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Falcon, Adrienne; Rode, PeterHidden Dreams, Hidden Lives. New Hispanic Immigrantsin Minnesota.Bremer (Otto) Foundation, St. Paul, Minn.; McKnightFoundation, Minneapolis, MN.Sep 9248p.Urban Coalition, 2610 University Avenue West, Suite201, St. Paul, MN 55114 ($5, xerox copy only).Reports - General (140)

MF01/PCO2 Plus Postage.Access to Education; Adult Education; *Aspiration;Economically Disadvantaged; EducationallyDisadvantaged; Educational Needs; Employment Level;*Hispanic Americans; *Immigrants; Interviews; LimitedEnglish Speaking; Minority Groups; PsychologicalPatterns; Public Policy; *Social Integration; *SocialIsolation; *Undocumented Immigrants*Minnesota

This report examines the contributions, workexperiences, dreams, living conditions, and fears of Hispanicimmigrants living in Minnesota and shows how the state of Minnesotacan be more welcoming and supportive of new immigrants throughchanges in laws, public policies, and attitudes. Information ispresented based on interviews with 222 adults and 38 children.Findings include data showing that most (69 percent of this group) ofthe immigrants came to the United States to find work to supporttheir families, most of which had one or more children. The studyalso reveals that immigrants pay more taxes than mcst Minnesotans,yet most of the jobs were low-paying service sector jobs; immigrantsworry about being picked up by the immigration police and beingdeported; and immigrants have mental stresses stemming fromloneliness and separation in addition to marital tension. To avoiddetection, immigrant families seek a self-imposed anonymity thatultimately denies them the services available to others in thecommunity, including educational opportunities. Most immigrants wantto learn English so they can improve their employment status, becomelegalized, and share in the American dream. Recommendations for stateconsideration are provided that are designed to eliminate barriers toemployment, education, and community services. An appendix looks atspecific concerns expressed by immigrant children. Suggested readingsare included. (GLR)

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Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be madefrom the original documei.c.

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hidden

hiddenNewHispanic v esImmigrants in Minnesota

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Adrienne Falcon and Peter Rode

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Published by: NM COPY AVAILABLE

Urban Coalition and Sin Fronteras September 19922

Acknowledgements

i i

The Urban Coalition and Sin Fronteraswould like to thank everyone who helpedthis project come to life.

Nothing would have been possible with-out the participation of the 14 people whoserved as interviewers and the 260 adultsand children who agreed to be inter-viewed. Normally we could name theinterviewers as we thank them, but in thiscase we cannot. Some were undocument-ed, and we do not want to put these peo-ple at risk. We thank them for workingmany hours to find and build trust withthe immigrants they would interview.They were among the first to believe thatsomething would come of this project.

The interviewers did not have an easytask. Some people chose not to partici-pate, for fear or other reasons. Therefore,to all the women, men and children whoagreed to speak, we give our thanks.These people have shared the journeyswhich brought them here and the strug-gles, successes,and dreams of being animmigrant. Even when people agreed toparticipate, the fear did not go away. Onsome occasions, interviewers had to maketwo or three trips to complete an inter-view. At times, they met people in theparks or at restaurants, or brought themto their homes. Some of the interviewersbecame afraid too as they spoke with peo-ple, but they persisted. We hope that thereport can help bring about some of thechanges that interviewers and immigrantstalked and dreamed about.

We would like to thank all of those whohelped to create the project through manyhours of meetings and discussions. Mem-bers of the Immigration Study SteeringCommittee contributed technical assis-tance, questions, advice and supportthroughout the 18 months needed to planand complete the study. They includeEustolio Benavides and Carlos Mariani-Rosa as co-chairs; Victoria Amaris,Charles Buckman-Ellis, Raul De Anda,Lynne Dolan, Karen Ellingson, AdrienneFalcon, Beatriz Garces, Elisabet Lom-bardich, Juan Rangel, Peter Rode, GloriaRosario, Maren Swensen and lxia Velez.Many others contributed advice at onepoint or another. mut we appreciate thoircontributions as well.

Financial support for this work wasgratefully received from the McKnightFoundation, the Otto Bremer Foundation,the Presbytery of the Twin Cities. and SinFronteras, a project of the MinnesotaCouncil of;Churches.

One of the people who participated inthis study was forced to leave her job andthe country because of her activities onbehalf of new immigrants. She too shallremain nameless, but to her we dedicatethis report, which tells of her life and thelives of many others.

.3

Table of ContentsExecutive SummaryPrologue ix1. Introduction 1

Why the Study Was Done. .1

Focus of the Study . ...... . . . . . .

Newly-Legalized and Undocumented People in the U.S.Newly-Legalized and Undocumented People in Minnesota

2. How the Study Was DoneSteering Committee 5Process .The Sample

3. Demographic Background, Family Connections and Legal Status 7Men and Women 7Age 7

Marital Status. 7ChildrenSingle ParentsLength of Time in the U.S. and Minnesota .9Immigration Status .11Immigration Status of Families and Children .11

4. Why Have They Come? 13Economic Reasons 15Political Violence and Civil War .16Came to be With Family .16Going to School and/or Learning English 17To Explore, To Have Adventure ..17To Escape an Abusive Husband or Boyfriend _17To Escape Other Personal Situations .17Better Life .17

5. Work 19Kinds of Jobs .19Hours, Wages and Taxes .... 231Discrimination and Mistreatment ...21Injuries and Medical Attention 22

6. The Emotional Side of ImmigrationFear 23Fear and the Amnesty Program 24Fear and Its Effects 25Separation and Loss 25Sadness and Support 27Stress and Relationships 77Worries About Children 28Hope 28

7. Basic Necessities and Services 31Language 31Special Note: Thc Need for Translators and Interpreters ... 31Housing . .37Food ...32Health Care

. .......... 32Transportation

. ..... . 33School 33

S. Recommendations 351. Reducing Fear and Creating Safe Environments ...352. Information Policy and Information Sharing.. . . ...3. Language and Interpreters 374. New Services and Expanded Services.... 375. Reform of Immigration Law.

Notes 19Appendix A: The Lives of Children

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Executive Summarylinew Hispanic immigrants encounter many of the same challenges and hardshipsas other immigrant and low-income groups, with one major difference legalstatus. Most recent Mexican and Latin American immigrants to the U.S. firstcame here as "undocumented" people, meaning that they don't have legalpapers to live and work here. Many who now have legal status also spent many

years as undocumented people before becoming legalized. The experience of beingundocumented touches all areas of one's life and is one of the defining elements ofHispanic life in the U.S.

PurposePublic attitudes and public policy toward Hispanic immigrants are based on misinfor-

mation and grossly distorted stereotypes. This report was done to:

discuss the many contributions which new I iispanic immigrants arc making in Min-nesota and the many obstacles which they must deal with;

provide more accurate information about the dreams, work experiences, living con-ditions, and fears of new immigrants and what they need to improve their lives;

show how Minnesota can be more welcoming and supportive of new immigrantsthrough changes in laws, public policies and attitudes;

suggest why and how Minnesota can participate effectively in efforts to reform fed-eral immigration law.

This study focuses on two groups: (1) undocumented immigrants, who are here with-out legal permission, and (2) newly-legalized immigrants, a group which includes peoplewho were once undocumented but have obtained some kind of legal status.

SizeThe most frequent estimates about the combined size of the undocumented and

newly-legalized immigrant population range from 3,000 to 10,000. Some communityactivists gave estimates that were either below or above this range. It is known that 1,500Hispanic immigrants in Minnesota applied for legal status through the amnesty programsof the late 1980's, but there is no good method for estimating the number of undocu-mented people.

Method and SampleInformation for this study was gathered through interviews with 222 adults and 38

children. Trust and empathy were absolutely necessary if the study was to be successful.Therefore, all of the interviewers were themselves immigrants, and some were undocu-mented. Of the 222 adults who were interviewed for this study:

60 percent were currently undocumented, while 40 percent had legal status, pri-marily through the amnesty programs;

72.5 percent were living in the Twin Cities area, primarily in St. Paul, and 27.5 per-cent were living in Greater Minnesota;

Just over two-thirds (68%) were originally from Mexico, 10 percent were fromGuatemala and 5 percent were from El Salvador. The remaining 17 percent camefrom thirteen other countries.

Just over half (53%) were women and 47 percent were men.

FindingsFamilies

1. Most of the immigrants interviewed for this study had children. Sixty-four percenthad one or more children and 59 percent had at least one child under the age of IS.

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2. Many immigrants are separated from their children. Twenty-eight percent of immi-grants who had children under the age of 18 were separated from all or some oftheir children. Usually the children were in their home country. These separationswere very painful. About half of the immigrants who were separated from their chil-dren were women.

3. More than one-fourth (29%) of immigrants raising children in Minnesota were singleparents, nearly all of whom were separated, divorced e. lever married women.

Recent Arrivals4. The majority of immigrants first came to the U.S. after employer sanctions went

into effect. Employer sanctions, passed by Congress in 1986, were intended to haltunauthorized immigration by penalizing employers hiring undocumented people.

Fifty-three percent of the immigrants who were interviewed first came to theUnited States less than five years ago. Among undocumented immigrants, 73 per-cent came less than five years ago.

Fifty-nine percent of those who were interviewed and 72 percent of undocu-mented people first came to Minnesota within the past two years.

Why They Came to the U.S.5. The majority of immigrants (69%) said that they came to the U.S. to find work, earn

more money and support their families. They spoke often of poverty and lack ofopportunity in their home countries, and sometimes of hunger and deprivation.Living standards have fallen sharply in Mexico (where the minimum wage is g3.90per day), Guatemala, El Salvador and other countries.

Others came to the U.S.:to escape from civil war and violent repression (primarily in C;uatcmala and El Salvador);

to be re-united with family members who were already here;

to get an education, learn English, or get a better education for their children;

to escape an abusive or violent spouse or partner;

to escape other difficult personal situations;

to explore the U.S:, to have adventures and to learn about this country firsthand.

Work

6. Nearly two-thirds of the immigrants (63%) were employed at the time of the inter-view, and 80 percent were either currently employed or had been employed atsome time in the past year. Undocumented people were just as likely to be workingas legal immigrants.

7. Most of those who were not working were either women staying at home to care forchildren or unemployed men and women who had been in Minnesota for less thansix months and had not yet found work.

