Thread: Neighborhood struggles with illegal immigration

http://www.insidebayarea.com/dailyrevie ... ci_3771800

Article Last Updated: 05/01/2006 03:18:39 AM PDT

Neighborhood struggles with illegal immigration
Fremont residents divided over whether influx is good or bad
By Jonathan Jones, STAFF WRITER


FREMONT — Next to a vacant lot at the corner of Central Avenue and Dusterberry Way in Centerville is Mi Terre Market. The store sells fresh fruits and vegetables, meat, and products from Latin America, or as the sign in the window says: "Fruta y verdura fresco, carniceria, completa productors de Mexico y Latinos."
Sometimes Arab, Asian, African and white Americans come into the shop. But mostly the clientele is Latino men and women who do not speak English and who live in overcrowded one- or two-bedroom apartments across the street, store clerk Rosa Ruiz said.

"Everyone who comes into this store is an immigrant," Ruiz said. "The guy who brings our produce, I assume, is Mexican. The guy who brings our meat is Asian. The guy who brings the soda is Latino. I have yet to see any products brought by a Caucasian. Everything is brought by immigrants."

None of this bothers Ruiz, who is 18. Her mother, a native of Jaslisco, Mexico, snuck into the United States when she was 14.

She worked as a cook and a janitor and eventually became a citizen. Her father also crossed the desert as a teenager, she said, but he doesn't talk about it.

"My family used to live in a one-bedroom apartment in Sunnyvale," said Ruiz, who since has moved to a bigger apartment in Newark. "It was my parents, five children and a babysitter all living there. ... My mother wanted to go back to Mexico, but my sister became sick and needed a blood transfusion, so we stayed here."

Throughout the Bay Area, the face of immigration, especially illegal immigration, can be seen in people washing and waxing cars, cleaning hotel rooms, building big-box retail stores, and clearing tables and cooking in the back kitchens of major chain restaurants.

But on the eve of today's student boycott and work stoppage organized by immigrant rights activists, in the heart of one of the Latino neighborhoods in Fremont that have become havens for illegal immigrants, the community remains divided over whether an influx of immigrants has helped or hurt this country.

Dave Kay, a 39-year-old auto mechanic, grew up in Fremont. Now he feels like a stranger in his own neighborhood. When he applied for a job at a local fast-food restaurant, he was turned down "because I wasn't a certain ethnicity."

But what bothers Kay is not only that immigrants are taking jobs away from American citizens, but that the large number of illegal immigrants has created little incentive for them to assimilate.

"The schoolteachers are speaking in Spanish," Kay said. "Now, wait a minute — this is America, where we speak English."

In a house across from the odd shopping cart and a strip of apartment complexes, Christine Falcon watches from her porch as, two or three times a day, immigrants from the Middle East, Latin America or Asia come to pick lemons from a tree on her front lawn.

Falcon, a Fremont native who has lived on Central Avenue for six years, describes her current neighborhood as "Grand Central" for immigrants.

Through the years, she learned a little bit about her Latino neighbors. Falcon and her husband, who is Hispanic, used to tutor children across the street. A couple of years ago, she hired a couple of illegal immigrants to clean her house .

Sometimes the police come by to warn about a possible flare-up of violence between the gangs of Norteos and Sureos, she said. But Falcon said she feels safe here. "They're not looking to fight me," she said. "They're looking to fight each other."

Some property owners complain that the city has failed to crack down on apartments overcrowded with illegal immigrants, which they contend have led to an increase in gang crime.

Police Chief Craig Steckler said the Police Department is not aware of any problems regarding overcrowding.

While he said the city has had problems with crime "in and around Central Avenue and along Thornton Avenue," he does not believe there is a direct connection between illegal immigration and gang activities.

"Gang membership runs the gamut," Steckler said. "People who say (there is a connection) are stereotyping."

One landlord, who asked that his name not be used because he did not want to cause any trouble with city officials or gang members, said some of the landlords turn a blind eye to overcrowding because they can charge more for rent.

Gloria Lando, a specialist for the nonprofit agency Fremont Fair Housing and Landlord-Tenant Services, confirmed his contention.

Her agency has received calls regarding at least one of the apartment complexes along Central, she said. But legally, there's little the agency can do , unless the landlord discriminates according to race, religion, gender, ethnicity or sexual orientation, she said.

In other words, it's all right to be slumlord as long as you're an equal-opportunity slumlord, she said.

Down the road at Centerville Presbyterian, Janice Silberhorn shelves books at the church library. As a member of the church for more than 40 years, she has seen the neighborhood gradually change with the arrival of new immigrants.

"They just want an opportunity to make money, and Vicente Fox isn't going to help them," Silberhorn said. "As long as people need cheap labor, they're going to come."

