http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2006 ... 006/188691

Debate Hits Home; Area's Hispanic population growing rapidly
May 7, 2006 1:45 am

By CATHY DYSON


KRISTI SHEPARD'S attitudes about Hispanic immigrants have nothing to do with politics, international treaties or humanitarian ideals.

They pertain to her pocketbook.

The Spotsylvania County resident believes people who live in the United States should pay their own way, regardless of their color, race or national origin. Illegal immigrants who work "under the table" and don't pay taxes or Social Security are cheating the government, she said.

So are employers who pay Hispanics in cash so they won't have to take out deductions, she added.

And that makes her mad.

"I don't want to pay taxes for them to live here for free," she said. "You figure how much better the economy would be if they were paying taxes, and their employers were. [The government] would be able to fix the roads and do everything like that."

Shepard's opinion is one of many in the ongoing debate about how the nation should deal with an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants from Mexico and Central and South America.

The Hispanic community in the Fredericksburg area is booming, just as it's doing in communities across America. Many Hispanics have migrated to this region from the Northeast--as well as from Northern Virginia--for the same reasons non-immigrants come: cheaper housing and quieter communities.

Work is another lure.

"It's where the jobs are," said Alex Levay, president of the Hispanic Bar Association of Virginia in Arlington. "Where there's a need for employees, there are Latinos looking for work."

There are at least five Hispanic supermarkets in the Fredericksburg area, and easily twice that many restaurants offering Mexican or Central American cuisine.

Signs announcing "Se habla español"--which means Spanish is spoken there--are posted at car dealerships and real estate agencies across the area.

There's even a Spanish-language radio station. Union Radio started broadcasting in Fredericksburg eight months ago. The station leases an AM signal and office space in the Free Lance-Star building, but is not affiliated with the newspaper.

Given the signs of the times, it may come as no surprise that the local Hispanic population has more than doubled in recent years, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

There are approximately 22,000 Hispanics in Fredericksburg and surrounding counties, according to estimates based on 2000 numbers. Six years ago, the census reported only 9,186 Hispanics in the area.

The actual population is probably much higher, said those who deal with Hispanics.

Gladys Brackett, a Spotsylvania County woman and Spanish interpreter, has noted incredible growth in the past three years. Also, many who were here in 2000 might not have been counted, because illegal immigrants tend to avoid official-looking people and paperwork, she said.

Some also move regularly, making it even harder to get accurate numbers, said Betsy Mathias. She works with Regional Adult Education, which offers English classes for area adults.

"It's like trying to count the homeless," she said.

The impact on services
The impact immigrants have on taxes and services is hotly debated.

Shepard, the Spotsylvania woman who believes everyone should pay his part, points out one of the "extra" services immigrants get. She sees buses in her neighborhood picking up Spanish-speaking children at their front doors.

Her kids have to walk to the end of the street to catch the bus "or go wherever the county tells us the bus will stop," she said.

"We, the taxpayers, are providing extra transportation to get these children to the schools that teach English," she said.

All children in the United States are entitled to a free public education, said Margaret Rose, who coordinates Stafford County's program in English as a second language.

It's against the law for schools to ask about a child's legal status, she said.

"The parents may have come here illegally, but we are still obligated to provide an education for their children," Rose said.

Immigrants don't come to America looking for government benefits, such as food stamps, said Marta Fuentes, who works with a regional program called Healthy Families.

"They come here to work and to have access to a better life," said Fuentes, who is an American citizen because she was born in Puerto Rico. "They come here to work hard and to help the families they leave behind, to have the opportunity, like any other human beings, and to be successful."

But as the immigrants learn about their new surroundings, they hear about some of the services offered--and seek them out for themselves, said Brackett, who regularly interprets for Spanish speakers getting medical care.

"In the last three years, I'm sorry to say, it's gotten worse," she said. "Too many illegals are trying to get services that are meant for legal Americans."

That doesn't mean the Hispanics don't pay into the system that serves them, said E. Wayne Powell, an immigration lawyer in Richmond.

Powell spoke at a Legal Expo in Fredericksburg in late March. The event was sponsored by the Spanish-language radio station.

Powell said the same government that says it doesn't want illegal immigrants in the country also provides a way for them to pay taxes. He called it a twist of irony.

The government issues taxpayer identification numbers, which have the nine digits just like Social Security numbers. Immigrants can use the TINs to get on an employer's payroll, so mandatory deductions can be taken out of their checks.

Immigrants also use them to open checking accounts, buy houses and file income taxes, he said.

Those who work with Hispanics encourage illegal immigrants, especially, to pay taxes. It's the first step toward becoming legal, Fuentes said.

She tells her clients that the government will see "that you've been responsible, that you've been supporting this country."

Powell estimates that 99 out of 100 clients he sees have been paying income and Social Security taxes since they started working in the United States.

"But guess what, they're paying into the system, but they're not ever going to get anything back," he said.

Even if they've paid Social Security taxes, illegal immigrants can't claim the benefits because they don't have legitimate accounts, he said.

The issue of legal status
The issue of immigration evokes vastly different reactions. Proof of that is found on almost any television broadcast or newspaper opinion page.

Letters to the editor of The Free Lance-Star have ranged from writers who say immigrants have come here uninvited, like thieves in the night, to those who believe immigrants will continue to come because America always has been the land of opportunity.

Some, like George Karhan of Spotsylvania, see the debate in black-and-white terms. The construction foreman believes those who can't abide by American rules have but one choice.

"Go home," he said.

"As long as they want to come here legally, that's fine," Karhan said. "If they want to come here illegally, that's against the law."

Those who have journeyed from nations with Third World economies, where people have limited food, work and safety, say it's not that simple.

"Maybe American people don't know why we come here," said Jose, a Stafford student who didn't want his last name used. "Maybe if American people would come to our country and see how we live, maybe they would understand our position."

Two years ago, Jose came from Honduras to be with his mother. He was 4 when his parents left their impoverished country to find work in America.

Jose was left behind, with his grandmother.

His father later died, and his mother tried to get home to see him, but couldn't.

"When I turned 16, I decided to come over here," he said.

That was two years ago, and Jose is glad he made the perilous trip, even though he doesn't know what his future might hold.

He'd like to be a dentist, "but if I don't have citizenship, I can't go to college. I don't really know what I'm going to do."

Stories like his are repeated over and over by Hispanics who've come here looking for a better lives.

Nadia, who also is an illegal immigrant and doesn't want her last name used, has been in North Stafford for more than a year. She was a dental assistant in her home country of Peru, but doesn't speak English, so she washes dishes at a restaurant.

She sometimes works side-by-side with her father, who was a psychology professor in Peru.

Neither minds the physical labor; both are happy to have jobs and earn money.

Through an interpreter, Nadia said that in Peru she could work for years and never be able to save anything because she barely made enough to survive.

"But I'm here a year and I have a car," she said.

She's happy, and her co-workers treat her well.

"I can't complain about this," she said.

Librarian Craig Schulin contributed to this story.


Reporter Cathy Dyson and Photographer Dana Romanoff are working on an in-depth series about the impact of the growing Hispanic community on the Fredericksburg area.


To reach CATHY DYSON: 540/374-5425
Email: cdyson@freelancestar.com