8. Most of the jobs held by new immigrants were in low-paying service sector indus-tries, such as cleaning, and in meat-packing and food processing factories. Themedian wage was $5.75 per hour.

9. Immigrants generally pay higher taxes than most Minnesotans. They pay propertytaxes through their rent and sales taxes through their purchases, as well as socialsecurity and income taxes. However, they generally do not apply for property taxrefunds or income tax refunds. Eighty-six percent had income and social securitytaxes deducted from their paychecks, but only 41 percent and only 22 percent ofundocumented workers filed income tax returns.

10.111 economic terms, the people interviewed for this study are giving more to societythan they arc drawing from it. Their productive work, their expenditures within theloeal economy, and their heavy tax burden suggest that they are making valuablecontributhms to the community.

a

II. Two of every five workers (39%) answered "yes" when asked if they had been treat-ed differently on the job because they were undocumented or were Ilispanic. Themost common forms of discrimination and mistreatment were name-calling andinsults and always being given the dirtiest and most difficult jobs.

12.0ne of every six workers (16%) had been hurt or injured on the job In GreaterMinnesota, 22 percent of those now working said they had been injured on the job.

The Emotional Side of Immigration13.0ne oi the most common and powerful emotions discussed by immigrants was fear

of "la migra," the immigration police.

For many people, the fear was pervasive; it was "always" there. Immigrantsfeared that their dreams would be shattered, that it would be very hard to crossthe border again, and that all of their past sacrifices would be for nothing. Somefeared the violence in their own countries. Others were very afraid that if caughtand deported their children would be torn away or separated from them.

14.Fear of being caught or deported often discouraged immigrants from taking part inthe normal life of the community and exercising basic human rights Because offear, many immigrants:

did not report labor law violations or discrimination at work;

did not report crimes to the police, including violent crimes such as assault, rob-bery and rape;

si did not visit schools, talk with teachers or advocate for their child at school,

did not seek medical care or social services that they needed.

15.0ther emotional burdens cited by immigrants include:

separation from parents, children and other loved ones;

loneliness and loss;

sadness and desperation over how hard life can be in the U.S.;

greater family and marital tension stemming from coming to the U.S.;

worries that their children will fall prey to drugs or gangs, or won't appreciatetheir parent's culture nor understand why they have come here;

Dreams16.Despite difficulties and disillusionment with living in the U.S., many immigrants felt

that life has become better for them or have hope that this will happen. Almosteveryone can articulate specific dreams. In no particular order, the dreams whichare mentioned again and again are:

learning English

getting a better job and making more money

becoming a legal resident or getting legal papers for one's spouse or children

seeing their children get a good education and start a good career

owning their own home

being re-united with parents, spouse, children and other loved ones

Language

17.Most immigrants felt their English inadequate, and desire to improve one's Englishwas universal. Ninety-nine percent thought it was important for them to improvetheir English, but only 50 percent and just Il percent of undocumented immi-grants have been able to take any kind of !::11!kh elasqes

8.Nearly everyone (93%) agreed that it. would be better if more places had translatorswho spoke Spanish The greatest demand for translators was in:

hospitals, clinics and doctors' offices

supermarkets and discount stores

government offices, such as the drivers license offices

Major Service Needs19. Three responses stand out when immigrants were asked to indicate what activities

or services would most improve their lives in Minnesota:

Taking classes or programs to iinprove one's English, indicated by 70 percent ofthose interviewed;

Help finding a job or obtaining a better job, cited by 68 percent of those inter-viewed;

Help with immigration law in order to obtain legal status, comply with amnestyprocedures, or obtain legal status for spouses, children or other family members.Sixty-three percent of the total sample and 74 percent of undocumentedimmigrants wanted help with immigration law.

RecommendationsBased on these findings and on discussions by the project steering coninnuee, this

report makes the following recommendations:

1. State, county and city governments in Minnesota should not spend their time andtesources tracking down or reporting immigrants to the federal government. Thatjob belongs to the INS alone. State, county and city governments should become"safe" places where immigrants feel free to seek information, report crimes, andparticipate in the life of the community.

2. Government agencies, social service agencies, and private organizations shouldadopt intake and information policies that prohibit asking for social sc-curity num-bers, proof of legal status and similar intrusive data unless absolutely necessary.

Information about their rights and responsibilities as employees, tenants, andstudents and about basic human rights should be made available to immigrants.

3. Barriers to participation in English classes such as "lack of time," lack of money.transportation, child care, high turnover among teachers should be investigatedand removed.

Interpreting services should be available in many kinds of offices, most notablyin hospitals, clinics and medical offices; supermarkets and discount stores; gov-ernment agencies such as the license bureau; schools, workplaces, courts, andJob-placing agencies.

4. New and expanded services should be developed to:

create greater economic opportunity through cooperatives and self-employment;

provide assistance with immigration law problems, particularly outside the TwinCities area;

establish support groups and train more bi-lingual counselors and para-profes-sionals to meet the need for mental health services generated by fear, separation,stress, and cultural adjustment.

5. The "employer sanctions" provision of federal immigration law should be repealed.Employer sanctions have failed to deter unauthorized immigration and have led towidespread job discrimination against Hispanics, Asians, and others with "foreign"appearance or accent, regardless of whether they are here legally or not.

Federal immigration policy should be changed to eliminate bias. Mexicans andLatin Americans should have Just as much chance to immigrate legally as resi-dents of any other country.

8

Prologueeginning in 1492, Europeansarrived to settle and conquer theAmericas. The Indian nations ofNorth and South America didnot "authorize" Europeans to

settle and take control of this land. Noadvance permission was obtained. By thestandards of modern immigration law,European settlers were themselves"undocumented immigrants." Theirmigration to America eventually over-whelmed the Indian nations, primarilythrough war and the spreading of new dis-eases. Sometimes Indian nations voluntar-ily allowed Europeans to use certainlands. Treaties regarding lands were some-times signed, often under duress andthreat of force, and were then disregarded.

Once European settlers gained controlof what is now the United States, theyclaimed the right to decide matters of citi-zenship and legal residence. Eventually,the government established by Europeansettlers decided to impose tight restric-tions on further immigration to this land,thus giving birth to the term "undocu-mented immigrants," or, more ominously,"illegal aliens."

The first restrictions and exclusionswere enacted in the late 1800's againstChinese and other Asian peoples. AfterWorld War I, tight quotas were placed onimmigration from Southern and EasternEurope. Later, restrictions were imposedto limit immigration from Latin Americaand other Third World areas.

Ironically, most Hispanics in the U.S.live in territory that once "belonged" toMexico. After gaining its independence in1821, Mexico was a very large countrywhich included California, Arizona, Neva-da, New Mexico, Texas, Utah and part ofColorado. White settlers moved intoTexas, fought for independence from Mex-ico and then Joined the U.S. in 1845. TheU.S. went to war with Mexico in 1846 totake the rest of these territories for itself.

Immigration policy has been heavilyinfluenced by the demand of agriculturaland manufacturing industries, particularlythe California agricultural industry, forsteady sources of cheap labor. At times,the gates have been thrown open for

immigrants. At other times, such as dur-ing the Great Depression, the authoritieshave moved swiftly to deport hundreds ofthousands of immigrants.

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1. Introduction"My ideas about what it would be like to live in the U.S. have changed a lotbecause it is hard to live here. There is a lot of repression when you are illegal.You always live hiding yoursetf. You don't have the freedom to walk with tran-quility." an immigrant from Mexico

"When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong.The stranger who sojourns with you shall be to you as the native among you,and you shall love him as yourself." Leviticus 19.33-34

inmigration changes both partiesthose who leave their home countryfor another land and those in thenew country who receive them. Thisreport is about immigrants from

Mexico, Central America and South Amer-ica who have come to Minnesota. Theirlives are journeys of change, filled withwork and sacrifice, learning and accom-plishment, danger and disappointment.Their arrival raises questions for peoplealready here, both within and outside theHispanic community: Why have theycome? What are their dreams? What canwe learn from them? How can we wel-come and support them?

This group of people must deal withmany of the same challenges and hard-ships that other immigrant and low-income groups encounter every day, withone major difference legal status. Mostrecent Mexican and Latin American immi-grants to the United States came here as"undocumented" people, meaning thatthey don't have legal papers to live andwork here. Furthermore, many Hispanicimmigrants who now have legal statusspent many years as undocumented per-sons before becoming legalized. Beinghere without legal papers affects all areasof one's life work, school, relationships,health and emotional well-being. Theexperience of being undocumented, shar-ed by many in the community at one timeor another, is one of the major elementsshaping Hispanic life in this country.

U.S. immigration policy has very clearbiases. As a rule, it encourages immigra-tion by professional, wealthy or highly-skilled people or p(..ople fleeing from Com-munist-controlled countries) on theother hand, it strongly discourages immil

gration by the common people from poorcountries or people fleeing from oppres-sive governments supported by the U.S.Economic crisis and civil war havebecome so intense in Mexico and CentralAmerica that thousands of people havetried to come here as a matter of survivalin the past decade. Yet, U.S. ir nigrationlaw makes it impossible for most of thesepeople to enter legally.

Why the Study Was DoneDue to federal law, many Hispanic

immigrants have had to live hidden lives.When that happens to people, accurateinformation about them is also drivenunderground. Public attitudes and publicpolicy about immigration are based onmisinformation and grossly distortedstereotypes. This report was written toprovide an accurate picture that dispelsmisleading stereotypes. It was createdmostly by immigrants who agreed to talkabout their lives here. Their voices andexperiences are important for the follow-ing reasons:

1. Hispanic immigrants by and largeare strong people who have enduredmuch to be here and are alreadymaking contributions to thc state.Yet, they are a largely invisible com-munity which is not being allowedfull participation in the life of ouremerging multicultural society. Thisreport discusses the contributionsthey are making and the obstaclesthey encounter.

2. The experiences of new immigrantshere can teach us much about howMinnesota includes and excludespeople. This report shows how wecan be more welcoming and support-

ive of new immigrants throughchanges in laws, public policies andattitudes.