Besides, Silberhorn added: "I'm not as much concerned about immigration as I am about CEOs earning gross amounts of money."

Jonathan Jones covers ethnic, religious and cultural issues. He can be reached at (510) 353-7005, or jjones@angnewspapers.com.

As someone who was driven out of my neighborhood of 20 years, I can speak first hand of my experience. I watched my working class, multi-ethnic neighborhhod go down hill as soon as the El Salvardorians moved 15 - 20 to each townhouse. They drank beer and busted bottles in the parking lot and on the sidewalk. They hung out in groupss outside their house and harrassed childrena nd woman. They amount of trash put out was mond boggling. I truly enjoyed the Latino music that was blasted morning noon and night. Broken windows, missing shutters, trash in the yard. The best one was slaughtering a live pig in the backyard. I could look outside my kitchen window and watch men bath in metal tubs because they houses had only one bathroom I sold my property and fled to Western Pa. I cannot tell you how much my quality of life has improved. No one talks about this issues but boy oh boy to I have stories to tell

I hear you steelerbabe, I lived in the part of the city I live in now 20 years ago and just moved back as the city is where the jobs are and I will tell you this part of the city that was mostly italian and citizens is now mostly illegal aliens and most of the stores cater to them. I have to go out of town to shop as I do not subsist on tacos and beans.

The next is something written by a happy (MOD EDIT) (me, betito) living in his happy (MOD EDIT) Country (Mexico)

We all know that immigrants get into the U.S. from every part of the world from every U.S. border and airport, legally or illegal. And even if many of them get there legally with a tourist VISA, many of them will stay there even after their visas have expired,.....such as: thousands of Europeans, Asians, Africans, North Americans, South Americans, Cubans, and the list goes on and on......"

And of course, they know for a fact that they will not be welcome at all and will be rejected hated and blamed for many social and political problems. (But of course I'm not saying that they will not contribute for many of those problems as well).

And why do they escape to the richer countries anyway?.......Because for many decades their chances are absolutely none to be eligible just for a regular tourist visa, and even worse or impossible to obtain a temporary working-visa, because of their low economic or professional status.

If many of them try to wait for the next available migration or work-amnesty, they will have to wait for many years for a tiny hope of a better life.

Of course, in an "Dream world" nobody would be willing to leave their families, friends, hometowns, religions, cultures, foods, identities, dreams and much more just for the heck of it. The reasons for doing such things are way stronger than just for obtaining a few more food-stamps to exchange or to get better medical care. But of course, nobody lives in a "Dream World".

But I agree, many poor illegal aliens take advantage of welfare or other social and medical benefits, but let's not blame them all for this, because honest and dishonest people can be found everywhere regardless of their legal status.

And of course many of them have failed for you and me but many of them legal or not, have made beautiful and enormous contributions for that incredible society

Anyway, illegal immigration is absolutely wrong and so bad from every point of view, and not only for the countries they migrate to but for the countries they leave behind,......"

Because they are making the countries they migrate to a lot richer but problematic, and at the same time they are making the countries they leave behind a lot poorer and more problematic. And of course, many americans say: Hell no, they are not making my country richer or better !! , .....Mmmm, hell yeah, because most of them went there to give their best, most of them went there with the intention to give their lives to that Country if they had to.
Many people say: Those illegals are taking away our work and our money to their countries!!. Well,....most of the illegals are usually poor and have no professional backgrounds so they just do whatever they can to survive, so their chances of getting a "real" job as illegals are quite reduced............ And even so they are contributing with their work to enlarge the richness of a country that only throws some "specs" at them.

And as for the money, well......They're right at first, but all that money that is sent from the U.S. or from other powerful country to the poor ones, will continue to circulate over and over again and eventually those dollars will go back to the rich ones, yes, to the powerful country's banks to make them even richer.

How the hell does this happen?......Well, those dollars will be "safely stored" in a foreign bank, and then our "beloved greedy bankers" will be using this money to invest it in a wide variety of markets like The Stock Market, (usually the U.S.one, because it offers more $ profits $),.....And also to send their kids to foreign Academies to study (usually the U.S. ones, because they claim to be the best)........And also to buy their fat-ass mansions in Malibu CA or South Beach Fl,.......(because aren't those the cutest ones?)

But what about their "ass-broke" beloved clients back home right?
.....Oh yeah, they are quite busy trying to get the down payment done for that beautiful "Ford truck" to help them carry their old "HP Computer" and their imported Laundry-machine back home.

Yes, poor countries don't have the technology to build their own cars or home appliances, so they are forced to return those dollars back their original creators, (the U.S.) isn't that something to laugh your guts out?.

