have nothing to do with a prospering city, I think they're more of a manifestation of a prospering city. If I'm coming over from some struggling country, I'm going to move somewhere where I have the best opportunity to better myself.

BuffCity

November 1st, 2006, 05:46 AM

don't go to Utica

sargeantcm

November 1st, 2006, 06:00 AM

lol

Depends on what you're looking for I suppose. No city is devoid of all opportunities, theoretically not even the cities these people are leaving behind. Of course judging from the Upstate thread, if you're Italian and your life-long dream is to open up a pizzeria, you may be better off not heading to Utica, unless you feel you can one-up the competition.

OK, here's a brain-buster. Totally off-topic, I admit.

How many Americans are emigrating and opening up "American" restaurants in Somalia, Ethiopia, Pakistan. And what constitutes an "American" restaurant? Applebees? McDonalds? Waffle House? :)

Xusein

November 1st, 2006, 06:24 AM

I would not mind that...eating a Bigmac in the heat of Somalia,

But the hamburger is German if you ask Hamburg, or American if you ask
Hamburg, New York, or New Haven, LOL.

It's all about opportunity. Americans have very little incentive to emigrate. If the job market in your metro is sour, you can move to another one where the it is easier to get a job, if you can. The economic diversity of this nation is amazing.

Immigrants from some other countries are not as lucky.

bayviews

November 3rd, 2006, 09:03 AM

. Detroit has one large "ethnic" population yet the city looks pretty bad still and I don't hear too much good news coming from the city...so what gives?

I respect Detroit, as it’s played a crucial role in the in shaping our urban history & I wish it the best. But it's certainly not one of the places that I’ve ever cited as a model of either metropolitan diversity or prosperity!

Rather, Detroit’s become an overwhelmingly African American city ringed by suburbs that are still overwhelmingly white. Notorious Eight Mile Rd separates one of the most “chocolate” cities from some of the most “vanilla” suburbs. That's segregation, not diversity!

Detroit is another city like Buffalo that attracts few very few immigrants, save for a Latino influx into the southwest neighborhoods. Most of the Middle Eastern and Asian immigrants who do come bypass Detroit for the suburbs. Arab immigration has certainly revitalized Dearborn, the HQ of Ford, & increasingly Hamtramck, the old Polish enclave.

In terms of politics & public sector employment, Detroit’s become a very inclusive city for African Americans. But that hasn’t translated into broader occupational or economic mobility given the downward slide of the Detroit automakers. Detroit showed signs of a comeback during the 1990s. But of course that was driven by cheap oil & SUV. Even then, I wondered what the Big 3 automakers were thinking!

Joey313

November 3rd, 2006, 09:05 AM

:blahblah: :weird:

bayviews

November 3rd, 2006, 09:07 AM

But immigrants do help, they bring business and life to a neighborhood that has been abandoned from it's "native citizens". I don't know how Somali Bantus are going to help Buffalo (honestly, they probably will leave it in a couple of months, and go to Columbus like the most of them here) but compared to what they dealt with back in Somalis...I think that is honorable that Buffalo accepted to let some in their city.

Of course, neighborhood revitalization is really a big part of what urban economic development is all about. And so in Buffalo, Somalis have the potential of helping to reinvigorate the Grant Street corridor, from the West Side into Black Rock & Riverside.

The Vietnamese another group that arrived as refugees have opened many small businesses around Buffalo. So too have the Yemenis, another Muslim immigrant group. Starting from a few stores and a tiny restaurant mentioned in the article, the Somalis could be poised to make their economic imprint around Buffalo.

Good cautionary point about secondary migration. That's been a pattern for many refugee groups, particularly the Hmongs & now the Somalis, including the Bantus. However, unlike many others, seems that Somalis haven’t been particularly attracted to warm climes.

Indeed, the pattern of Somali secondary migration seems to be from Sunbelt areas like Atlanta to cold cities like Minneapolis & winter states like Maine. That may bode well for Buffalo, whose location along the Canadian border and as mid-point between Toronto and Columbus certainly helps. Doesn’t seem like Somalis are going to exit Buffalo just because of the snow!

While still very small in numbers, Somalis have been the fastest-growing immigrant group in Buffalo since the 1990s, with their numbers tripling just since 2000. While Buffalo is noted for its failure to attract new immigrants generally, the growth of the local Somali community is a welcome exception which will hopefully be emulated by other political refuges and economic immigrants.

So lets see what happens!

bayviews

November 3rd, 2006, 09:10 AM

lol

OK, here's a brain-buster. Totally off-topic, I admit.

How many Americans are emigrating and opening up "American" restaurants in Somalia, Ethiopia, Pakistan. And what constitutes an "American" restaurant? Applebees? McDonalds? Waffle House? :)

lol! Well last time I checked McDonalds was in almost 120 countries & Starbucks in 40. I’d guess that our troops are also almost as many countries as McDees!

sargeantcm

November 3rd, 2006, 03:03 PM

...While Buffalo is noted for its failure to attract new immigrants generally, the growth of the local Somali community is a welcome exception which will hopefully be emulated by other political refuges and economic immigrants...
As noted by....you?