3. The experiences of these people tellus much about what is wrong withU.S. immigration policy, and whyrecent immigration policies havefailed so badly. Perhaps people inMinnesota have felt that immigrationwas an irrelevant and far away con-cern that could be safely ignoredan issue for the southern borderstates but not for the northern heart-land. This report shows why Min-nesota should participate in thenational debate and how it can doSO.

4. Understanding why people come tothe U.S. forces us to look more close-ly at how U.S. economic, politicaland military policies affcct condi-tions in Latin America. We cannotignore the fact that for manydecades the U.S. has had an enor-mous influence over events in LatinAmerica, often pursuing policies thathave forced millions of people toleave their home countries and seeka better life elsewhere.

Focus of the StudyThis study describes the experiences of

two groups, which make up the majorityof recent Hispanic immigrants to the U.S.and Minnesota:

undocumented immigrants thosewho are here without legal status;and

newly-legalized immigrants thisgroup includes people who wereonce undocumented but now haveobtained some kind of legal status,primarily through the amnesty pro-gram passed by Congress in 1986.

Newly Legalized and Undocu-mented People in the U.S.

The 1986 Immigration Reform andControl Act provided two programs bywhich undocumented immigrants couldapply for "amnesty," which would enablethem to obtain temporary legal status andstart on the road to becoming permanentlegal residents. lietween May 1, 1987 andMay I. 19(0N. tivt r 7 million undocutnented people applied for the "general"amnesty program. This program required

people to have resided continuously in theU.S. since at least January 1, 1982.Eighty-eight percent of these applicantswere from the Spanish speaking countriesof North and South America. 70 percentfrom Mexico alone.2

Over 1.2 million people applied foramnesty under the more lenient SpecialAgricultural Worker (SAW) program,which required that applicants must haveworked for at least 90 days as seasonalagricultural laborers between May, 1985and May, 1986. Ninety-seven percent ofall SAW applicants were from the Spanish-speaking countries of North and SouthAmerica, and 82 percent were from Mexi-co alone.

The amnesty programs show that therewere at least several million undocument-ed Hispanic people in the U.S. during the1980's who stepped forward to apply.Many others did not. Those who cameafter the January 1, 1982 cutoff date,including hundreds of thousands of peoplefleeing violence in Guatemala and El Sal-vador, were not eligible. In addition, manywho were here before the cutoff date didnot apply because of the high fees chargedfor each application, because of difficultiesobtaining written proof that they werehere, because of complex and confusingrules, because they did not know about it,or because they did not trust that theImmigration and Naturalization Servicewould administer the amnesty programfairly. (The INS also runs the borderpolice and is responsible for deportingundocumented people.)

No one knows how many people havebeen or are now in the U.S. without legalstatus. In the mid-1970's, the Commis-sioner of the INS estimated the numberhere illegally at 6-8 million and possibly ashigh as 10-12 million.3 Using complicatedstatistical techniques, the Census Bureauestimated that the total undocumentedpopulation in 1980 was 3-4 million.4 Fifty-five percent were thought to be from Mex-ico and 75 percent were from all of LatinAmerica, including Mexico. The rest werefrom Europe, Canada, Asia and Africa.Another Census Bureau study estimatedthat during the early 1980's the undocu-mented population was increasing by158,000 to 290,000 per year.s

The 1986 Immigration Reform andControl Act, with its amnesty programsand with its penalties on employers who

4

hire undocumented people, was designedto stop unauthorized immigration. It didnot succeed. One government researcherwrote in 1989 that "most responsibleindependent researchers estimate thatbetween 2.5 and 3 million persons maystill remain in an undocumented status inthe United States."6 That estimate is prob-ably conservative. Other studies show thatthe Immigration Reform and Control Actmay have slowed new immigration in thefirst year or two, but that by 1989, unau-thorized immigration was occurring atclose to its previous pace.

Newly Legalized and Undocu-mented People in Minnesota

According to local INS records, 1,078people applied in Minnesota for the gener-al amnesty program; 640 were from theSpanish speaking countries of North andSouth America, including 548 from Mexi-co. Another 886 people applied foramnesty under the SAW program, nearlyall of whom are thought to be from LatinAmerica.7 Altogether, then, about 1,500Hispanic immigrants applied for amnestyin Minnesota through these two programs.The number of newly legalized people liv-ing in Minnesota may be higher now,since some people have moved to Min-nesota from other states since applying foramnesty.

There are no good estimates of thenumber of undocumented people in Min-nesota. Nationally, it is thought that thecurrently undocumented population ishigher than the number who were actuallylegalized In the late 1980's. In addition,there are some signs that immigration intoMinnesota is increasing. Therefore, it islikely that Minnesota's current undocu-mented Hispanic population is consider-ably higher than the 1,500 who applied foramnesty here.

Seventeen people who work with socialservice agencies In the Hispanic commu-nity were interviewed for this study. Manysaid they had "no idea" how many undoc-umented and newly legalized Hispanicswere living in Minnesota. Those willing tomake an estimate usually put the com-bined total of undocumented and newlylegalized Hispanics at between 3,000 and10,000. There were a few estimates thatwen: cit hcr kuw and abtive that ran&

These estimates, if they are close tobeing true, indicate that undocumented

and newly-legalized immigrants representan important but relatively small part ofthe 11ispanic community. The 1990 cen-sus counted 53,884 Hispanics in Minneso-ta. The Census Bureau acknowledges thatthere has been an undercount, but opin-ions differ as to the severity of the under-count. The Spanish-Speaking AffairsCouncil, for example, estimates the His-panic population in Minnesota to be over70,000.

PEST COPY AVAILABLE

12

2. How the Study Was Donehis project was created by thecoming together of two intereststhe Hispanic community'sconcern for new immigrants andthe Urban Coalition's desire to

do research that involves and is owned bythe community from beginning to end.The Coalition started the process by hold-ing discussions with activists from the His-panic community. After meetings span-ning many months, the group agreed thatthe situation of undocumented and newlylegalized Hispanic immigrants should hethe top priority for research.

The idea of studying immigration wasoriginally proposed by Sin Fronteras, aproject of the Minnesota Council ofChurches which provides emergencyassistance to immigrants. Because beingundocumented has the effect of silencingpeople, very little research has been doneand public debate about immigrants isvery misinformed. The Hispanic commu-nity and others involved in these discus-sions decided it was time to bring thisissue out into the open.

In making this decision, there was anelement of fear as well as enthusiasm andinterest. Some wondered if any kind ofinformation or publicity would draw toomuch attention to Hispanic immigrants,making them an ideal target, a lightningrod, for those looking for convenientscapegoats rather than real solutions tothe country's problems. Others feared abacklash against the entire Hispanic com-munity, regardless of citizenship status.Still others wondered if the INS wouldbecome more active against Hispanics.These are real concerns, but the consen-sus was that the research was importantand should go ahead.

Steering CommitteeThe Urban Coalition and Sin Fronteras

became partners and formed the Imtnigration Study Steering Committee. The Committee was drawn primarily, though notexclusively, from the Hispanic communi-ty. (Members arc named in the Acknowl-edgements.) Committee members partici-pated in discussions about thequestionnaire, the sample, the findings,and the recommendations contained in

the report. They helped find and traininterviewers and repeatedly discussedhow to protect confidentiality during theinterview process and in the final report.

ProcessBecause they are here without legal

papers, undocumented immigrants oftenlead secret lives. They must be very care-ful. Fear of being caught and deported isfor some almost overwhelming. Askingsomeone to talk freely about their travelsand their life here is a serious matter.Even newly legalized people do not alwaysfeel that they are completely safe.

It was decided very early in the projectthat all of the interviewers should be Ills-panic immigrants themselves. Some, infact, were undocumented. It is doubtfulthat the study could have been done anyother way.8 The interviewers knew whatfellow immigrants were dealing with. Inaddition, interviewers knew other immi-grants, and were often able to interviewfriends, acquaintances and co-workerswith whom a relationship of trust andrespect already existed. Throughout theproject, interviewers also participated Inde-briefing meetings in which they talkedabout the experience of interviewing andshared their insights and reflections aboutwhat they heard.

Interviewing began in Atigust, 1991 andwas completed in March, 1992. All inter-views were conducted and recorded inSpanish. They typically lasted betweenone and a half and two hours. Those whoparticipated were gi ven $10 in recognitionof the time they devoted to the discussion.They also received a packet of writteninformation in Spanish about the legalrights of immigrants and social services.Everyone was promised that theirresponses would be kept strictly confiden-tial. Names and addresses were notrecorded either on the questionnaire or inthe project files. Furthermore, any storiesthat contain the kinds of details thatmight identify a particular person werenot Included in this report. no matter howmoving or informative.

The Sample

13Most of this report is based on inter-

views conducted with 222 adult immi-grants. This is the core sample. In addi-tion, shorter and more informal interviewswere done with 38 young children andadolescents to learn about their uniqueperspectives. Results from the youthinterviews are highlighted in Appendix A.Discussions were also held with 17 socialservice and other agencies serving the His-panic community.

Since the size and location of the immi-grant and undocumented population isnot known, and since trust and confiden-tiality are such important issues, therewas no attempt to develop random sam-ples of adult and youth immigrants.Instead, the samples were built first byusing the networks of each interviewer.

Table 1: The Adult Interview Sample

Immigration Status: Number PercentUndocumented 133 59.9%Legal Status 89 40.1%

Total _ 222 100.0%

Persons being interviewed were asked ifthey knew of other immigrants, particular-ly undocumented immigrants, who mightbe willing to talk. Referrals from trustedsources were also added to enable theinterviewers to expand beyond their per-sonal networks.

Current Residence: Number l'ercentSt. Paul & suburbs 107 48.2%Minneapolis & suburbs 54 24.3%Greater Minnesota 61 27.5%

Total 222 100.0%

Completed questionnaires were moni-.tored to make sure that specific groups ofimmigrants were adequately representedin the study. The following guidelineswere used to monitor the adult sample:

1. More than half of those interviewedshould be undocumented persons.This was the primary interest of thecommunity, and also reflects thebelief among iinniigrationresearchers that undocumented peo-

ple outnumber those whoobtained legal status throughrecent amnesty programs. AsTable 1 shows, 60 percent of theadults interviewed were undocu-mented.