Yes, the U.S. has become the richest and most powerful country in the world in terms of money with it's legal immigrants from around the world, but also with it's illegal immigrants from around the world whether we like to accept it or not, because legal or not those people are working hard as well to accomplish their dreams. Making the great improvements that they were unable to make at their own Countries.

Because from the very beginning America was the promised land for every outsider, the land where everything was possible, and where every dream could become a reality, and for better or worse this idea is still alive nowadays for the rest of the world.

There is no "Anti-american" movement going on, those illegals are just trying to take off the "criminal" word away from their foreheads, even if they deserve to have it or not.
Those people are trying to be heard for once, even when they know for a fact that they don't have too many rights to fight for.

If, and only if the U.S. and Mexican governments were willing to fixing up the mess that they both have contribute to create, they could arrange more temporary working-visa programs that could contribute to control those people and obligate them to pay for the products services and taxes that many of them don't pay for.

And not only giving U.S. visas to rich or medium class white or pretty caucasians, who will also stay there illegaly and whom will also try to avoid taxes and paying for many services, and who will also contribute with crimes and dishonesty.

You as a legal american, have the right to be upset for those who aren't, but NOBODY (legal or not) have the right to poison the minds of each others communities with hate and fear.

Because, the legal ones will be able to "kick-out" many illegals away with hate and fear, but many of their ethnic groups (white, black, asian or latin) will stay there creating endless conflicts and fights at their jobs, schools, neighborhoods,......Splitting even more than ever an already divided world.



But anyway, Mexico as well, has suffer for any number of years from the invation of people from South America and the rest of the world, including U.S. citizens, some for good and some for bad....."

Just to name a few BAD examples: outlaws, criminals, political robbers, disrespectful Spring-Breakers, hi and low-profile cheaters, drug dealers from any number of countries, and so on.

And of course, there are plenty of good examples as well, such as the millions of outside visitors from around the world coming to see and learn about our ancient history and culture and to share their beautiful cultures with us.
Yes, believe it or not Mexico is one of the most visited countries in the world, in legal or illegal ways, for our beaches, cultural spots, food, business and the nice way we welcome them is well known worldwide. (even if they stay to work to help us grow a damm bit).

Hey people, we have to learn to work and live like humans and not like animals stealing each others dreams or to blame one another for our problems.

And I'm not saying: Please, give them a warm welcome and give them a nice hug while you're at it,.....Hell no,....I'm saying: Give them a temporary work-visa to have them controlled and to make them pay their taxes and all services, let them do it the legal way, charge them as well for their paperwork and for their illegal entrance to the country.

And if some of them don't apply for this, send them back to whatever country they came from, but don't just take the easy way out by stigmatize them all as dirty criminals.

I'm saying let's do this the right way, without lies and without guns, right before this hole problem turns into a civil war that will deeply harm each others communities forever.

We are all here to give ourselves a helping hand, because is the only way we will survive against the greed of our so called "wonderful lifestyles"......Or who knows, maybe to survive against a massive destruction by the hands of our useless politicians and their stupid useless wars.

Forget about pride, fake or real nationalism, fake or real patriotism, sensationalism, or any other vague concept like that, (which we only use when they better fit our convenience), because this story doesn't have good or bad guys,.....because in this globalized world, WE ALL have already lost our identity long before we were able to notice it.

Just to finish, here's the picture of the (MOD EDIT) who wrote this crap, in case you like to see him or spit at him......"

http://manikanimation.com/2d/betitoatwork.jpg

Now if you'll excuse me, the (MOD EDIT) has to get some sleep......."

Oh almost forgot, when I heard about those few idiots who are thinking about making a spanish version of the U.S.National Anthem, I've got really upset,..because if you are getting into another country at least have the courage to learn their language and respect their people and culture......."

Betito,

You can forget trying to get American citizens to give up the fight for their sovereignity, it's not going to happen, dude.

I realize that may go against what you're preaching, but this ain't your church!

Could I come to your country and do what your citizens are doing here? Absolutely NOT! Senor Fox would put my gringo butt UNDER the jail!

People in glass houses.......

Betito, please stop posting the same exact post on various boards. I'm deleting the other two posts with the exact same words as this one.
Jnr

Is there some reason for leaving the racial slurs in betito's post? A rather amusing post but I could live without the derogatory words.

Brian I don't see any racial slurs. Can you point out what you feel is a racial slur?

(MOD EDIT)

Normally the forum would automatically censor the word out like the example I posted next to it. However betito figured he could get around it by spacing the letters. Go ahead and delete my post if necessary.

Gotcha, Brian. Thanks I really didn't think of that as racial since he was talking about himself. but I'll edit it out.