Buffalo has been noted for many failures, that, however, is one I haven't heard.

veryprotourism

November 3rd, 2006, 03:03 PM

Xusein

November 3rd, 2006, 10:26 PM

Of course, neighborhood revitalization is really a big part of what urban economic development is all about. And so in Buffalo, Somalis have the potential of helping to reinvigorate the Grant Street corridor, from the West Side into Black Rock & Riverside.

The Vietnamese another group that arrived as refugees have opened many small businesses around Buffalo. So too have the Yemenis, another Muslim immigrant group. Starting from a few stores and a tiny restaurant mentioned in the article, the Somalis could be poised to make their economic imprint around Buffalo.

Good cautionary point about secondary migration. That's been a pattern for many refugee groups, particularly the Hmongs & now the Somalis, including the Bantus. However, unlike many others, seems that Somalis haven’t been particularly attracted to warm climes.

Indeed, the pattern of Somali secondary migration seems to be from Sunbelt areas like Atlanta to cold cities like Minneapolis & winter states like Maine. That may bode well for Buffalo, whose location along the Canadian border and as mid-point between Toronto and Columbus certainly helps. Doesn’t seem like Somalis are going to exit Buffalo just because of the snow!

While still very small in numbers, Somalis have been the fastest-growing immigrant group in Buffalo since the 1990s, with their numbers tripling just since 2000. While Buffalo is noted for its failure to attract new immigrants generally, the growth of the local Somali community is a welcome exception which will hopefully be emulated by other political refuges and economic immigrants.

So lets see what happens!

It's not that Somalis aren't attracted to Warm climates...I have heard Somalis hating the winters in the Midwest. Somalia itself is hot as hell at times...it's because of jobs and safety.

The Twin Cities had booming job growth at the time that the refugee influx happened. With the few that were originally settled in Mpls, word of mouth grew and people moved out of the cities that they were originally taken to. They care more about jobs than the climate, plus the fact that there is now a community there helps.

When it came to Maine, which is NOT a booming job center, it was about safety. The Somalis in Georgia, which is booming, did not like the crime/gangs there. They wanted to move to a safer area with their families, which Maine ranks high in.

Add to both places that the social services were better than the national average...

As for Somalis in Buffalo, good news for them. But the small size of the community means that the benefits for the particular neighborhood is kind of small. Another reason is, with Toronto nearby, it is a bit of a shadow.

bayviews

November 3rd, 2006, 11:29 PM

to respectfully disagree with bayviews on detroit/dearborn, i have spent ample time in dearborn. well i'm sure that dearborn is in better shape than it would've been without the influx of arabs, it IS largely a fucking dump.

Really, my brief assessment of metro Detroit was not terribly upbeat! Dearborn’s always been a rather gritty, working-class suburb, & that’s not changed, nothing wrong with that. But at least after decades of population growth, with the steady influx of Arab immigrants, it’s started regrowing & the newcomers have helped the housing market & opened lots of new small businesses. Can you say that about many of the blue-collar suburbs of Buffalo? Can you even say that about world-famous Niagara Falls, NY?

bayviews

November 3rd, 2006, 11:39 PM

As noted by....you?

Buffalo has been noted for many failures, that, however, is one I haven't heard.

What I’ve noted, & correctly so, is that according to Census 2000, Buffalo ranked dead last in attracting the least new immigrants of any the largest metros with populations of a million or over. Also, Buffalo’s near the bottom in per capita intake of new immigrants.

I don't think I'm the first or only one to mention that. Of course that’s rather obvious when you look around Buffalo & see a lot of the vacant housing, closed businesses, etc, & schools, churches, etc, closing rather than opening. The lack of vitality you don’t see in places that attracted lots of new immigrants.

Just take a look at the pictures posted here of the commercial strips in say Sunset Park, a mostly new immigrant neighborhood in Brooklyn & contrast with even the most bustling business districts in Buffalo, Elmwood or Hertel. Could hardly be more of a contrast.

That’s a major point of the newspaper article. Even a small influx of a couple of thousand newcomers, in this case Somalis, if they put down roots & draw more newcomers, could be a very positive sign for Buffalo.

bayviews

November 3rd, 2006, 11:50 PM

It's not that Somalis aren't attracted to Warm climates...I have heard Somalis hating the winters in the Midwest. Somalia itself is hot as hell at times...it's because of jobs and safety.

The Twin Cities had booming job growth at the time that the refugee influx happened. With the few that were originally settled in Mpls, word of mouth grew and people moved out of the cities that they were originally taken to. They care more about jobs than the climate, plus the fact that there is now a community there helps.

When it came to Maine, which is NOT a booming job center, it was about safety. The Somalis in Georgia, which is booming, did not like the crime/gangs there. They wanted to move to a safer area with their families, which Maine ranks high in.

Add to both places that the social services were better than the national average...

As for Somalis in Buffalo, good news for them. But the small size of the community means that the benefits for the particular neighborhood is kind of small. Another reason is, with Toronto nearby, it is a bit of a shadow.

Buffalo's Somali community appears about the size of those in say Portland or Lewiston Maine. Although much smaller share of the population as Buffalo's a much larger city.