Country of Origin: Number PercentMexico 151 68.0%Guatemala 21 9.5%El Salvador 12 5.4%Colombia 10 4.5%Panama 6 2.7%Venezuela 4 1.8%Ecuador 4 1.8%

Costa Rica 3 1.4%Peru 2 .9%

Nicaragua 2 .9%

Bolivia 2 .9%

Honduras I .5%

Dominican Republic I .5%

Chile 1 .5%

Guyana 1 .5%

Brazil 1 .5%

rouLl 222 100.0%

6

2. At least one-fourth of the inter-views should be done outside theTwin Cities arca, to understandthe situation of immigrants inGreater Minnesota. Interviewswere arranged in several towns inwestern Minnesota.

3. The sample should reflect themany countries from whichimmigrants have come in recentyears. Most of Minnesota's His-panic population is originallyfrom Mexico, as are most recentimmigrants, but many othercountries are represented as well.One way to ensure that the sam-ple would be more representativewas to find interviewers whowere themselves from differentcountries and would know otherpeople from their home coun-tries. Nine of the interviewerswere in fact from Mexico, whilefive were from other Central andSouth American countries. AsTable 1 shows, Mexico was thecountry of origin for two-thirds ofthe people Interviewed. Altogeth-er, sixteen different countrieswere represented in the study.

14

3. Demographic Background,Family Connections andLegal. Status of Immigrants

o begin, we would like to presentsome basic information describ-ing who these new immigrantsare, when they came and whattheir legal status is. Table 2 pro-

vides demographic and background infor-mation on the 222 adults who were inter-viewed for this study, with separatefigures for undocumented and legalizedimmigrants.

Men and WomenThe common stereotype that the great

majority of immigrants are young, unat-tached men has in fact not been true formany years. Observers have noticed thatin recent years the number of women andchildren coming here has been increasing.

Among the undocumented people inter-viewed for this study, exactly 50 percentwere men and 50 percent were women.This figure seems quite in line with resultsfrom studies in other parts of the country.In addition, 58 percent of those with legalstatus were women, and in the total sam-ple 53 percent were women.'

AgeSeventy percent of those interviewed

were between the ages of 18 and 34.(According to the 1990 census, about 55percent of Hispanic adults throughoutMinnesota are between 18 and 34.) Theaverage age was 32 years old. Undocu-mented people were generally younger,having an average age of 30 years com-pared to immigrants with legal status whohad an average age of 34 years.

Marital StatusThirty-nine percent (39%) of the adults

interviewed were currently married aridanother 8 percent were living with a part-ner or companeroicor ,ipanera. The rest

were unattached. Two of every five (39%)had never been married. Fifteen percent,nearly all of them women, were separatedor divorced. More than one-fourth of thewomen who participated in the study wereseparated or divorced.

Not all married couples were livingtogether, however. In about one of everyfive married couples, the spouse waseither back in the home country or work-ing or looking for work somewhere else inthe U.S. Almost all of the married peoplenot currently living with their spouseswere undocumented.

ChildrenMost of the immigrants interviewed for

this study have children, and their experi-ence of moving to and living within anoth-er country has been profoundly shaped bytheir relationship with their families andchildren. Nearly two-thirds (64%) hadchildren of their own, and 59 percent hadat least one child under the age of 18.Immigrants with legal status were morelikely to have children than undocument-ed immigrants. Three of every four legalimmigrants (76%) had at least one childunder the age of 18 compared to aboutone of every two undocumented immi-grants (47%).

The process of immigration forces somevery difficult choices upon families. Inorder to move about more freely and

The group of immWants with legal status whoparticipated in the study probably over-representswomen. Due to the high cost of applications andother factors, many families decided that only thehusband should apply for amnesty, while the wifeand children remained undocumented with thehnpe of being legatieed biter. In the nation as a

the, qe rnost War Lc.sty Avidw,alit.s 144'7

Men. HOWCVer, in this study, most (If the amnestyapplicants were women.

157

Table 2: Profile of Indocumenteti and Newly-LeOlizedIlispanie Immigrants

Gender Undocumented Legalized TotalMale .67 %is 37 42% 104 47%Female 66 SO% 52 58% H8 53%

Total 133 89 222

Age Undocumented Legalized ' Total24 years or less 37 28% 13 15% SO 23%25-29 years 37 28% 21 24% 58 26%30-34 years 28 21% 18 20% 46 21%35-39 years 15 11% 13 15% 28 13%40-49 years 11 8% 17 19% 28 13%50 years or older 4 3% 7 8% 11 5%

Total 132 89 221Average Age in Years: 30 34 32

!lave Children Under 18? Undocumented Legalized TotalYes 63 47% 68 76% 131 59%No 70 53% 21 24% 91 41%

. Total 133 89 222

Where do you live? Undocumented Legalized TotalTwin Cities Metro Area 115 87% 46 52% 161 73%Greater Minnesota 18 14% 43 48% 61 28%

Total 133 89 222

Country of Origin:,......

Undocumented Legalized TotalMexico 83 62% 68 76% 151 68%Guatemala 18 14% 3 3% 21 10%El Salvador 2 2% 10 11% 12 5%Colombia 9 7% 1 1% 10 5%Panama 4 3% 2 2% 6 3%Other Countries 17 13% 5 6% 22 10%

Total 133 89 222

When did you first come to the U.S.? Undocumented Legalized TotalLess than one year ago 23 18% 1 1% 24 11%1-2 years ago 32 25% 6 7% 38 18%2-3 years ago 14 11% 5 6% 19 9%3-5 years ago 24 19% 9 10% 33 15%5-10 years ago 17 13% 27 31% 44 21%10-20 years ago 16 13% 28 32% 44 21%More than 20 years ago 2 2% 11 13% 13 6%

Total 128 87 215

When did you first come to Minnesota? Undocumented Legalized TotalLess than one year ago 60 47% 21 24% 81 38%1-2 years ago 32 25% 14 16% 46 22%2-3 years ago 17 13% 10 12% 27 13%3-5 years ago 14 11% 21 24% 35 16%5-10 years ago s 4% 13 15% 18 8%10-20 years ago 0 0% 7 8% 7 3%More than 20 yeaN ago 0 o% o 0% 0 0%

rotal 128 86 I 21.1

16

reduce expensesin the U.S., oneperson (usuallybut not alwaysthe husband)may come alonewhile the rest ofthe familyremains behind,perhaps to comelater. Otherimmigrants, usu-

Table 3: Are Your Children Living Ilere With You?(Based on families with children under 18)

All children under 18 are living hereSome children under 18 are living here; others are living

elsewhereAll children tinder 18 are living elsewhere

Total

946

31

131

72%

5%

24%

ally women who are single parents, leavetheir children behind to be cared for bythe women's parents or other relatives. AsTable 3 shows, 37 of the 131 immigrants(28%) who had children under 18 wereseparated from some or all of those chil-dren. About half of the immigrant.% whowere separated from their children aremen and half are women.

These separations are painful and theover-riding goal of most of these parents isto make enough money and become set-tled to bring their children here too. Whenasked about her plans for her child backin Mexico, one woman answered, "To earnmore money so I can send for him,because I cannot stand to live withouthim. Ile is very little and he needs me."

Single ParentsMore than one-fourth (29%) of the

immigrant households with children herein Minnesota were headed by single par-ents, either separated, divorced or nevermarried. (Table4) Nearly all sin-gle parents werewomen.

Length of'lime in theU.S. andMinnesota

More than halfof the people weinterviewed(53%) first came

tion Reform and Control Act went intoeffect. The sanctions were designed to haltunauthorized immigration by imposingpenalties and fines on businesses hiringundocumented people and by requiring allnew workers to show proof of legal status.The intent was to make it impossible forimmigrants to find work. Once word gotback to Mexico and other countries thatthere were no jobs, it was thought thatpeople would stop coming to the U.S.

The presence of large numbers ofrecent arrivals suggests that employersanctions have failed. Similar observationshave been made throughout the country.One national study has found that, threeyears after the passage of IRCA in 1986,the annual flow of undocumented immi-gration was nearly back to its earlier levelbefore passage of that law.9

If most of the immigrants were fairlynew to the U.S., they were very new toMinnesota. Fifty-nine percent (59%) ofthose we interviewed and 72 percent of

Table 4: Marital Status of Immigrants Raking ChildrenUnder IS in Minnesota

Separated 12 12%

Divorced 5 5%

Never married 12 12%

Married Living together 63 63%

Partner/Cornpancro living together 8 8%

Total 100

to the U.S. lessthan five years ago. Among undocumentedimmigrants alone, nearly three-fourths(73%) came to the U.S. for the first timeless than five years ago.

This time period is significant becloceit. was five years ago that the employersanctions created by the 1986 Immigra-

undocumented people first came toMinnesota within the past two years. Min-nesota is generally not the immediate des-tination of people entering the U.S. Mostof the immigrants had lived in California,Icxas, Florid.; and other staccs sonicfor many years before coining here.ihis large number of very recent arrivals 9

10

Undocumented without papersLegal Status:

General Amnesty

133

29

60%

13%

Special Agricultural Worker Amnesty. 1 9 9%

"Legal Resident" 21 10%

"Permission to Work" 4 2%

"In process" of legalization 6 3%

Temporary Protective Status 6 3%Political Asylum 4 2%

Tokil 222

AmnestyJust over half of those with legal status and 22 percent of the total sample

had become legal residents throngh one of the amnesty programs enacted by Con-gress in 1986. The general ameteSty program was open to undocumented peoplewho could prove that they had lived in the U.S. Continuously since January 1, 1982.The Special Agricultural Worker (SAW) amnesty program was available to anyonewho worked at least 90 days as a seasonal agricultural laborer between May 1985and May 1986.

"Legal Resident"Another 10 percent simply described themselves as "legal residents.' or "perma-

nent residents" but gave no indication that they had been involved in an amnestyprogram. They became legalized through some other means, most likely becausethey were immediate faMily,members of someone who hau already become a per-manent legal.residont

"Permission to Work"Four individuals stated that they. "had perMisaion to work" when asked about

their immigration Stattis; again giving no Indication of involvement in an amnestyprogram.

"In Process of.Legalization"Six others said that they were "in tramites," in the process of becoming legal-

ized. They have the.right to be here while their application is being processed. Mostoften these people were Spouses or immediate family of someone who was a perma-nent legal resident or a U.S. citizen.

