Thread: PA: Report on Franklin County's immigrants

Franklin County's immigrants
By TRACY PANZER Staff writer
Chambersburg Public Opinion

Part 1 of a 2 part series on immigrants in the area

It's no secret that immigrants live in Franklin County.

An increasing number of Hispanic and Mexican stores in downtown Chambersburg, and a growing student population in schools begins to tell the story.

But how many immigrants live in the community with all the proper documentation, and how many have set up home illegally?

The answer is unclear, although it's not hard to find area residents with strongly held opinions on it.

The U.S. Census Bureau statistics aren't accurate, according to officials, and don't track those in the country illegally. Web sites exist that count the number of illegal immigrants, but it is unclear where the numbers -- many of them inconsistent -- are coming from.

Statewide reports indicate that more than 400,000 documented Latinos and Hispanics live in Pennsylvania, and that 77,000 to 175,000 immigrants are in the state illegally.

Chambersburg Police Department Detective Will Frisby said Hispanics throughout the community tell him 80 percent are here illegally. He said the department, however, doesn't have cold, hard numbers.

Congressman Bill Shuster and Joanne Cochran, director of Keystone Health Center in Chambersburg, which provides medical care to residents of all income levels, each said illegals are in the vast minority.

"To be perfectly honest I think there's a very small number of people here illegally," Cochran said. "Sure, some aren't here legally, but for the most part I think this whole thing has gotten blown way out of proportion."

Shuster added: "In our part of the country we haven't see the inflow of illegals as they do into other parts of the country."

L. Michael Ross, president of the Franklin County Area Development Corp, said he, too, isn't sure of just how many immigrants are in the community illegally.

"I don't know the number of illegal immigrants. I know that there is a growing ethnic population. The Latino population is clearly growing and I know there's also growing numbers coming in from eastern Europe, but to what extent the population is illegal, I don't know. People speculate all over the place as to number and the impact but I'm not sure how anybody knows if anyone is illegal," he said.

He added, "I'm not naive to think there aren't illegals throughout the community and workplace, but I don't know how many."

Opinions are across the board, but few concrete facts exist on local or national levels.

Franklin County resident James Taylor -- who did border patrols with the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps in 2005 -- said immigration is the "biggest issue in the country today, surpassing even the war." Like many others, he said he doesn't have any factual numbers, it's information he'd like to get and it's a problem the country has to get a handle on.

"The problem is the people who are in a position to know don't want to know," he said. "I think they're afraid to find out."

By the numbers

The 2000 census reports indicates about 400,000 Latinos and Hispanics lived in Pennsylvania alone, but Margaret Brewer, executive director of the Pennsylvania Association of Latino Organizations, said that number is undercounted by 10 to 15 percent. PALO's figures are based on data analyzed from Head Start, workforce development and school districts across the state.

A 2005 American Community Survey by the Census Bureau estimates 3,573 of Franklin County's 134,409 residents are Hispanic or Latino, while 4,811 residents are foreign-born.

Documented Hispanics and Latinos -- at 2.7 percent -- make up the largest minority population in the county, according to the census. They're also the largest minority population in the country, at 14.5 percent.

There are about 484,679 Hispanic or Latino people living in Pennsylvania, and an estimated 43.1 million documented Hispanics and Latinos nationwide, according to the Census Bureau.

Brewer declined to estimate how many people are in the United States illegally, explaining that no concrete data exist.

But PEW Hispanic Center estimated in March 2005 that 125,000 to 175,000 migrants inhabited Pennsylvania illegally, while the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) reported at that same time about 77,000.

Immigration and Naturalization Services (now merged into the Department of Homeland Security) reported the resident illegal population in Pennsylvania was 49,000 in January 2000. An estimated 11 million people are in the country illegally, according to FAIR.

"Even with the census report, we are not able to get an accurate number of the Latino population in Pennsylvania, or the United States," Brewer said. "I wouldn't be able to even venture a guess as it wouldn't be accurate."