So far, Toronto’s immigration boom hasn’t spilled much over into Buffalo, largely because the immigration & refugee sources & policies of the US & Canada are quite different. Of course, many political refugees, including many Somalis, passed thru Buffalo on their way to Toronto.

So it's a good start for Buffalo if it can shadow Toronto in terms of attracting just wee a bit of the huge immigration flow going there, including Somalis. Just like the smaller shadow cities in New Jersey & New England been catching some of the immigration flow from NYC.

But as Buffalo’s south of the border, its not going to get a huge overflow. Buffalo's not going to attract a half million Chinese or South Asians like Toronto. So Buffalo’s not going to attract tens of thousands of Somalis like Toronto!

bayviews

November 8th, 2006, 02:34 AM

Another nice article from the ongoing Rochester Democratic-Chronicle series, this one on the Rochester area's growing Mexican population, still tiny compared to downstate, but now the largest upstate.

Who We Are series: Mexicans here small in numbers but add much

Two distinct communities quietly contribute talents in region as they fight misconceptions

Lara Becker Liu
Staff writer

(September 30, 2006) — Apassel of minivans fills Adriana Menting's driveway. Tiny American flags poke up from her lawn, marking the borders of an invisible dog fence.

Other than the flan and the chattering of Spanish inside her Pittsford home on this Wednesday afternoon, there's not a whole lot — not even her surname — to peg Menting as Mexican.

Much of Rochester's Mexican population is similarly inconspicuous, owing in part to their small number — fewer than 4,000 reside in the five-county area, according to 2005 census figures — and the fact that the upper- and middle-class among them have scattered throughout the suburbs.

There, in towns such as Penfield and Pittsford, they blend in, working for corporations, shuttling kids and trying to grasp the concept of "play dates" — something unheard of in Mexico, where the phrase "mi casa es tu casa (my house is your house)" is taken literally and such appointments aren't necessary.

"You just stop by (and the host says) come on in," says Linda Gámez, mother of two, who had gone to Menting's for a Bible study session.

As few as 20 miles away, amid the farm fields of the region, another group of Mexicans also goes virtually unnoticed — to a large degree, even by their fellow Mexicans in the suburbs.

"You have two realities," says Sandra Rojas, who works in Brockport for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester's Hispanic Migrant Ministries. "The ones who are working in Kodak, Xerox and high-tech companies, and the other Mexicans in this area working as farm workers."

The farm workers, some of them migrants and others who have settled here permanently, are kept separate from the larger community by a distance both physical and socioeconomic, Rojas says. They might not speak English or have a driver's license. Often, they are poor.

So misconceptions about Mexicans abound. For example, many people wrongly believe Cinco de Mayo to be Mexico's Independence Day, when in fact it's a minor holiday not widely celebrated by Mexicans, at least on this side of the border. Or they believe all Mexicans have dark skin and eyes. (They don't: Some have the light skin of their European forebears.)

"(Americans) have the (belief) that all the Mexicans are the same, with no studies" and poor command of even their own language, says Menting, who married a Dutchman and moved to Rochester when he was transferred here. "That kind of people also come here. (But) the American people think everyone (is the same).

"They treat all the people like delinquents, and I don't like that."

Such treatment may have become more common in the wake of the debate over immigration reform. Central to that debate is how to deal with the estimated 12 million Mexicans who are living in this country illegally.

Discussion surrounding the debate hasn't reached the fever pitch here that it has in southern border states. But it appears to have deepened some fissures within the local Mexican community — between undocumented workers and legal immigrants; between legal immigrants and seasonal laborers who come through the federal H2-A program that critics say pays lower-than-average wages; and between working-class immigrants with limited education and the more well-heeled.

And yet despite their differences, Mexicans do hold fast to a single, unifying belief: that America, and Rochester in particular, holds the promise of a better life.

Bittersweet enchantment

Mexicans here express awe at living in this country — and in a place with snow. "It's just beautiful to have four seasons," says Ana Galindo, an Eastman Kodak Co. employee and resident of Pittsford. "You can't wait. It's breathtaking."

They marvel at the economic opportunities and the diversity of the population.

"You start to be more open. You start to respect other people, other ways of life. You learn more — and that's a good thing," says Monica Davila, 30.

But Davila and others also describe their first years here as long and lonely. Separated from their families, and often struggling with a new language and customs, the immigrants say they had trouble simply finding other Mexicans.

"In my experience, it was really hard," says Gámez, 38. "I just started driving around and looking. Friendship is really important when you are an immigrant.

"Family — here, we don't have that, and we are looking for that, for us, and (for) our kids, too. Like we had in Mexico."

Gámez says she warded off loneliness by seeking out groups. She, along with Davila, Menting and several other Mexican (and non-Mexican) women, joined a Bible study group.

Besides serving as a spiritual outlet for the women, for whom religion is a big part of life, the group has proved a fun way to socialize, eat Mexican food and speak Spanish.

At a session several weeks ago, the members finished their studies and gathered around Menting's dining room table to discuss topics ranging from a local gynecologist's arrest for child molestation to an Austrian girl's escape from her kidnapper.