TPSSix people, all from El Salvador, bad received Temporary Protective Status

(TPS). Despite massive political iiolence in. El Salvador, the U.S. government hasrefused to grant polltleal asylum teSaiyaderan refugees. After mounting pressure,TPS was finally enaCted as a .irak.*giVe.teMiierary legal status to these refugees. Tobe eligible, Salvadorans had to-Wit the U.S. Were September 19, 1990 and had toapply by June 30, 1991. TPS was due to expire on June 30, 1992. liowever, as thisreport goes to press, the President has ordered 'that many Salvadorans can stay anadditional year under "Delayed.Entry Departure" status. Across the nation, about194,000 people applied for Temporary Protective Status.

Political AsylumQllt people had been granted !Klink:al asyllini or Were having their application

for asylum reviewed.

is REST COPY AVAILABLE

is another indication that Minnesota hasexperienced an increase in both autho-rized and undocumented immigration justin the past few years.

Immigration StatusSixty percent of the immigrants inter-

viewed for this study were undocumented.They were here "sin papeles" (withoutpapers). Most had crossed the border ille-gally. Others arrived legally with a studentvisa, a tourist visa, or some other form ofpermission, but then decided to stay.Once their visa expired, they became un-documented and did not have legal per-mission to work or live here.

The remaining 40 percent, on the otherhand, v,.ere in the U.S. legally at the timeof the interview. The immigration systemis very complicated and there are manycategories of legal status. Table 5 de-scribes these categories. It is probably safeto say that almost all of those interviewedwho now have legal status were at onetime undocumented.

hnmigration Status ofFamilies and Children

The immigration status of the personwho was interviewed tells only half of thestory. For undocumented immigrants whowere married or living with someone, overthree-fourths (79%) of the spouses or part-ners were also undocumented. Nearly all(94%) of undocumented immigrants withchildren had at least one child who wasundocumented. Generally, in such fami-lies all of the children were undocument-ed, but In several cases the older childrenwere undocumented while the youngerchildren were U.S. citizens because theyhad been born here.

Even for immigrants with legal status,there are often situations in which somefamily members are legalized and othersare not. Thus, while someone with legalstatus may not have to fear that he or shemight be deported, they do have to fearfor other members of the family. One ofevery eight (13%) legal immigrants whowere married or living with someone hada spouse or partner who was undocument-ed. One of every four (26%) legal immi-grants with children under 18 had at leastone child who is undocumented.

1 9

Mrr7,771,2n7..t.-

4. Why Have They Come?o one leaves their home countryeasily. For most recent Hispanicimmigrants, coming to the U.S.demanded major sacrifices.Often this meant selling every-

thing they owned or scraping togethermoney from relatives and friends to payfor the journey and perhaps for the ser-vices of a "coyote" to help them cross theborder. It often meant leaving behindloved ones and living with the pain andworry of separation, and leaving behindone's homeland and culture. In manycases, it meant enduring the danger, vio-lence and humiliation of "the crossing."

immigrants with whom we spoke hadmany reasons for taking that step. Inrecent years, the federal government hastried to discourage and make it even moredifficult for undocumented people to comehere. Yet, thousands of people have doneexactly that. To understand why, we haveto recognize the economic, political andmilitary pressures that impel so manypeople to leave their homeland. FatherGregory Boyle, pastor of the Dolores Mis-sion Church in Los Angeles, put it thisway in article for the Los Angeles Times:

No law, no hiring protoco4 noamount of border vigilance, nopenalty is a match for what compeLsthese people to come to this country:survival. Abject poverty, politicalinstability, torture and other abusespush thousands across our border.There is not a deterrent imaginablethat equals the conditions that forcetheir migration.

MexicoMexico has not, in recent decades,

known massive political violence and civilwar, although there have been serious actsof repression, such as the killing of hun-dreds of protesters on the eve of the Mexi-co City Olympics in 1968 and the "disap-pearance" of at least 500 people since the1970's. But Mexico has in the past 10years experienced a profound economiccrisis that has left many people deeplyimpoverished with few opportunities.

Between 1982 and 1991, the purchas-ing power of the minimum wage in Mexico

dropped by 66 percent after adjusting forinflation. Of course, not all workers earnthe minimum wage. However, it is esti-mated that 10-20 percent of the urbanworkforce receives the minimum wage orless, and the United Nation's EconomicCommission for Latin America and theCaribbean (ECLA) reports that 60 percentof workers in rural areas earn no morethan the minimum wage.

In 1987, wage and price controls wereenacted. Between 1987 and 1991, theminimum wage rose by SO percent but theprice of basic goods increased by 250 per-cent. The minimum wage now stands at3.90 per day.

The Mexican government reports that41 million people, nearly half the totalpopulation, have incomes below the gov-ernment's official poverty line. Otherreports estimate that extreme malnutri-tion doubled between 1974 and 1989 andthat half of all rural children are malnour-ished. There have also been a sharpdecline in the average amount of calories,protein, milk, beef and pork consumed byeach person.10

Prospects for the foreseeable future arenot encouraging. Pressure from interna-tional banks as well as the U.S. govern-ment encourages an emphasis on produc-tion for export rather than for internal usein order to pay off Mexico's massive debt.The government has cut social servicesand cut assistance to small farmers.

GuatemalaThe roots of the current crisis in

Guatemala go back at least as far as 1954,when the democratically-elected Arbenzgovernment was overthrown by a CIA-inspired military coup. Since then,Guatemala has experienced waves of mili-tary and death squad activity aimed pri-marily at stifling resistance on the part ofthe Indian population, which according tosome sources makes up 60 percent of thepopulation. The Guatemala Support Net-work estimates that over 100,000 havebeen killed, over one million have beendisplaced from their honws lndand 440 indigenous communities havebeen destroyed. In their place, tens of20

14

"The Crossing""Near the border! we were assaulted and they took everything, even the address ofthe family in the U.S. that we came lookinkfor. They left us without five cents. Atthe first town in the U.S., we arrived at a house because we were thirsty and laterwe stayed five days and worked for them. They paid us something and !by walkingand taking a bus! we finally arrived in I louston. There we worked about 15 days."(Woman, Guatemala)

"When we were crossing the border, thc 'coyote' put a knife to my stomach andsaid give us everything. If 1 had known about the cKossing I would not have come."(Man, Guatemala)

"I arrived at Tijuana and paid $700 to a 'coyote' so that they would pass me andmy children and my wife. Someone else then took me to my uncle's house in LosAngeles. My family and I took the bus here. In Iowa We took the wrong bus and inthe terminal I got lost for one day. It was very hard because of not speaking Eng-lish. The trip was very hard because we got stomach sickness; we almost wantedto cry." (Man, Mexico)

"During the crossing, I and my friend were shot at by some thieves and I wasalone in the mountains and continued on the journey." (Man, Guatemala)

"1 walked to Phoenix through the desert:" (Man, Guatemala)

"I came by bus and by walking a lot. Crossing the river (Rio Grande) was danger-ous. (Man, El Salvador)

"We spent six months in Tijuana working to get money. They charged $500 forme and my husband and $250 for each child (two children!. The migra caught thegroup ahead of us and my son screamed "Mother, run, run!" They didn't catch us.On the bus trip later we were terrified that we would be caught."(Woman, Mexico)

"I followed a group being led by a 'coyote' and came by Myself with only luck andmade it across. I then spent a year on the border picking strawberries and thenliving on the streets and begging for money." (Woman, Mexico)

"I left my smallest children in MexiCo with my mother and I brought the biggerones with me. We came to Tijuana. In that time they charged a lot to cross, so myson I who was already in the U.S.Lgathered some 'Windy so I could cross. I left myother two children in Tijuana a month and then went back for thcm. I rememberthat my daughter cried saying to me not to leave her in Tijuana." (Woman, Mexi-co, Legalized through Amnesty)

"My husband came to bring us itte was already in the U.S.( at Christmas. Ilebrought us to Tijuana where we stayed for two days and tried to cross. We werewalking when immigration arrived and put us back. We were in jail all of themorning and at night they let us go out again. I remember that that year there hadbeen a lot of cold and that I was very afraid that my children would get sick,because they were little and with the wetting from the river. The two littlest oneshad already gotten sick so that when We arrived in California all had pneumonia."(Woman, Mexico)

"I was pregnant when I came but I lost the baby when I crossed the border. Icame with a cousin who helped me. We were crossing the border when my cousinslipped and without wanting to he pushed me as well and we fell hard on somestones. At first I didn't feel bad. We crossed the border without any problem afterhaving walked four hours. A ear was waiting for us. By then I was feeling very badand we arrived at San Diego where I was already quite bloody and with a fever andwith horrible pains. In San Diego was where 1 lost the baby. 1 was in the hospitalalone for two days." (Woman, Mexico)

21

thousands of people have been forced tomove into "model villages" patrolled bythe military.

El SalvadorEl Salvador is a small, densely populat-

ed country where a small number of fami-lies controls most of the productive land.The struggle between this small elite andthe majority of the population has becomeextremely violent at times. In the early1930's, about 30,000 peasants were mas-sacred by the government. Democraticreform has been repeatedly stifled. Sincethe late.1970's, over 60,000 people,including workers, farmers, priests,human rights workers and others, havebeen killed by the military and military-related right-wing death squads. Torturehas been widespread. An atmosphere ofterror prevails. Several guerrilla move-ments gained in strength during the1980's as people saw no other alternativeto government violence. The civil war hasin turn contributed to an even greatereconomic crisis within the country.

Hundreds of thousands of people havefled Guatemala and El Salvador, some liv-ing in refugee camps in Mexico or othercountries and many coming to the U.S.Very few immigrating here have been ableto obtain political asylum.

Table 6 describes the reasons given by

people when they were asked why theycame to the U.S. Some people gave morethan one reason and these are also listedin the table.

Economic ReasonsFor the great majority of Ilispanic

immigrants, improving their own or dieirfamilies' economic situation was the t.ver-riding concern. When asked why theycame, 69 percent talked about, findingwork, earning more money or supportingtheir family.

Sometimes that was simply stated as: "Icame to find work," or "I came because Iwanted to begin a new life and haveenough money to support my family."Others described how hard it was to makea living in their home country. Whenasked why they had come to the U.S.,they said:

"In Mexico, there is no work. Well, thereis work, but you are not able to earnenough." (Man, Mexico)

"I came because the situation there wasvery difficult. You cannot get a good joband money for everything is scarce."

