Thread: Immigration view from another Texas suburb

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Immigration view from another suburb

Irving mayor adapts to shift in demographics, says MACARENA HERNÁNDEZ


12:00 AM CDT on Friday, September 1, 2006


Herbert Gears says we need more civil conversations about immigration. He's tired of the yelling. So am I.

"Calmer heads must prevail in this debate. It's critical," says the mayor of Irving. "If we pay attention to the direction of Tim O'Hare, we'll become our own worst enemy."

He's referring to the Farmers Branch city councilman I wrote about last week whose proposals would make his town more inhospitable to undocumented immigrants. Mr. Gears contacted me after the column ran to let me know another Dallas suburb is trying to deal with this issue differently.

And if there is a city that knows about immigration – legal or not – it's Irving, which is home to one of the largest North Texas concentrations of foreign-born residents, primarily Latino and Asian. In fact, nearly 70 percent of public elementary schoolchildren are Latinos.

"Given current demographics, we'll have this diversity forever," he tells me. "It is never going to be reversed."

And since that's the case, he says, then let's embrace it.

Irving, now a majority-minority city, began its transition about 20 years ago when white families fled to other suburbs and Spanish-speaking immigrants began moving in. Coping with the changes hasn't been easy, Mr. Gears says, but it had to be accomplished. The way he sees it, what some would call the "Mexicanization" of the United States is really a part of the cultural fusion that has historically linked our state to its southern neighbor.

"You want to build a 100-foot-wall along the border, build it," Mr. Gears tells me. "And you can inspect anyone else who comes through from head to toe. But that's a completely different issue from what you do with the people already here."

I caught up with Mr. Gears in Irving earlier this week at one of his favorite Mexican restaurants, where he is a regular and a fan of their tamales and homemade flour tortillas. Early in our conversation, the first-term mayor, who was elected in 2005, quotes me the first line of the city charter, which states "all inhabitants" make up the community of Irving. Nothing there about legal.

Mr. Gears tells me about steps the city has been taking to deal with the changing demographics. It recently hosted community forums to discuss racial issues. The city also is keeping a close eye on bidding and contracting to make sure it's "spreading business around."

Mr. Gears is also a strong advocate of publicly funded English and GED classes for immigrants, as well as more bilingual police officers. As a city councilman, he spearheaded the campaign for a Parkland Hospital satellite clinic, which is set to open next year in a predominantly Latino neighborhood.

Countless polls show the vast majority of Americans favor comprehensive immigration reform, so Mr. Gear is not an anomaly in this debate, but part of the majority that he says need to move the conversation more to the center.

Yes, it might be easy to dismiss this mayor, who has perfected the sound bite, as a savvy politician playing to the ever-expanding Latino base. Except that Latinos in Irving – and in most places, for that matter – aren't exactly lining up in droves to vote. Indeed, Mr. Gears says, that may explain why some politicians are mum and why others, like Mr. O'Hare, get away with exploiting the issue to rally the other side.

Too often, Mr. Gears says, the debate centers around the short-term costs of illegal immigration. People forget or ignore that even undocumented workers pay their share of taxes and boost their local economies. But perhaps immigrants' biggest contribution to their new home is their children.

Considering native-born fertility rates are down and those 65 years and older are expected to make up nearly a quarter of this country's population by 2030, Mr. Gears believes this infusion of young energy is a blessing for cities like his. In the long run, it's these younger Americans who will be paying for the pensions of future retirees.

Whether here legally or not, immigrants are "giving birth to new Americans," he says, "and that's what allows America to continue to be strong."

Macarena Hernández is a Dallas Morning News editorial columnist. Her e-mail address is mhernandez@dallasnews.com.

I moved to Lafayette La about 15 months ago and I really hated to move here from Dallas Tx as that had been home to me for most of my life.
I can tell you Irving used to be a nice place to live as well as several other areas of the Dallas Metroplex.... But most of the surburbs are over run with immigrants...mainly Latinos.... neighborhoods that once showed pride of ownership now looks likes a third world country.... cars parked in yards, bottles(beer), beer cans & all kinds of trash in yards and the streets. Loud music...from Friday afternoon all the way thru Sunday eve. late.... they do not comply with the noise ordinance law and it is a waste of time to call the police....it's like the police don't care if they break the law...so moving here has not been so bad afterall. We do have illegals here, but not like Tx, Ca, Az and NM... I am very concerened about the future for my grandchildren and what they will face in the future if we as Americans, who care about our country, do not stop this president from
getting his comprehensive immigration reform bill shoved down our throats.

Countless polls show the vast majority of Americans favor comprehensive immigration reform

Oops, there it is again! I keep looking for these "countless" polls, but I'm not having much luck - I've found one. Can someone please direct me to a few of these "countless" polls the pro-illegal advocates keep referring too to strengthen their argument.

In the long run, it's these younger Americans who will be paying for the pensions of future retirees.

Yeah, I'm sure people will count on a group that has a 60% H.S. dropout rate and about the same for teen pregnancy. This man is living in some spaced-out place, not on this planet. With over 30 Hispanic gangs, they will need a lot of new members also. I am sick of these people being trumpeted as some kind of benefactors of the United States, when the opposite is true.

All these illegals are just paving the way for the destruction of the USA along with their supporters. When, they turn you away because you are not a Mexican, come after your child in school, threaten your life and your families......let me know about all these supposedly nice people, their supporters and their culture of corruption.