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Mexicans' numbers surging in region
Hispanics in southern New Jersey are predominantly Puerto Rican, but Mexicans are challenging that dominance.

By John Froonjian, Special Reports Unit
Published: Sunday, October 1, 2006
A surge of Mexican immigrants is changing the ethnic makeup of this region's Hispanic population.
Mexican immigration, much of it illegal, has grown steadily since 1990. But it has spiked sharply within the past five years, doubling the Mexican population in parts of this region, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.

For years, the term “Hispanic” pretty much meant “Puerto Rican” in southern New Jersey. Not anymore. So many Mexicans are moving in that the long-established Puerto Rican community finds itself adapting culturally, socially and economically.

The Mexican influx has provided a new ally in Hispanics' battles against discrimination and for better housing, jobs and education. But it has also created resentment and tension. Some Puerto Ricans fear competition for affordable housing, social services and economic opportunity.

The population shift surprised Puerto Rican native Gladys Lugardo, 58, when she moved from Newark to Cumberland County six years ago. She had visited friends and relatives in Vineland over time and felt comfortable moving into Bridgeton.

She heard people speaking Spanish, but the cadence and rhythm were unfamiliar.
“They were not Puerto Rican,” she said.

She has since watched Mexican immigrants fill the houses and schools in town and open businesses in empty shops.

“You walk down the street in Bridgeton and you think you're in Mexico,” Lugardo said. “In fact, they're calling it Little Mexico.”

Hispanics are driving American population growth, and Mexicans make up the biggest part of that growth. Nearly two-thirds of all Hispanics in the United States are Mexican.

There are concentrations of Dominicans and Cubans in northern New Jersey. But Puerto Ricans have long been the dominant Hispanic ethnicity in New Jersey and the Northeast.

That has been especially true in southern New Jersey, where farm work abounds and the cost of living is lower. Puerto Ricans are still the area's and state's largest Hispanic group. But Mexicans are challenging Puerto Ricans' dominance in this region.

In 1990, there were 12 Puerto Ricans for every Mexican living in Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland and Ocean counties. Last year, there were three Puerto Ricans for every two Mexicans, according to census estimates. Atlantic County's Mexican population nearly doubled since 2000 to 9,800. In Ocean County, it grew by 132 percent; Mexicans now slightly outnumber Puerto Ricans in the county, the census estimates.

One immigrant who asked not to be identified said he left Mexico City and walked across the U.S. border two years ago to escape poverty. Family members had sent him $2,500 to pay a middleman to bring him east once he made it into America. Now, he lives in Bridgeton among other Mexicans, both legal residents and undocumented aliens, and works picking vegetables at an area farm.

Signs of such immigration are evident throughout the region. New arrivals are joining relatives in rural Hammonton. Cumberland County's Mexican population grew by 68 percent over five years. Mexicans are opening businesses on Landis Avenue in Vineland. Mexican immigrants are filling the pews of the 93-year-old Church of the Immaculate Conception on Pearl Street in Bridgeton. The Rev. Daniel DiNardo said the numbers of marriages and baptisms are way up.

And in Atlantic City, Boom Supermarket owner Diego Garces doesn't need statistics to know there are more Mexicans. He only has to check what's selling in his market in the ethnically diverse neighborhood near Albany Avenue.

Garces, 36, opened the store two and a half years ago after sensing opportunity within the growing Hispanic population. He has seen that group diversify in a short time. More Central and South Americans, are joining Mexicans in moving into Atlantic City. Garces adapts by stocking new items. The Goya products favored by Puerto Ricans fill Aisle 2B. Aisle 3A features jars of Mexican salsas and Ibarra Mexican chocolate.

"They like different things," Garces said of the ethnic groups, "so there are different companies we buy from.

"The Puerto Ricans like a lot of pork. Mexicans like pork, too, but they buy more chicken," he said. "Chicken is cheaper."

Organizers of Festival Latino Americano, held three weeks ago in Atlantic City, stressed diversity when they planned the Hispanic heritage celebration. Bert Lopez of the Hispanic Alliance of Atlantic County said one festival goal is to dispel perceptions of a monolithic Hispanic culture. Festival music planners considered the merengue and salsa styles Puerto Ricans enjoy as well as cumbia and mariachi bands popular with Mexicans. Vendors sold food from many countries.

"We don't all eat tacos," Lopez said.

He said cultural differences don't prevent Hispanics from working together to fight discrimination, poverty, poor education and exploitation of immigrants.

Still, one major difference sets Mexicans and Puerto Ricans apart: Puerto Rico is part of the United States; Mexico is not. Puerto Ricans are citizens; many newly arrived Mexicans entered the United States "without papers." That difference leads to separate treatment and experiences.

Puerto Ricans can move freely between New Jersey and their homeland. Undocumented Mexicans cannot easily leave the country. If they do leave and want to return, they must re-enter illegally.

Puerto Ricans don't need a green card to work. Undocumented Mexicans have few work options other than strenuous, low-paying jobs with employers who ignore the law against hiring illegal aliens.

Needy Puerto Rican families can qualify for welfare and food stamps. Mexicans can get food stamps only for children born in the United States.

Puerto Ricans have legal recourse against landlords, businesses and employers who cheat them. Undocumented Mexicans do have options, but usually they do nothing for fear of being deported.

"Any documented Latino is better off economically and socially," Lopez said.

The common language of Spanish binds Hispanics, but the ability to speak English differentiates Puerto Ricans from Mexican immigrants.