"I came because in my country my fami-ly was suffering a lot of hunger and Iwanted a better life for my children andfamily. There were weeks where we atesomething once a day."

Table 6: Did You Come to the U.S.

Men Women Total

Economicfind work, earn moremoney, support family, escapepoverty

80 77% 74 63% 154 69%

Political repression, civil war 15 14% 6 5% 21 10%

To be with spouse/family 3 3% 34 29% 37 17%

To go to school, to learn English 11 1 I % 21 18% 32 I 4%

To explore, to have adventure 7 7% 4 3% 11 5%

To escape an abusive spouse orpartner

0 0% 7 6% 7 3%

To escape other personal situations 1 I % 7 6% 8 4%

"New life" or "better life" with nofurther explanation

4 4% 6 5% 10 5%

: .: :,1.t t t! I111114! than 1mA. 1..., IlUM NOTne rcurle git,t Mill. OW it MU I .ds,r:

2215

16

"I came because they told me that hereyou live better. I was doing badly andthere were days when we did not haveanything to eat."

"I came because I had been told thathere you earn well, and... because thejobs in my country are very hard andthere is -much exploitation on the part ofthe factory owners."

"I came to help my family mid to be ableto have some savings and to be someonein life."

For sonic women, economic motivationwas compounded by the difficulties of sur-viving as a single parent without support:

"I came to work in order to earn money.The baby's father didn't want to helpwith any of the expenses and the situa-tion there was very difficult."

"My husband left us much of the time...We didn't have anything even to eat.When the oldest of my children began togrow, he came to the U.S. and was ableto send us money... My son and his wifewere here and they said it was better."

Another group of people mentionedthat they did not have enough money tocontinue their schooling, so they came tothe U.S. to advance themselves. A manfrom Mexico who had wanted to becomean engineer explained:

"I wanted to study in Mexico but I didnot have the money to be able to do so.Therefore, I worked in the Maquiladores(low-wage, American-owned factorieslocated in Mexico near the border) but Idecided to come as an illegal to earnmore money."

Sometimes, economic distress wasintertwined with war and violence. Forexample, a man from Guatemala said:

"I came for the economic situation antithe unemployment that there is in mycountry. It is very d(fficult to find workbecause of the government and the guer-rillas, which are never in agreement..."

A woman, also from Guatemala, said atfirst that she came to the U.S. to earnmoney so that her children back inGuatemala could study. She explained:

"In Guatemala the money does notstretch for the children's studies. It is

,,ly etiou0 fur fw,d, anti i7t athliti011o e cannot work a lot because some-

times the army is in the streets lookingfor the guerrillas and one cannot work."

Political Violence &Civil WarWhile 16 percent of immigrants were

from the violence-torn countries ofGuatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua,only 10 percent explicitly mentionedpolitical repression and civil war as a rea-son for coming here. There was somereluctance on the part of people fromthese countries to talk about the situationthere.

One woman from El Salvador said:"The situation there with the war is verydifficult. I was very young and I ,Pftwant to die." A man from El Salvadorexplained ills decision this way:

"I came because of the political situa-tion in my country. It was a moment oflife or death. My life in El Salvador wasin danger and I had to get out... Pleasedon't think that coming here has mademe feel good, because I feel I by leaving!like I have betrayed my people but I hadto get out. It was l(fe or death."

Another man, also from El Salvador,caine to this country seeking political asy-lum "because I was being looked for in mycountry."

A woman fled from her country but hadto leave behind her 15-year old son, whohad been drafted into the Army. Shedescribed seeking political asylum unsuc-cessfully in both Mexico and Canadabefore coming to the U.S. She has notreceived asylum here either.

Came To Be With FamilySeventeen percent said that coming to

be with family members was a major rea-son for leaving their home country.Almost all who came for this reason werewomen. One woman came because herdaughter was already living in the U.S.and asked her to come and take care ofthe children while she worked. Otherscame to live with their children or otherrelatives who were in the U.S. One womanexplained:

"I came because my sisters and oldestdaughters were already here and I feltvery alone. My daughter got married tosomeone from here and she told us thatlife here was not so hard."

Several women came to be with theirhusbands who were already here and had

23

found work and a place for the family tolive.

Going to School and/orLearning English

About 14 percent gave education as oneof their primary reasons for entering theU.S. Again, the majority of people whogave this reason were women. Occasional-ly, this response was given by someonewho had come with a student visa to go tocollege and had decided to stay here afterthe visa expired. Sometimes, it was simplyexpressed as a desire to learn English. Inseveral cases, parents talked about want-ing a better education for their own child-ren. As one person said: "I wanted to havemoney so my son could study." Andanother: "I came for education.., becauseof problems with the education system inmy country." Another noted the poor edu-cation opportunities for rural people inher home country: "I came for the bettereconomy and for a better way of life formy daughter and because of the bad situa-tion in the countryside for studying."

To Explore, To HaveAdventure

A few people said that they came inorder to explore and learn about thiscountry firsthand. A man from Mexicoexpressed this desire most clearly whenhe said:

"I came because I wanted to know. I ama wanderer. I no longer wanted to hearstories. I wanted to know for myseif."

To Escape an Abusive Hus-band or Boyfriend

Several women came to the U.S. to getaway from violence in their own homes.The number of people who mentioned thisis not large, but their stories are com-pelling. One woman said:

"I came here because it was far awayfrom my husband. My husband beats meand I wanted another way of life, with-out fighting."

Another woman spoke of her decisionthis way:

"I separated myse(f from my husband,who gave me a life of hell, and morethan anything I fied and that's how Icame here. In addition, I knew hewouldn't come here because he is in

drugs and wouldn't leave the group ofpeople he hangs out with for anything.

A few women who cited the civil wargoing on in their home countries alsotalked about abuse:

"I came because of the war. I was escap-ing from my ex-husband. I am /now! asingle mother and I didn't have muchfuture in my country."

"T he situation there with the war Ls verydifficult. I was very young and I didn'twant to die. For me it was going verybadly with my husband. He beat me alot, and finally I realized he was takingdrugs."

To Escape Other PersonalSituations

Another group of people, almost exclu-sively women, mentioned very difficultpersonal situations as motivations forleaving. These situations included familyconflict, social stigma and ostracism. Awoman from Guatemala talked about -allthe people speaking badly of me because Ihad a son without being married." Awoman from Mexico explained that "Icame to earn money and study. I foundmy husband with another woman. Myfamily would not let me divorce him. I fledfrom that situation... I came to Minnesotabecause it was the furthest from Mexico."A gay man talked about his desire to leavean intolerable social situation: "I wantedto go far away where no one would speakbadly to my family about my sexual prob-lem. I wanted to go to a place very faraway where they would respect you."

Better LifeFinally, five percent of those inter-

viewed simply indicated that they came tofind a better life or to start a new life,without explaining further what theymeant. It is probably safe to assume thatthis is primarily an economic motivation,but we did not want to decide that arbi-trarily. A "better life" could potentiallymean many things. Therefore, Table 6lists this reason separately.

2 41 7

Why Minnesota?Two things stand out as reasons why the people we interviewed eventually set-

tled in Minnesota. One was the perception that there were more jobs here. The sec-ond was the presence of friends or relatives already in Minnesota who would be ableto give them a place tc stay and help them get started in finding work.

Relatively few immigrants from Mexico and Latin America come directly to Min-nesota when they enter titf! U.S. The places where they go California, Texas,Florida, the Sun Belt states - have a reputation hs rapidly growing areas wherethere are plenty of Jobs. Many immigrants, however, find that not to be true. Oneperson from Colombia said:

"Everyone told 'MC that in Miami it was better because there were many Latinpeople there. But, in Miami, there is almost no work, and that is why I camehere.

Others had similar experiences:

"I was in Washington but somebody told me that there were more jobs here."

"They say that lin Minnesota) there is a lot of work and where I was in Miamiand Houston there was not work."

"In Los Angeles the situation was more difficult for obtaining work"

"They told me that here (Minnesota] you find work and I decided to comebecause in Texas it was taking a lot of work to find a job. First I was in SanAntonio and then I went to Dallas and from Dallas to here."

"Some Hispanics that I met in Oregon told me that this state was good forwork."

"We came front Florida but there it is very ugly arid there are not many jobs."

Another person came to escape the dangerous kind of work she had experiencedelsewhere and to find her health:

"I came here because this is a fresh, clean place where I can live well. In Texas,pesticides felt onyny skin and the membrane was burned and my nails fell out.In Texas, they did not give me many years to live, and here I realized that theclimate is helping me and I contimie to live."

Connections with relatives and friends were also very important in choosingMinnesota as a place to come. About 40 percent of the people we interviewedalready had family members in Minnesota when they came here. Others with nofamily here spoke of "friends", "contacts," or "my cousin's friends" who suggestedthey move here and helped them get settled. One man from Mexico described hisplans in this way:

"/ spoke to my uncles who live here f in Minnesota( and they extended a helpinghand and that is how I am here. Minnesota is.the only place where I have fami-ly, and they would help me with my needs."

25

5. Workor most immigrants, finding workand earning money is the explicitreason they came to Minnesout.Work is the means to a better lifefor themselves or their families.

Or it is a means to survive in this countrywhile violence rages in their home coun-try.

Nearly two-thirds (63%) of all atoseinterviewed for this study were currentlyemployed, and 80 percent were eithercurrently employed or had been employedat some time during the past year. (Table7) Undocumented people were just as like-ly to be working as those with legal status.

As Table 8 shows, most of those notcurrently employed fell into two maingroups "homemakers," and recentarrivals who had been in Minnesota lessthan six months. Homemakers werewomen working at home caring for theirchildren but not employed for pay. Tfieyaccounted for nearly half of those not cur-

rently employed. The second group con-sists of immigrants who had arrived inMinnesota sometime during the past sixmonths and had not yet found work.(Most were undocumented Theyaccounted for over one-fourth of all unem-ployed immigrants.

Kinds of JobsMost of the jobs held by immigrants

were in the hotel, restaurant, cleaning andother lower-paying service industries. Afew were working in offices and a handfulwere working as professionals. Many ofthe immigrants, particularly those withlegal status living in Greater Minnesota,have found jobs in meat-packing or foodprocessing factories.

