http://www.vaildaily.com/article/200506 ... /106270018

Migrant brings his family to Colorado



Brady McCombs
June 27, 2005

GREELEY - Wearing dark sunglasses and a white
bandana to cover his head and
neck from the beating sun, Alberto Dominguez
saunters up and down the rows
of planted carrots using his hoe to clear the
weeds.

Dominguez, 34, of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, has
worked in the Weld County
fields for the past 13 years, coming and going
from Mexico. But this year,
he decided to bring his wife and four children to
Colorado. They crossed the
El Paso, Texas, border with tourist visas.

"We were always separated," Dominguez said, "and
I thought it would be
better to be unified."

In the past decade, Dominguez's story has become
more commonplace than any
other immigrant tale in the United States.
Dominguez is one of the 10.3
million "unauthorized migrants" who account for
29 percent of the
foreign-born population in the United States,
according to a recent study
completed by the Pew Hispanic Center.

The study also reveals that migrants have been
coming to the country at
greater rates than legal immigrants since 1995.
Two-thirds of migrants in
the country today have been in the country for
less than 10 years.

Colorado ranks among the top 10 "settlement
states," ranking behind
California, New York, Texas, Florida, Illinois,
New Jersey, Arizona, North
Carolina, and Georgia with between 200,000 to
250,000 migrants, the study
said.

In terms of unauthorized growth, Colorado falls
among the top five states in
the nation, with illegal immigrants accounting
for between 48 percent and 54
percent of the foreign-born population in the
state.

Penny Gonzales-Soto, immigrant and refugee
program supervisor for Catholic
Charities Northern, said it's nice to see a study
that confirms many of the
long-thought assumptions about the immigrant
population. She found it most
interesting that Colorado is in the category of
the "very highest" states
for new unauthorized migrant growth, she said.



Safer in Greeley

Dominguez first came to Denver 13 years ago
because he had a friend there.
He didn't like the big city and roamed north to
Weld County, where he found
work in the agriculture industry and a relaxed
environment in Greeley.

He brought his family this year to give his four
children better educational
and career opportunities, he said. His two older
sons, 13 and 9, and oldest
daughter, 12, will enroll in elementary and
middle schools next year.
Dominguez said he'll need to find another job
soon to pay for the clothes
and books they'll need.

He said he feels safer in Greeley than in Ciudad
Juarez, a border city where
gangs and delinquents run the street. He said
he's never had trouble with
his lack of documentation in his 13 years and
always manages to obtain
adequate documents to satisfy employers.

He gets paid in checks that he said he usually
cashes at Jerry's Market or
Wal-Mart. Dominguez said it doesn't bother him
when people call for him and
other illegal immigrants to return to Mexico.

"It doesn't bother me because America is ours,"
said Dominguez in Spanish.
"This used to be Mexico ... I don't feel bad at
all."


'Anchor babies'

The study reveals complicated family structures
that could present dilemmas
for lawmakers considering amnesty or guest-worker
legislation.

For instance, nearly one-third of families headed
by illegal immigrants have
children who are U.S. citizens, creating "mixed
families." These children
could become so-called "anchor babies," citizens
who can later petition for
legal status for other family members.

In addition, more than half of the men and 81
percent of the women are
married. President Bush has publicly called for
an overhaul of immigration
policies and said he supported a temporary
guest-worker program.

A recent proposal from Sen. John McCain of
Arizona and Sen. Edward Kennedy
of Massachusetts would include giving temporary
legal status to undocumented
immigrants already in the United States so they
could work without fear of
arrest or deportation.

The question remains, how will they handle the
children and spouses of these
workers and their contrasting documentation
status? Gonzales-Soto has seen
these mixed-families for years in Greeley and
Weld County and worries what
the future holds for them.

"You have kids who are our future and who are
their parents? They are
probably unauthorized immigrants," Gonzales-Soto
said. "What are those kids'
values going to be considering the way we treat
their parents?"

Additionally, the study found that unauthorized
migrants have less
education, make less money, and are less likely
to have health insurance
than legal immigrants and U.S. natives.



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