Many Puerto Rican families have lived in the States for decades; typically, the second or third generation speaks English fluently. That ability helps them deal easily with government, employers, retailers - all aspects of American culture. It helps provide mobility. Puerto Rican families who speak English don't need to live only in Spanish-speaking neighborhoods.

But Mexican immigrants who don't speak English move in a small circle. They stick close - geographically and socially - to those who speak Spanish. They work with other Mexicans who translate for them. They shop at Mexican groceries, or bodegas.

The Rev. DiNardo sees the effect at Immaculate Conception Church in Bridgeton. Puerto Ricans might attend the four weekend Masses celebrated in English; Mexicans largely attend the two Masses said in Spanish.

Mexican immigrants rely heavily on Mexicans already here. One legal resident who asked not to be identified said he takes undocumented immigrants into his home until they get settled.

One effect of immigrants' limited social mobility: Mexicans don't directly compete with Puerto Ricans for the same work. Puerto Ricans may have initially come to the region for farm work, but speaking English has allowed many to move into better-paying jobs, Lopez and others said.

Mexicans often stick with manual labor that doesn't require them to speak except to a Spanish-speaking crew leader. They pick crops, clean hotel rooms, process food or fish on an assembly line or work in landscaping.

Some immigrants try to enter the mainstream using phony identification or working papers obtained in the black market. If an alien can pass for a Puerto Rican, he or she can obtain government benefits. That type of scam angers Puerto Ricans, Lopez said.

"There are some Puerto Ricans whose identities have been compromised. It's a point of contention," he said.

Several Puerto Ricans, when discussing tension with the new immigrants, voiced the same complaint: They don't play by the rules.

For example, immigrants will register their cars in states with looser standards than New Jersey and drive without insurance. Hit-and-run accidents have increased in Bridgeton along with Mexican immigration.

Teresa Torres, acting director of the Aspira youth program in Vineland, said an undocumented immigrant's car rear-ended the car of her friend.

"The driver had no papers, no insurance. And he doesn't have to pay," she said.

Lugardo, who hosts a Spanish-language radio show, said poor women complain about losing benefits under welfare reform while they see Mexican women - who aren't eligible for welfare - receive food stamps for fast-growing families.

"It's amazing," Torres added. "I've seen them come in here and they have six kids."

Lopez said affordable housing is one area in which established residents feel pinched. The market is already tight. A flood of immigrants competing for the same housing only makes it worse.

Joana Flores, a caseworker with Tri-County Community Action Partnership, a Bridgeton social services program, said the immigrants have little choice but to live where housing is cheapest. She said the immigrants endure hardship in many aspects of life to escape poverty in Mexico.

They live in run-down housing, but may still pay $100 per person each week in rent, Flores said. Sometimes employers cheat them at pay time or work them in violation of labor laws.

"Thank God I have a degree, so I don't have to work in the fields," said Flores, a university-educated Mexican who has lived legally in America for more than five years.

Flores is not the only one who marvels at the Mexicans' work ethic; they are widely praised as hard workers. Torres noted they take the jobs no one else wants.

Reina Irizarry-Medina, academic adviser for Aspira, said she sees Mexicans advance quickly through hard work where she lives in Hammonton. It's not long before farm workers can afford a new car and then a house. They live frugally, with several families splitting mortgage costs, until they can afford something better.

"You really have to admire them for working the way they do," Irizarry-Medina said.

When Rafael Rivera arrived from Mexico City in this area 22 years ago, he found work in the kitchens of Italian restaurants. In time he learned how to make pizza and cheese steaks. He recently bought his second pizzeria, Carlo's Pizza on Chestnut Avenue in Vineland.

Rivera's customer base is a melting pot of whites, Hispanics, Asians and blacks. But he said after 20 years of practice, his cooking is all Italian.

Lugardo and others praised Mexican parents for being involved in their children's education. The parents frequently attend school meetings, and the children are good students.

"I see them coming in, even if they have to miss work," said Lugardo, a teacher's aide. "I get jealous. I say, 'Where are our people?'"

Still, some Puerto Ricans look down on Mexican immigrants, several people admitted. Many of the Mexicans come from Oaxaca, a largely rural area south of Mexico City, and they lack sophistication.

Lugardo said "it seemed like 25 Mexicans" lived in one house on her street for a while. She said children playing outside did not go indoors when they had to go to the bathroom. The men hung out in the street at night, drinking beer from the trunk of a car and playing loud music.

Flores said immigrants living far from home might not see their families for years. Many get lonely and depressed. That's not an excuse for drunkenness, Flores said. But if they don't have transportation, there is very little to do in their few leisure hours.

Tension between the two groups may be strongest among the young. Generally, Puerto Rican students feel peer pressure not to associate with young Mexicans.

The Hispanic Alliance sends speakers of various ethnic backgrounds into high schools each year to teach leadership skills and defuse tensions.

"All Latinos are in the same boat to a certain extent. It does not benefit any of us to not get along," Lopez said.

Torres said she teaches her teenage daughter to respect different cultures and not to form cliques. But Torres agreed there is some bias.

"Mexicans are more humble. They take a lot of crap from Puerto Ricans because they (undocumented Mexicans) don't have any rights," Torres said.

Actually, even undocumented aliens have rights against exploitation and abuse. Organizations like the Salvation Army and Catholic Charities work to educate immigrants and improve their lives. Few Mexicans formally complain, though, because they fear being deported. Many new arrivals simply work hard, keep a low profile and help each other out.

But as the census numbers show, it's becoming harder for this mushrooming ethnic group to keep its presence from being felt.