And they talked about the various other ways, besides Bible study, they stay connected with Mexico: "Cooking. I read the Mexican newspaper through the Internet and listen to the radio, too," says Maria Herrera.

Staying in touch

Across town, in Greece, Felix Blanco also keeps in touch with his Mexican friends — virtually.

An art director for product development at Kodak, Blanco has created a Yahoo Web page for local Mexicans.

"We are interested (in) preserving the Mexican culture, organizing activities in Rochester," the site reads. "When you join, you will be able to exchange ideas, participate in organizing parties and reunions, receive invitations to attend traditional activities, and to meet other Mexicans in the area."

Blanco arrived in 1994 at Rochester Institute for Technology to study computer animation.

"When you come here, first everything is new," he says. "You don't really miss home until six months or a year. Then it really hits you."

Blanco says he finally met one Mexican who then introduced him to others.

"If you don't know someone," Blanco says, "you could be here for years before you find another Mexican."

His experience prompted him to create the Yahoo group, which he hopes to parlay into a nonprofit organization run by local Mexicans. The group would help Mexicans new to the community, for starters, and might eventually advocate for those struggling with immigration issues, he said.

In the meantime, it's been useful in planning parties — a favorite Mexican activity.

At Christmastime, for example, local Mexicans look to the Yahoo group for news about the annual posada party.

Las Posadas, celebrated in Mexico every evening from mid-December until Christmas Eve, commemorate Mary and Joseph's journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem in search of shelter. ("Posada" in Spanish means lodging or shelter.) Here, because there are not enough Mexicans for multiple celebrations, the party is limited to one night.

Galindo recently used the Yahoo group e-mail list to invite people to her Independence Day party on Sept. 15.

A cross between the Fourth of July and New Year's Eve, Mexican Independence Day is often celebrated over two days, beginning at or near midnight on Sept. 15 — to mark the hour in 1810 that Father Miguel Hidalgo rang church bells to rally the people to fight the Spanish.

The holiday fell on a Friday for the first time since Galindo moved here, she says, and "I just said, 'Oh, gotta have a party.'"

Putting faith in dance

Still others keep in touch with their heritage in more traditional ways. Adriana Hoppe dances. As the coordinator of Grupo Arco Iris Mexicano (the Mexican Rainbow Group), Hoppe teaches children of various ages the many different dances of Mexico. In addition to the pre-Hispanic dances, each of the 31 states has its own dance, she says.

She charges nothing for the lessons, which she gives ad hoc in the basement of her Penfield home.

The dancing allows her to showcase her culture for others, including the children in the group, who wear regional costumes and perform at schools, nursing homes and cultural events.

Her two daughters, ages 10 and 14, also are part of the group.

"I recall my little daughter just following me," Hoppe says of one their first performances. "I felt like Mother Hen and the little chicken following behind me and moving her skirt."

'We have feelings'

Meanwhile, the Mexicans who live and work on area farms face different challenges.

Currently, they are enduring increased enforcement from immigration officials, and so a certain amount of paranoia runs deep at some farms.

Earlier this month, several farmers declined to have their workers interviewed for fear that it would invite further investigation.

However, one worker, at Colby Homestead Farms in Spencerport, was willing to talk. Married to a U.S. citizen, Francisco Guerrero, 26, says he doesn't have the same worries as others he knows.

As he takes a break from moving boxes of cabbage, he says that he came here to send money back home to his family.

He says some Mexican workers "get taken advantage of," but "I work here almost eight years. I love it. My boss treats me good."

And he says he has a message for the community at large:

"I just want them to know we have feelings."

Rojas, standing next to him, also has a message: "We have a lot to offer the Rochester community. We offer our labor. We offer our culture. And we are willing to (take in) American culture, as well."

Indeed, she and others say, the children of Rochester's Mexicans will be a "beautiful" combination of both worlds.

"I want to teach my children that we are still Mexican, we love our country," says Davila. But "my kids are going to be bicultural."

Hoppe, too, embraces that idea. Rochester may be far removed from Mexico in more ways than one.

"But," she says, "I feel like I am home."

Xusein

November 11th, 2006, 03:48 AM

Sorry to revive an old thread, but this suprised me...

I find it interesting that a population that is not even 1 percent of the state is also responsible for over 10% of the state's population growth...

Population boom in New Britain

Connecticut has always been a melting pot; positioned right between Boston and New York City many families move here. In just five years the Mexican community in particular has more than doubled.

According to U.S. Census statistics in the year 2000 there were 23,484 Mexicans living in our state, in 2005 that number jumped to 35,800.

by News Channel 8's Jodi Latina
In New Britain the Mexican community is thriving because people say they feel safer there than in the larger cities.

At Delgado's grocery store in New Britain you'll find everything Mexican, from tortillas to tamales -- all of it imported.

"There's a couple of things stamped 'Made in Mexico' so most of the stuff comes directly from Mexico."

David Delgado runs the family store.

"We are four brothers and one sister."

His father moved the family from New Jersey eight years ago, looking for a better life.

"He wanted to get my family out of all those problems of gangs and drugs and move to a quieter city.