Back in their home countries, peoplehad worked in a greater variety of jobs.Very few were farmers or agriculturalworkers, perhaps indicating that relativelyfew of the immigrants reaching Minnesota

Undocumented Legalized Total

Employed currently 84 63% 56 63% 140 63%

Unemployedhas worked duringpast year

16 12% 21 24% 37 17%

Unemployedno work in past year 33 25% 12 14% 45 20%

Total 133 89 222

Table 8: Labor Force Status_

Undocu men ted Legalized Total

Employed 84 63% 56 63% 140 63%

Full-time Homemakercaring forhome & kids and not employed

17 13% 20 23% 37 17%

Disabled 1 1% 3 3% 1 2%

Student 0 0% 2 2% 1- 1%

Unemployedhas lived in MN lessthan 6 months

1 9 1 4 % 4 5% 23 10%

Unemployed- -has lived in MN morethan 6 months

12 9% 4 5% 1 6 7%

Total 133 89 222

20

are from the rural areas of Mexico andCentral America. Some were truck dri-vers, roofers, mechanics, artisans, andoffice workers and sales clerks. A fewcleaned houses or owned their own smallbusinesses. It seems clear that many peo-ple came to this country with some skillsand experience in different kinds of work.While they may have jobs here in Min-nesota, these may not be jobs that fullyutilize the skills and experience that peo-ple have brought with them. Asked whatshe liked or disliked about her work, onewoman who was a secretary in her homecountry replied:

"I have a place for my daughter andgood meals and they treat me well. I likemerything, except that I believe that stillI am not really in the country. I wouldlike to work as a seeretaty and not as acleaning lady because this is limitingand I want to have the opportunity towork here legally."

Workers often had complaints abouttheir jobs that might sound familiar toanyone who has done difficult or danger-ous or tedious work for low wages. Forsome the work was very physicallydemanding: "I don't like it very muchbecause I am always tired. It is difficultand it affects my back because you haveto bend over a lot." Another person said"Every night my arms hurt and after awhile it is boring."

But many workers also expressed posi-tive feelings about their jobs. They appre-ciated getting paid (as one man said, "InMexico sometimes I had to wait until theywanted to pay me. At least here I have mymoney every other week for sure."), andsome expressed satisfaction that theyworked hard and were good at their jobs.

Hours, Wages and TaxesMost of those currently employed In

Minnesota are working full-time. Aboutthree-fourths (73%) work over 35 hoursper work, and nine percent said that theywork at least 50 hours each week. Thelength of time in their current job is quiteshort; 68 percent have been with theircurrent employer for one year or less.This is due in part to the fact that manyimmigrants arrived in Minnesota onlyrecently, but it may also suggest thatlower-level service industry jobs are notvery stable, requiring people to find newjobs often within that sector.

The wages earned by these workers areuniformly low. The median hourly wagewas iS5.75, which means that half earnedmore than that amount and half earnedless. Pay was slightly higher for some ofthe incat-packing jobs, although the workwas also described as very dangerous anddifficult. Only 3 percent of those workingreported making at least $10 an hour.

The great majority of workers (85%)were paid by check. The remaining 15percent who were paid in cash were oftenwomen who worked as domestic house-keepers or who provided child care fromtheir own home.

Eighty-six percent said that income andsocial security taxes were taken out oftheir paychecks each pay period. But only41 percent of those who were workingand only 22 percent of undocumentedworkers filed income tax returns.Undocumented people believe it is danger-ous to file income tax forms because theyfear they will be detected and caught. Asone man said: "I know I can't do thatbecause I could be caught. I am afraidthey will discover me." As a result, theymust give up their tax refunds. In particu-lar, they may not be able to receive anyhelp from the Earned Income Tax Credit,which is designed to reduce federal taxeson the working poor.

All immigrants pay property taxesthrough their rent and sales taxes throughtheir purchases. Nearly all immigrantworkers are also paying social securityand income taxes; in fact, they are payingconsiderably more in income taxes thanthey really owe, due to reluctance to applyfor refunds. The latest st.idy from the Min-nesota Department of Revenue shows thatlow-income people pay higher combinedproperty, sales and income taxes thanwealthy people, when measured as a per-cent of income.11 The overall tax burdenon immigrants appears to be even heavierthan on low-income people generally.

In economic terms, the people inter-viewedfor this study on the who!: aregiving more to society than they aredrawing from it. Their productive work,their expenditures within the local econ-omy, and their heavy tax burden suggestthat they are making valuable contribu-tions to the unnmunity.12

27

Discrimination antiMistreatment

Two of every five workers (39%)answered "yes" when asked if they hadbeen treated differently than others on thejob because of being Ilispanic or becauseof being undocumented. Discriminationand mistreatment took many forms.

The employer sanctions part of theImmigration Reform and Control Act of1986 was meant to encourage employersto stop hiring undocumented immigrants.But undocumented people have not beenthe only ones affected. Studies from allover the country, including the U.S. Gen-eral Accounting Office, have found a "seri-ous pattern cf discrimination" againstlegal residents who have accents. In otherwords, IRCA has had the effect of encour-aging employers to discriminate in hiringagainst all Hispanics, whether legal resi-dents or undocumented.

Several immigrants did talk about thispattern. One woman who was legalizedthrough the amnesty program said, "Theyalways believe that I am illegal because Idon't know English. I show my card manytimes for them to see that it is not fake."Several others echoed that feeling. As onewoman said: "If you are Mexican, theyalways think that you are illegal eventhough you are not." Another amnestyparticipant explained: "I am not afraidanymore [after receiving amnesty'. But itis harder to get a job. They think every-body is illegal."

But the immigrants interviewed for thisstudy spoke more frequently about dis-crimination and mistreatment thatoccurred on the job after they were hired.The most common complaint was humili-ation, name-calling and derogatory com-ments. The remarks below do not includethe more obscene comments that werereported by immigrants:

"In the hotel, the 'gringos' always treatyou different, and sometimes you feelbad."

"They make fun of me, but I don't knowtf this is my problem and I feel badlyworking as a waitress."

"I t bothers me that in my job they callme 'taco girl'."

"They call me 'wetback'."I Several/

"My co-workers always make fun of me.They start talking like 'Speedy Gonza-les'."

"They say bad things to me but I think itmakes them angry because I work hard-er than other people."

"They make fun of my English. Theythink I am stupid because I have anaccent."

Another complaint voiced by manypeople was that they were always giventhe dirtiest and most difficult jobs. It wasnot simply that the work was hard, butthat the burden of work was not sharedfairly and people were not treated equally:

"I have to clean more things than theothers! and they take advantage that Ihave to put up with it and not protest."

"They discriminate against me. Theygive me the heaviest jobs and the Ameri-cans refuse to do them."

"I have to do the work that nobodywants to do."

"You have to work like a horse and theAmericans don't."

"j In the place where I work! the Ameri-cans do not do their job well and theythe managers! do not say anything to

them, but they are vety strict with theMexicans."

"If it is an American who cannot do thework they change that person to an easi-erjob, but when we want somethingthey do not pay attention to us."

"I went to work... and the managerthere bothered me a lot. No matter whatI did there, whatever the gringos didwas always good and whatever I didwas always bad."

A few women talked about another kindof discrimination or mistreatment on thejob sexual harassment by supervisorsand co-workers. One woman said: "Mysupervisor invited me to Chicago and toldme that I couldn't tell anyone. I didn't likethis." Another reported that "there is aman who is always bothering me and callsme on the telephone and tells me to leavemy husband."

Some people also had good things tosay about the treatment they havereceived For example, one woman whohad come to Minnesota as a farmworkerrespztd this way when asked about dis- 21

crimination and mistreatment at work:

"No, it was just the opposite. In the field,he I the employer! even caine over andsat down and talked with us. When I gotsick at work, the farm owner was theone who took me to the doctor. It turnedout that I was pregnant. Then he didn'tlet me work anymore but he gave morehours to my hu.sband."

Injuries and MedicalAttention

One out of every six workers (16%) hadbeen hurt or injured on the job. Workinjuries were particularly common andserious among immigrants living outsidethe metropolitan area, where 22 percentof those now working said they had beeninjured on the job. The meat-packing andfood processing industries had particularlyhigh injury rates.

One woman in meat-packing explainedthat she works with scissors and knives allday and has gotten many cuts on herhands and fingers, as have many otherworkers. Pesticide poisoning is anotherdanger in rural Minnesota. Women clean-ing offices or hotels or businesses talkedabout the dangers of strong cleaning sol-vents.

The dangerousness of the work is com-pounded by the fact that immediate andhigh-quality health care has not in somecases been made available to injuredworkers. As one man, a legal resident who

22

worked in food processing in Greater Min-nesota, said:

"You get cut a lot. I have badly cut myfingers twice. One time I cut rny fingerand they took me to the medical center.I waited two hours. By the time the doc-tor came, the blood had already dried,but he sewed me up without cleaning itand sent me back to work. Fifteen dayslater he took out the stitches. Soon c(fter,the cut opened up again because of allthe dried blood inside that he had notcleaned out. I had to wash deep insidethe wound and I cured mysetr. I cutmyse[f again at work and I did not go tothe doctor since he treated me so badly."

A woman, who was also a legal residentand who had been sprayed with pesticidesat a farm where she was applying forwork, related this experience:

"I went to the local hospital because ofthe pesticides and they only gave mesome tablets when I should have beenadmitted 1. [tic hospital. They put meout crying, and I said to the nurse that Iwas dying like an animal. I had to go toa hospital a hundred miles away andthere they admitted me and treated mever), well. The nurses put cloth with hotwater on my skin that was falling offand they put bandages on me everythree hours. I am going to return thereso they can check on me."

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6. The Emotional Side ofImmigration

he act of leaving one's home-land, culture and loved ones andtrying to live within a strangeland and a different cultureunder hostile laws is bound to be

an emotionally wrenching experience.The story of immigration is not merelyone of a physical journey, landing a job,finding a place to live or learning a lan-guage. It is also very much the story of anemotional journey, of fear and worry,loneliness, separation, and hope. It is noteasy to ask precise, easily-measured ques-tions about such experiences. Therefore,we asked general and open-ended ques-tions and let the immigrants do the t2lk-ing.

