Delaware increases resources for Hispanics

delmarvanow.com
Written by
Ethan Rothstein
Nov. 22, 2011

GEORGETOWN --While the Hispanic population on Delmarva grows, local governments are looking for ways to make the country's fastest growing demographic feel like they belong.

The struggle for Hispanics, according to Maria Joseph, director of First Steps Primeros Pasos, a language learning center for Latino children, is not a simple one. There are immigrants who don't have the documentation to get a driver's license, yet must drive to work to support their family. If they are pulled over, that usually results in deportation.

"My mother left me at six months because she was deported," Joseph said. "I'm proud of who I am now, and I've forgiven my mother. I see this all over with the families (at the center). It's important for me to lend that hand, to show the children that they can do what I've done."

Even for legal immigrants, finding work and affordable housing is a constant struggle if language is a barrier. First Steps has adult English as a second language courses to help, but frequently not enough is being done.

Part of the government's role in easing these concerns includes providing resources, said Gene Dvornick, town manager of Georgetown.

"The town is active with different associations and we must be aware that the demographic is changing and provide resources to (those groups)," he said. "We're working with the community and different agencies so we're aware of what's happening with their community as well as the community as a whole."

Miguel Gutierrez owns Fiesta Mex, a Latino grocery store and restaurant in Salisbury, and is the general coordinator for Latcoop Cooperative Incorporated, a cooperative of Hispanic shops and restaurants on Delmarva.

Gutierrez said across the country people are turning on Hispanics, many of whom feel unwelcome and, as he said, like they're being targeted. He said Salisbury is "average" in its treatment of Hispanics.

"I think (Salisbury) is pretty much average. They're really trying to get people out of the country," he said. "Talking to illegal immigrants, they're making every effort possible just to take them out."

Salisbury Mayor Jim Ireton said the police aren't targeting illegals, but if a police officer makes a traffic stop and the driver doesn't have a license, "we have to bring them in."

As the demographics for towns on the peninsula change -- there's explosive growth in Southern Delaware, according to the 2010 U.S. Census -- governments will need to adapt and accept a community that feels victimized to a certain extent.

Among the ways governments are trying to become more accessible are training employees, in particular law enforcement, to become bilingual; posting public notices in English and Spanish; and having government officials meet with community groups.

Clifton Murray, mayor of Selbyville, said Hispanics are "welcome" in his town, but that the government doesn't do anything in particular to make them feel that way.

"I don't hear that we have any issues," he said. "We just treat them like everybody else."

Many times, Gutierrez said, it's not the government that's the problem; it's their neighbors. Politicians on TV are using harsh anti-immigration rhetoric, which is feeding negativity.

"There's resentment, there's misunderstanding," he said. "There's no hope right now, and I don't see that changing."

erothstein@dmg.gannett.com

http://www.delmarvanow.com/article/2011 ... t|Delaware