David's family, like many other Mexicans, are attracted to New Britain because of the low crime rate compared to big cities like New York. Many also like its rich mix of businesses like manufacturing, medical and high tech industries, to mid-sized and small businesses like Delgado's.

In fact, the Mexican population in New Britain has more than tripled in less than five years.

According to census statistics there were just 625 Mexicans living in New Britain back in the year 2000, now there are 3,209.

David Delgado says if his dad hadn't decided his family deserved better life would be a very different today.

The census numbers are from a community survey - a shorter version of the national census that takes place every decade, so the margin of error maybe skewed. Still, the diversity is growing and for many that's a good thing.

bayviews

November 18th, 2006, 07:14 AM

Sorry to revive an old thread, but this suprised me...

I find it interesting that a population that is not even 1 percent of the state is also responsible for over 10% of the state's population growth...

Yeah, again just goes to show the positive impact that even the growth of a group that’s relatively new & small, like Mexicans in CT, can have not just on New Britain, but statewide in boosting the population.

The pattern for Mexicans across the Northeast has been to settle in the smaller towns first, then gradually moving into larger cities. Who knows, maybe more Mexicans will move into Hartford over the next decade.

bayviews

November 19th, 2006, 07:33 AM

The New York Times

October 29, 2006 Sunday Late Edition - Final

Leaving New York, With Bodega in Tow

By SETH KUGEL

READING, Pa.

BODY:

FOR many Dominican immigrants in New York City, the high price of the American dream -- owning a home -- requires moving outside the city. When the time comes to buy, they often look in nearby places like Yonkers, or Union City, N.J., or even the Poconos, where dozens of buses make their way into New York during the morning commute. But in the last few years, hundreds of Dominicans, long New York's largest immigrant group, have gone even farther, giving up their jobs and snapping up bargain houses here in Reading, Pa., a city of 80,000 that is 120 miles, or two and a half hours, southwest, beyond commuting distance and actually much closer to Philadelphia.

The growth of Reading's Dominican population is hard to measure precisely, but there are indications it is climbing substantially. While the 2000 census found only 1,696 Dominicans in Reading, the Census Bureau's 2005 American Community Survey counted 5,912.

Census officials warned that those numbers are not directly comparable because they do not measure in precisely the same way. But the trend is clear, especially because its numbers for Hispanics in Berks County, most of whom live in Reading, rose from 37,000 to 49,000 over those five years. Puerto Ricans and Mexicans have been the largest Latino groups in the city.

Reading, an old industrial town once known for its textile mills, has had a significant Latino population since Puerto Ricans seeking jobs came in the years before World War I, according to Jonathan Encarnacion, the executive director of the Centro Hispano Daniel Torres, a local nonprofit organization.

Mexicans and others have also come in recent years, but the Dominicans are unique in that most -- some estimate 90 percent -- of them come not directly from the Dominican Republic, but from the New York City area, what social scientists call secondary migration. ''We saw a spike after Sept. 11,'' Mr. Encarnacion said. ''Ask them why they come here, they say, 'We wanted to get away.' ''

But many places are ''away,'' and they chose Reading in no small part for the modestly priced houses. The average house in Reading has risen from $47,000 in September 2004 to $73,000 in September 2006. In New York City, those numbers are called down payments.

Seven years ago, Juana Toledo, 36, was a single mother with two small children living in Washington Heights, the mostly low-income Dominican neighborhood in Upper Manhattan. She made flower arrangements in a New Jersey factory for $6.25 an hour, and was able to afford her $750-a-month one-bedroom apartment only with rental assistance from the government. She had little hope of ever buying a home in New York.

Then, a friend tipped her off to some houses for auction at an upcoming sheriff's sale in Pennsylvania. ''I came looking for a better future,'' she said. And she got one, in the form of a three-story, six-bedroom row house on North Front Street in Reading. It was hers for $4,700 cash, money she cobbled together from friends and family. The house was in bad shape, but ''you could live there,'' she said.

She found a job in a hotel for $6.50 an hour, then moved to a chicken processing plant, where she eventually made $9.80 an hour. She now works in a restaurant that happens to be right near her daughter's school, and instead of paying $750 a month in rent, she pays about $500 a year in taxes. The slow pace of Reading took some adjustment, she said, but not much. ''I'm used to it now,'' she said. ''And I'm happy with life.''

She related her history on a recent weekend as she was having her hair done at the Carmen Beauty Salon, a Dominican-owned spot. The owner of the salon, Carmen Santos, had a similar story, going from $700-a-month rent and working as a hairdresser and sometime owner of salons to $500-a-month mortgage two years ago, and buying the salon in Reading last year.

Ms. Santos says life in Reading is much more relaxed. ''In New York, you leave work like this,'' she said, striking a melodramatic pose, back of hand on forehead, shoulders slumped. ''Here, you work. But it's very relaxed.''

Alex Betances, a real estate agent, has seen the Dominican community sprout from virtually nothing when he moved here from Union City in 1986 at age 11. These days, he looks for creative ways for families, many of them Dominicans from the New York area, to cover a $2,500 down payment plus closing costs. Sometimes that involves negotiating with banks, having the seller pay the transfer tax, or having the husband continue to work and live in New York until he can find a job in Reading.

