Thread: Some uneasy as illegals change face of Minn. town

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/200 ... -IDs_x.htm

Some uneasy as illegals change face of Minn. town
By Judy Keen, USA TODAY
WORTHINGTON, Minn. — Rocio Vargas, 23, came here four months ago from a small town in Mexico. She hasn't found a job and wishes people in this town of 11,000 would understand that illegal immigrants "have a dream and we have hopes."

Justin Grimmius, who grew up and works here but lives 25 miles away, frowns when he's asked about illegal immigrants in a town where 30% of the population was born outside the United States. "You get used to it," says Grimmius, 27. "But it's something you shouldn't have to get used to."

In some ways, Worthington typifies towns across the USA that are experiencing an influx of illegal immigrants. Some residents are dismayed by changes in their community. Some newcomers feel isolated and unwelcome. Others say the influx adds cultural vitality and keeps the town and its economy alive.

Public safety director Mike Cumiskey says there's been no surge in crime. Schools Superintendent John Landgaard says the public schools have challenges, but no big problems. In fact those officials, along with Mayor Alan Oberloh and hospital administrator Melvin Platt, don't want illegal immigrants to be sent home unless they are criminals. They want them to be given legal status under a guest-worker program so they can live here without fear.

"If you pull these people out of our economy, what's going to happen? Nobody wants to talk about that," Cumiskey says. "It's easy to stay outside our city and say, 'You ought to send all those people back.' That's not the answer."

As the mayor puts it: "We don't want to stop immigration. We want to fix the immigration situation."

Oberloh wrote to Gov. Tim Pawlenty last fall to ask for help with Worthington's biggest problem, one that would ease if immigrants had legal status: the sale of identity documents such as birth certificates and Social Security cards. "We desperately need your help, and soon," he wrote.

In response, Pawlenty asked for a study that concluded there are up to 85,000 illegal immigrants in Minnesota, costing the public $188 million a year. Members of Congress and state legislators came here to hold town meetings. Pawlenty proposed a team to enforce immigration laws, establishing tough penalties for possession of false IDs and fining employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants.

This week, the Minnesota House voted to end local ordinances that bar police from asking people about their legal status. Congress is debating several immigration bills, and the House passed one that would require employers to verify workers' immigration status. President Bush wants a guest-worker program that would give legal status to illegal immigrants with jobs.

On the east edge of town is the Swift & Co. meatpacking plant, Worthington's largest employer with about 2,300 workers. The plant is the magnet that drew Hispanic immigrants here when it added a shift a few years ago.

A wave of immigrants arrived here in the 1970s from Laos and other Southeast Asia countries after the Vietnam War. By 1990, 7% of Worthington's residents were minorities. Immigrants, some illegal, from Mexico and Central America now make up 20% of the population, and the mayor says Hispanic leaders tell him most of them are here illegally.

New businesses popping up

Small businesses opened by newcomers, including markets Tienda Guatemala and Tienda Telvis, La Fiesta clothing store and several restaurants, have kept downtown alive despite Wal-Mart's arrival a few years ago.

At the Nobles County Integration Collaborative, a resource center for immigrants funded by six area school districts, youngsters and adults learn English, get help finding jobs and study cultural awareness. "We're trying to help people understand that people come here for the same reason that our ancestors did: opportunity," says Sharon Johnson, who runs the center.

The media attention Worthington has received since its appeal to the governor makes some people feel scrutinized and insecure. Fatima Mendoza, 18, left her 1-year-old daughter in El Salvador, but she doesn't have a job and doesn't go out alone. "I don't have a complete life here," she says.


By Jim Mone, AP
Customers arrive at Video Lupita in Worthington, Minn., where eight men tried to forge paychecks three years ago. Arrested a short time later, they were found with 66 forged paychecks and multiple sets of fake IDs.


"People don't want us here," says Manuel Sanchez, 37, who came here two months ago from Mexico. Some residents, including retiree Beverly Kruse, have befriended newcomers. She says locals who don't accept them "just have made up their mind that they don't like them." Police Capt. Chris Dybevick says he's written up one complaint for discrimination in 10 years.

Craig Sailor, 44, owns the A&T Tap, a downtown bar frequented by longtime residents and immigrants. He has few gripes with the newcomers. There's a language barrier, he says, although "Budweiser is a universal language."

Figuring out who's who is the biggest problem here. Platt, who runs Worthington Regional Hospital, says illegal immigrants have come to the emergency room using the same ID. He worries that the consequences could be fatal if one patient says he has no allergies and another immigrant shows up later with the same ID but is allergic to some drug. "The liability, then, is whose? It's ours," Platt says.

'Let's help them' assimilate

Cumiskey says the sale of fake and authentic birth certificates and Social Security cards is routine. Immigrants need proof of identity to work. Real IDs sell for about $1,200. People using false identities are afraid to report crimes, he says.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a branch of the Homeland Security Department, investigated 3,591 cases of identity and benefits fraud in fiscal year 2005 — up from 2,334 in 2004.

Police detective Sgt. Kevin Flynn says, "We need to know who we're sitting across from talking to, and those people need to be able to say, 'This is who I am.' "

Oberloh, Cumiskey and Platt say a guest worker program would end that problem. "Let's help them become part of society," Landgaard says. "Many of the people who are here want the same things my grandparents wanted when they came from Norway."

I believe, Swift has been hireing cheap illegals for years in Texas and New Mexico. They used to be fined for it - looks like they are expanding.

Notice that some have been here for months and still don't have a job! How in the hell are they surviving?? I guess we all know the answer, we are paying for it!!

Originally Posted by gofer

Notice that some have been here for months and still don't have a job! How in the hell are they surviving?? I guess we all know the answer, we are paying for it!!

I noticed that too. What a piece of crap!

Email Swift and tell them you know they are hiring illegals, and will not purchase their products any longer, as we know those people were not given health exams. I did this with Conagra and Cook's Ham.