With struggling economy, I.E. Latinos fear deportation (from San Bernardino Sun)

Story about home...-Dr. Louie F. Rodriguez
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With struggling economy, I.E. Latinos fear deportation
Stephen Wall, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 09/21/2008 06:56:36 PM PDT


SAN BERNARDINO - With U.S. financial markets tanking and the economy reeling, Latino activists fear a repeat of history.
During the Great Depression, one-third of the country's Mexican population was deported or pressured to return home. Many of them were American citizens.

The recession of the early 1950s forced nearly 3 million Mexicans to be sent home as a consequence of "Operation Wetback."

A similar economic and financial meltdown could precipitate another massive deportation and removal program, activists say.

"In times of recession and times of depression, there is an escalation and intensification of anti-immigration politics," said Armando Navarro, coordinator of the National Alliance for Human Rights. "Immigrants become the scapegoats."

The National Alliance has scheduled a meeting Tuesday at the Villasenor Library to discuss ways to counteract what it sees as a resurgence of nativism.

The meeting also will focus on the progress of local efforts in support of Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama. Several "Viva Obama" clubs recently formed to mobilize Latino voters to back Obama.

The Illinois senator is preferred by many Latinos who favor a path to citizenship for the country's estimated 12 million illegal immigrants.

Latino immigrant communities in several states have been hit hard by workplace raids and other enforcement measures that have created a climate of fear and anxiety.

In a well-publicized case, federal immigration agents in May arrested 389 workers during a raid at a meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa.

Closer to home, federal agents this month served a search warrant and arrested 51 illegal immigrants at a Palm Springs bakery. Two supervisors also were charged with employing illegal immigrants.

A Pew Hispanic Center survey released last week showed that a growing number of Latinos in the United States are worried about being deported. Fifty-seven percent said they are concerned that they, a relative or close friend may be deported. That's a 4 percent increase over last year, according to the survey.

"They're getting real strict with the law," said Jorge Reyes, a Fontana resident who is vice president of political affairs for the Ontario Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. "They are going to the factories and the companies and going after the workers. This is getting really bad for us."

Mel Albiso, who heads a statewide nonprofit that helps Latino students, said there is a correlation between workplace raids and school attendance.

"The immigrant parents will keep their children home because they're fearful of their families being split apart," said Albiso, president of the Association of Mexican-American Educators. "You can't educate children the way you need to when they're scared about having a place to go home to. No group of people should have to live in fear."