''Poor people have the same financial issues as rich people,'' he said. ''Just on a smaller scale.''

But they do have different quality-of-life issues. Much of the housing stock in Reading comprises worn but picturesque old row houses. Crime is up in recent years, and more than 11,000 of Reading's 17,000-plus students last year moved at least once during, before or after the school year, according to the schools superintendent, Tom Chapman. He said the constant relocation of students was among the major obstacles facing the school system. Dr. Chapman's modest goal: ''They have to be better when they leave than when they came.''

But if you're a Dominican family from a poor, troubled neighborhood in, say, the Bronx, those problems are not a big deal. ''When people come from New York, everything is good for them,'' Mr. Betances said. ''They're used to problems. They say, 'If we can make it in New York, this place can't be that bad.' ''

And to some extent, they can make the place into New York, recreating Dominican neighborhoods alongside the larger Mexican and Puerto Rican populations. There is a local radio station, WXAC at Albright College, that features a salsa/merengue/bachata/reggaeton rotation, and a Philadelphia Spanish station, WUBA-FM, has been reaching Reading since August.

And, of course, there are the small businesses like bodegas that are the signature of Dominican life in New York. Mr. Betances said that when he first arrived, there were only a couple of Latino grocery stores. ''The beauty salons, the nail salons, the grocery stores, they all popped up in the last three or four years,'' he said.

Indeed, though many Dominicans who had blue collar jobs in New York end up working in food processing plants in the area, others come with business plans. That includes Henry Cruz, a former mushroom salesman from Queens and now the owner of Rancho Merengue, one of the few nightclubs here catering to Dominicans.

He had long dreamed of owning a club, but in New York it was prohibitively expensive; Rancho Merengue is a modest space with a bar, a pool table, some tables, a stage and a dance floor, a hybrid of a New York Latin club and a neighborhood bar. But it attracts big names. One Saturday in September, the place was packed with Dominicans and Puerto Ricans as he held a birthday party for himself, featuring the well-known bachata singer Dominic Marte, who performed his hit ''Ven Tu'' for an adoring crowd.

A client of Mr. Betances, Gregorio Zarzuela, is another case in point. Born in the Dominican Republic, Mr. Zarzuela lived for 34 years in New York, first working in factories, then restaurants, then bodegas, and finally struggling with his own bodega at Third Street and Avenue D in Manhattan's East Village while renting an apartment in Corona, Queens. ''Life there was hard,'' he said. ''The rent was too high.''

Two years ago, he and his family bought a house for $99,000 in Reading. Then, he bought another building and opened a bodega there. ''Living in Reading is just too good,'' he said. ''Business is slow, but you can live from it. Here I open at 7:30 a.m., and at 6:30 I head home to have a barbecue or make dinner. In New York, it was 6 a.m. to midnight. I love New York, but I can't go back.''

Though the Dominicans who move from New York might have some regrets at leaving, ''they adapt pretty quick,'' Mr. Betances said. ''They adapt to the tranquillity. They don't miss the traffic; they don't miss the parking, the hustle and bustle.''

A more complicated issue is their identity: are they Dominicans? New Yorkers? or Readingites?

Even the old-timers aren't quite sure. ''Where the heck am I from?'' Mr. Betances said. ''I was born in the Dominican Republic, grew up in New York, and now I'm in Pennsylvania.''

NorthernIL Mike

November 20th, 2006, 12:42 AM

Eagle Empire

November 20th, 2006, 03:34 AM

There are lots of Mexicans in my area of rural Chester County in PA. Chester County is outside of Philadelphia. Most of the Mexicans are illegal immigrants, but hopefully they file paperwork and stay here legally. They mainly work on the mushroom farms or construction sites.

A lot of Blacks are moving out into the Philly suburbs. I think theyre moving to the burbs because of the Philly crime and because they are getting better jobs.

Philly is thought of as an Italian city, but I don't know if they get Italian immigrants anymore.

Evergrey

November 27th, 2006, 07:46 AM

Asian Immigration In Pittsburgh

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_481492.html

By The Associated Press
Monday, November 27, 2006

Ananda Gunawardena might well typify the kind of immigrants flocking to Pittsburgh.
The native of Sri Lanka left Houston, a more culturally vibrant and diverse city, about eight years ago when his physician wife, Sriya, landed a job at an Oakland hospital.

Now, they live in McCandless with their two children, one of whom attends a private girls school. Sriya is a pediatric hematologist and oncologist at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh; Ananda is an associate professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University.

Drawn by Pittsburgh's thriving universities and high-tech and medical sectors, a small but growing number of Asian immigrants are helping to revitalize the economy and change the face of the city as its majority white population has been aging and shrinking.

In 2001, Ananda Gunawardena founded a small business, a Carnegie Mellon University spinoff providing technology that allows publishers to customize textbooks to be delivered by print or electronically. Textcentric employs about 45 people in Pittsburgh and Colombo, Sri Lanka.

"You feel an allegiance to the society you live in," he said. "You feel America has done something for you and you have done something for America."