Why the United States?

Brewer said work brings most immigrants to the states. Many, she said, are battling hard times in their homelands, and are forced to decide what to do in order to feed their families.

They come to the states, she said, where they can receive better pay. They send money back to their home countries, where their families use it to buy basic necessities.

"(Immigrants) are making a decision to support their family," she said. "How far would you go knowing that tomorrow you might not be able to put food on your table?"

They're coming from countries with no public assistance, and very low salaries, Brewer said.

"What I always want to emphasize is that the folks who come from these countries don't have welfare," Brewer said. "They're not looking to sponge off our system. Instead, they're looking to survive, and support their families."

She said immigrants are attracted to communities where they might have family who already have set up a home. She said an immigrant might get word that work is available in certain areas of the country -- including Franklin and Adams counties -- and make a move for money.

Experts say immigration clearly has an effect on the economy, but without any concrete numbers, determining the exact impact that illegal immigrants have on the local economy proves to be a challenge.

Shuster said many immigrants come to Pennsylvania to work in agriculture, construction and hospitality. He said the immigrants often are here legally, and willing to do work that many American-born citizens won't consider.

He said Franklin County's low unemployment rate deems it necessary to continue to bring immigrants to the area. They're not here to take away jobs from unemployed locals by working for less than minimum wage, he explained.

"My experience in dealing with the businesses that employ immigrant workers is that by and large the vast majority are here legally, and are very hard workers," he said. "Those are the kinds of folks we want to make sure continue to come here."

Some immigrants come into the country on a temporary work visa, and remain even after it expires, Brewer said.

In certain parts of the country, she said immigrants will follow the crop season by traveling from state to state to work various jobs. They're "full-time migrant workers," she said.

The face of an immigrant

Immigrants of all ages, ethnicities and sexes come to America. But Brewer said many who migrate to Pennsylvania are males with families in Mexico and Central America. They are here for work, she said. Many are in their 20s and 30s, but she said they run the gamut.

Of Franklin County's total 4,811 foreign-born residents, an estimated 1,278 are between 35 and 44, according to a 2005 American Community Survey. About 1,037 between 45 and 55, while 1,616 are under 35.

The same survey shows that of the estimated 3,573 Hispanic or Latino residents reported in the county, 1,971 were foreign-born.

The census bureau reports in 2000, there were 2,268 Hispanics or Latinos in the county -- 1,271 were males and 997 were females. The median age was 23, and 1,007 (ages 16 or older) were in the labor force.

The average household size was three residents, but the average family size was four people. An estimated 1,397 of the residents in 2000 five years and older spoke a language other than English while at home.

False perceptions

Brewer acknowledges that not all Hispanics or Latinos have entered the country legally. But she said the perception that every Hispanic or Latino is in the United States illegally impacts anyone of that nationality.

She said it forces immigrants -- both legal and illegal -- to "dehumanize and live in their shadows."

"They fear day to day that they're going to be scooped up and sent out of the country, to what might not even be their country of origin," Brewer said.

She said immigrants come to the United States with an understanding that they must learn English, but often need time and help before mastering the language.

Curbing illegal immigration

Shuster said he strongly supports immigration, but not when it's done illegally.

"An important part of our national security is to know who is coming across our borders," he said. "We have very little sovereignty of our southern borders."

He said the process to get into the United States must be streamlined, and the government must crack down.

He also said he strongly supports the use of biometric identification cards for immigrants, which he said would then be used to obtain permits and necessary paperwork for employment.

A biometric card would contain an aspect of a person's physical makeup -- including a fingerprint or DNA --and far more difficult to falsify, Shuster said.

"That in itself would cut down in huge numbers the illegals coming into the country," he said.

Tracy Panzer can be reached at tpanzer@publicopinionnews.com or 262-4754.

http://www.publicopiniononline.com/localnews/ci_6490767

WHAT A BUNCH OF CRAP!!!!!!!!!!