The number of immigrants coming to the Pittsburgh region is relatively small compared with other American cities. Asians make up 1.3 percent of the Pittsburgh metropolitan region's 2.3 million population, according to Chris Briem, an economist at the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Social and Urban Research.

But, according to the Census, about half of the 25,000 immigrants who came to the Pittsburgh region in the 1990s were Asian.

Influx of intellect

More than half of the 1,600 foreign students at the University of Pittsburgh and 75 percent of Carnegie Mellon's nearly 2,100 international students are Asian, most from India, China and South Korea.

As a result, the Pittsburgh region boasts the nation's highest percentage of immigrants with college degrees -- 58 percent, according to William Frey, a demographer with the Washington-based Brookings Institution.

Sunil Wadhwani received his master's degree from Carnegie Mellon in the 1970s. He returned to his native India but came back to Pittsburgh in 1987 to start iGate Corp., an information technology services and business process outsourcing company, in Robinson. Today, iGate has annual revenue totaling more than $270 million and employs about 6,500 people in 32 offices in 14 countries.

Wadhwani, 53, said he could have opened shop anywhere.

"I just came to love this area," he said.

City of opportunity

Also, "being close to Carnegie Mellon has been a huge plus," Wadhwani said. "They are doing some of the leading-edge stuff in terms of software and we're able to tap into research and researchers."

Carnegie Mellon is why Ravi Koka decided to open SEEC Inc. when he realized his software company in India needed to break into the U.S. market.

"Clearly, that is a major draw. Otherwise, I would have gone somewhere else," said Koka, 56, who visited Carnegie Mellon as a scientist in 1984, lured here by Raj Reddy, the university's award-winning and renowned professor of computer science and robotics.

Koka estimates SEEC has employed about 200 engineers in Pittsburgh through the years, fueling more immigration as many brought their parents.

SEEC Inc. and iGate are among more than 70 Indian-owned or -led companies in the region, according to the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance, a business promotion group.

Passage from India

Much of Pittsburgh's Indian community was started by engineers hired for research and development by Westinghouse Corp., a company that over several decades attracted many professionals who had immigrated, Briem said.

That changed in the 1980s, as immigrants brought their families to the area, said Indian-born Harish Saluja. He came to Pittsburgh in 1972 and is executive director of the Pittsburgh chapter of the IndUS Entrepreneurs, an international nonprofit network of entrepreneurs and professionals who help Indian and other entrepreneurs.

"Suddenly, you met nonprofessionals, too, and as families changed, suddenly it replicated and mushroomed into other branches," said Saluja, who also is a filmmaker, painter and radio show host. "Some of them had given up the shackles of being an engineer or doctor and other options were open to them. I thought it was absolutely wonderful."

Saluja's group recently partnered with the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance to start iPort, a group whose goal is to lure India-based businesses and entrepreneurs to the city. To do so, the group highlights the universities and hospitals, software and medical industries and the high quality and low cost of living in Pittsburgh.

"Pittsburgh is not too big, not too small," Koka said. "It doesn't have that big-city alienation. It's reasonably big, but you have suburbs and that sense of community and Asians like that. It's a friendly atmosphere. It's not much of a rat race to adjust to."

The region boasts vibrant Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Vietnamese and Korean communities. There are more than 8,600 Chinese out of an Asian population of nearly 31,000, according to Census figures.

"Pittsburgh is unique," said Dorothy Lee Green, who is actively involved in the Pittsburgh chapter of the Organization of Chinese Americans. "We keep our own separate cultural identity, but we are very much a large, varied family. It's a very colorful, wonderful fabric."

The influences of this burgeoning community are seen across the city and suburbs.

Cultural additions

In addition to a few dozen Indian community groups, Vietnamese Buddhist, Hindu and Sikh temples, the region also boasts several mosques, Indian and Chinese Christian churches, a Chinese School and Sunday schools for Asians.

In September, the Sri Lankan community opened a Buddhist center and temple after buying a house northeast of the city. The center hosts meditation classes and religious discussions and will hold a Christmas celebration on Christmas Eve.

Built in 1976, the Sri Venkateswara temple in Penn Hills draws tens of thousands of visitors annually. On summer weekends, about 3,000 worshippers attend services, filling the temple's parking lots with cars from throughout the United States and Canada.

Indian and other Asian grocery stores are commonplace, surprising for the area's onetime steel-town image and predominantly white European immigrant population.

"In the beginning, there used to be only one or two Indian stores," Saluja said. "Suddenly, it mushroomed, especially in the last 10 years or so."

A multiscreen movie theater complex in the North Hills regularly screens Bollywood films alongside the latest Hollywood fare, and Allegheny County has more than 200 Asian restaurants, including about two dozen Indian eateries.

In 1996, Subhash and Usha Sethi opened Taj Mahal, the first Indian Restaurant in the North Hills. They wondered if their lentil soup, tandoori chicken and other traditional fare would appeal to the local tastes.

"Every day it looked to us that we have jumped in the ocean and we don't know how to swim," Subhash Sethi said.

Today, their buffets, especially on the weekends, are almost always packed. In addition to their first restaurant, the Sethis now operate a catering service, a kiosk in a mall food court and a second Indian restaurant.

Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

bayviews

December 3rd, 2006, 05:29 AM

Good article on how Pittsburgh's attracting more Asian immigrants...Speaking of which, here's an interesting article from today's NY Times on the Asian growth in public schools in the NYC metropolitan area. Another reason along with all the other immigrant growth why there's not much of problem of declining enrollment & closing schools in the Tri-State region.

December 3, 2006
Surge in Asian Enrollment Alters Schools
By WINNIE HU
Cresskill, N.J.

WHEN Cresskill School District officials proposed a $31.1 million renovation of their three public schools in 2004, they worried that residents in this affluent borough of 7,700 in Bergen County would not go along. The last school project was rejected twice before narrowly passing in 1998. And that was for only $3.9 million.

While the Cresskill schools clearly needed fixing up — boiler repairs at the high school alone were costing $25,000 a year — many parents told school officials that it was simply too much to spend, said Charles V. Khoury, the superintendent, who met with nearly a dozen parent and community groups.

So Mr. Khoury was all the more surprised after making his pitch to the Korean Parents Association, known as the K.P.A., which co-exists alongside the more traditional parent organizations at the Cresskill schools. The association, which was founded in 1982 for Korean families who spoke little English, now represents more than 100 families.

“They said, ‘Why don’t you ask for $40 million?’ ” Dr. Khoury recalled, with a grin of disbelief. “It was a wonderful feeling because I realized I didn’t have to sell them on it. They recognized the value of education and the value of the schools.”

The Korean parents quickly went to work, lobbying people at churches and cultural events to support the renovations, which included building an athletic complex and updating seven science labs at the high school. On the day of the referendum, in January 2005, a half-dozen Korean parents gathered at the high school to place last-minute calls to Korean voters. And by the end of the night, the most expensive school project in Cresskill’s history was approved by two-thirds of the voters.

Even as the Asian population hovers at 4 percent nationwide, an influx of Asian families in towns across the New York region in the past decade has helped refashion suburban school systems that were once predominantly white. Asian students are the fastest-growing minority in the region, and have even become the majority in the Herricks Union Free School District on the North Shore of Long Island, where more than half of the 4,200 students are Indian, Korean and Chinese. In New Jersey, 46 percent of the 13,682 students in the Edison Township School District were Asian last year, up from 36 percent five years ago.

South Brunswick, Woodbridge and the West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District in New Jersey have also seen big increases in the last five years, as have Syosset and Jericho Districts on Long Island.

Of course, New York City continues to be a magnet for many Asian immigrants, who have historically spent time in its ethnic enclaves — Chinatown, Flushing and Sunset Park — before moving to the suburbs, a migration pattern set by earlier generations of European immigrants. In the last five years, the city’s Asian population has increased by more than 100,000, or roughly 13 percent, according to the planning department.

But in recent years, many educated, successful Asians have carved out their own route, bypassing the city to move directly to the suburbs. The families are often drawn by word-of mouth about the schools, rather than by low taxes or social services, and tap into thriving networks of Asians already living there. In some cases, Korean and Japanese mothers have been known to take their children to the United States for the school year while the fathers stay behind at high-paying corporate jobs in their own countries.

“Koreans are very aware of the schools, and their rankings; that’s the first thing they ask other parents when they move,” said Maria Shim, 40, whose two daughters, Esther, 12, and Nicole, 10, attend the Cresskill schools.

School officials, teachers and parents say the expanding Asian population has strengthened their schools, not only by raising test scores but also by promoting diversity and tolerance. At Edison High School, in New Jersey, Indian students have formed the Peacock Society, an after-school club that organizes cultural festivals. Similarly, on Long Island, one of the most popular events at Great Neck South High School is Asian Night, where Chinese students and others put on a two-hour extravaganza of Asian art, theater and dance. “It’s noisy, it’s fun and everybody loves it,” said Ronald L. Friedman, the superintendent.

Across the region, the enrollment of Asian students is up 28 percent since the 2000-1 school year. Almost every school district has felt some impact from Asian immigration, but the growth has been most remarkable in districts in Somerset, Middlesex, Mercer and Morris Counties in New Jersey and Nassau County in New York, which now have large Asian student populations.

WESTCHESTER and Connecticut have lower Asian enrollments, but populations there are growing as well. Stamford has seen a 45 percent jump in Asian enrollment in five years, but Asians still number just 6 percent of the total. In the Valhalla Union Free School District in Westchester, enrollment has doubled since 2000-1.

Perhaps nowhere is this diversity more evident than in the Herricks school district on Long Island, where administrators say a majority of students this year are Asian. Last year, the district reported to the state an enrollment that was 45 percent Asian. As the schools have gained a reputation for rigorous academics, more Asian families have moved in, fueling a rapid rise in the Asian student population, from 26 percent in 1991. School officials have even received inquiries from parents in China and India who are relocating to New York.

Jack Bierwirth, the Herricks superintendent, said the impact can be seen in everyday classroom discussions that have grown deeper, richer and more personal as students from other countries share their experiences. R