FearAlmost everyone who participated in

the study has been deeply afraid. Fearcomes in many forms. For some people,there is the fear of losing a job or of run-ning out of food or of being evicted. Forsome women, there is fear that an abusiveex-husband might find them.

But the most common and powerfulfear expressed by the immigrants was fearof "la migra," the immigration authorities.Not everyone admitted to fear. Fifty-fourpercent of the total sample and 62 per-cent of the undocumented immigrantssaid they had at some time been afraid ofla migra or being deported. (Women weremore likely than men to admit fear.) Inreality, comments made elsewhere duringthe interview indicate that almost every-one who is or has been undocumented hasat some point experienced this fear.

For many people, the fear is pervasive;it is "always" there. They fear that theirdreams will be shattered and that it. will bevery hard to come back and that all theirpast sacrifices will be for nothing. Theyworry about being separated from theirchildren and about violence. We askedpeople how often :Ind in what types of sit-uations they have felt this fear, and theanswers below indicate how immigrants

have experienced this emotion:

"I am always afraid, but you learn tolive with that." (Woman, Mexico,Undocumented)

"I am afraid all the time. It is somethingthat you do not forget." (Woman, Mexi-co, Undocumented)

"Yes, I can afraid. It is something thatyou face day in and day out, that you donot forget." (Woman, Mexico, Undocu-mented)

"I always have fear because you don'tknow where they are going to come."(Woman, Mexico, Undocumented)

"Every time I talk on the telephone Iwonder if it is being bugged by immigra-tion. I wish that all of immigrationwould just disappear." (Woman, Mexi-co, Undocumented)

"Most of the time I am afraid of themigra, for example, when I go to thedoctor or to the lake or to the center ofthe city." (Man, Guatemala, Undocu-mented)

"I am more afraid for my husbandbecause he works more and if one daythe migra would arrive to catch him Ido not know what I would do with thechildren." (Woman, Mexico, Undocu-mented, two children)

"When one does not have papers, there isthis fear. One has it in the shouldersand it is the fear of returning to one'scountry and one does not have money tocome back again." (Woman, Mexico,now has pertnission to work)

"I have felt fear, for example, when theyappear at my work. One time the migracame to get a woman and we all leftrunning." (Woman, Mexico, Undocu-mented)

"They deported my husband when hewent to get a driver's license. They toldhim that they were waiting and therethey grabbed him. I think the same will

30

Table 9

Undocumented Legal TotalHave you ever been afraid of the

migra or of being deported? --answering "yes"

81 62% 37 43% 11 8 54%

Have you thought about your statusbefore going to an agency forinformation or help?answering "yes"

55 43% 23 27% 78 36%

24

happen to me." (Woman, Mexico,Undocumented, one child)

"Yes, I have been afraid many times. If Ihave not died it is because God is sogreat. I have seen many times whenimmigration came for people and I wasvery afraid. (Woman, Mexico, now legalresident)

"I am afraid when I see police cars andwhenever someone comes to my door(almost no one comes to visit me) Ithink thoy are coming for me." (Woman,Mexico, Undocumented)

"Yes, I am afraid almost all the time. Ifear the police a lot." (Woman.Guatemala, Undocumented)

"Yes, I have been afraid that they arriveat myjob to see all my documents andthey could hurt me and throw me injail." (Man, Peru, Undocumented)

"I always dream that they detain meand kill me." (Man, Mexico, Undocu-mented)

Several immigrants expressed the veryspecific fear that by being caught theymight be torn away from their children.This particular anguish, as expressed bythe following women, appeared to bestronger than concern for their own indi-vidual well-being:

"I dream they catch me and I do not seemy children again." (Woman. Mexico,undocumented, two children)

"Sometimes I dream that immigrationcomes to my house, that they arrest me,and that I do not go back to see my chil-dren again." (Woman, Mexico, undocu-mented, three children)

"Yes, this is something that always wor-ries you. Every night you lose sleep and Ipray that God will protect me and everymorning when /get up to go to work /

thank God for keeping me from immi-gration and that I am able to see mychildren." (Woman, Mexico, undocu-mented, three children)

"Yes, I am afraid all the time. I amafraid that they will take me when I amat work and that I will never be able tosee my children again." (Woman, Mexi-co, undocumented, three children)

The vulnerability of undocumentedimmigrants is underscored by the fact thatsome expressed the fear of betrayal by co-workers, landlords, and even family mem-bers. The threat of turning someone incan be used to exert power over an undoc-umented person. Workers, for example,are reluctant to call in sick or complainabout working conditions or discrimina-tion because of fear of being turned in,and this fear exists in many other situa-tions. Immigrants expressed fear ofbetrayal this way:

"There are people who do not have feel-ings and they could point the finger atthose who are here without papers."(Man, Mexico, undocumented)

"I am afraid at work, because one doesnot know who one is liked by or not."(Man, Peru, undocumented)

"When I fought with my sister-in-law, shethreatened me by saying she wouldthrow me to immigration. and now wedo not speak to each other." (Woman,Mexico, undocumented)

Fear & the Amnesty ProgramThe pervasiveness of the.fear experi-

enced by undocumented immigrantsbecomes even clearer when we look at theimpact of the amnesty program, whichhas allowed some undocumented peopleto obtain legal status. What has changedfor those who have received amnesty?Certainly, there are concrete benefits.

31

a

Sonic people said that it was easier toobtain better jobs, although the job pic-ture is mixed because others felt that Mex-icans were only hired for low-paying jobs,whether they were legal or not. Some peo-ple specifically mentioned being able tofile for an income tax refund or get stu-dent loans for college or get credit to buya house. But one gets the strong impres-sion that perhaps the greatest benefit ofamnesty has been eliminating the fear andstress of deportation, making it possiblefor people to feel more relaxed and free.Newly legalized immigrants expressed itthis way when asked how their life haschanged due to amnesty:

"1 am calmer in my house, and my chil-dren have security and we are able tocame and go without fear."

"It allowed me to get a secure job andwithout fear of being deported." (Manfrom El Salvador who now has Tempo-rary Protective Status)

"V,Ac I can work without fear or prob-lems. "

"It is better because now we no longerhave fear that the migra will catch us,but they do not give you better jobs."

"Now I do not change my name nor am Iafraid of immigration."

"I feel surer for everything. I can comeand go freely; I feel security and tran-quility."

"I am more tranquil and I have moresecurity to look for work, even though Ihave not obtained any."

"I feel satisfied with myself. I can visitmy family in Mexico without problems."

"I feel more confident and free. The fearof being derrorted has left me." (Manfrom El Salvad.w who received Tempo-rary Protective Status)

Fear and Its EffectsAside from worries that their family

may be torn apart and their dreams shat-tered, fear of being caught and deportedsometimes discourages immigrants fromtaking part in the normal life of the com-munity and exercising basic human rights.Below are actions which some immigrantshave felt that they must take to protectthemselves:

1. Not reporting crimes to the police.Immigrants who have been robbed

32

and assaulted, including women whohave been raped or who have beenabused, often are afraid to reportthese crimes to the police. In somecases, the perpetrator of the crimeknows that the victim may feel pow-erless to call the police.

2. Not talking to their child's teacher orvisiting the school to advocate fortheir child. Communication betweenparent and teacher is very impor-tant, even more so when differencesof language and culture make theprocess of achieving mutual under-standing more complicated. Severalparents were afraid that immigrationmight come to the schools or thatthe schools might contact immigra-tion and have them taken away. Onewoman, a refugee from CentralAmerica, spoke sadly about fearingto intervene on her son's behalfbecause of her immigration status:

"The other boys feel they have theright to do bad things to my son.Since I am still not legal, I do notfeel like I can _fight against thisbecause if I go and say something Ibelieve that they will deport me. Ido not feel that I have any rightsand I tell him to put up with it."

3. Not seeking medical care when itwas needed. As mentioned later,some undocumented people havestayed away from doctor's and clin-ics for fear of being discovered.

4. Not seeking social services that arevital to their needs. Over one-thirdof the immigrants (36%) said thatthere have been times when theyhave had to think and worry abouttheir immigration status before seek-ing help from an agency. As a manfrom Guatemala said, "When onearrives at an office to ask for infor-mation, I wonder if they have con-tact with the migra and before enter-ing there I think about it a lot."

Separation and LossThe act of immigrating can put enor-

mous strains on family relationships. Insome cases, the parents of the person whois immigrating are supportive and encour-aging, but in many cases they are opposedto t he idea. Even when they are support-ive, however, the long separations lead tomuch sadness and worry. Close to 90 per-

26

cent of those we interviewed have beenable to maintain contact with relatives intheir home country, but that is obviouslynot enough. The situation is complicatedby the fact that it is very difficult to travelback and forth. Not only is it costly, butfor undocumented people the prospect offinding some way of making the crossingback to the U.S. can be very discouraging.

"My parents did not speak to me for along time 1 after I came here)." (Woman,Mexico, undocumented)

"My people 172iSS me a lot and I missthem. There are times when it is hard tosend money and I want to do it but Idon't know how." (Man, Peru, undocu-mented)

"My mother cries. She is sad when I say Iam not returning." (Woman, Mexico,undocumented)

"My parents don't like it that I am here.They always ask when I am cominghome." (Woman, Mexico, undocumented)

"I deceived my parents because I toldthem that I was going to Acapulco but Icame here. My mother cries all the timefor me to return." (Man, Mexico, undoc-umented)

"Coming here has caused problemslwith my family/ because I am theyoungest and we had never been sepa-rated and they do not know if I am aliveor dead and my son who is in the oldcountry knows nothing about me either."(Woman, fled quickly from her CentralAmerican countr), undocumented)

"Coming here has caused problems withmy family because I already had prob-lems when I left and since I was awoman and came here alone, they gotangry. Now, everything is better."(Woman, Mexico, amnesty)

Another source of discouragement formany immigrants is their inability to helptheir family back home by sending asmuch money as they had intended. Nearlythree-fourths (71%) said they had intend-ed to send money to their families, butonly 63 percent of that group have actual-ly been able to send anything at all.

Some of the strongest feelings of lossand anxiety occur when immigrants havehad to leave behind One or more of theirown children in the home country. Asmentioned in Chapter 3, more than one-

fourth (28%) of the immigrants who hadchildren under the age of 18 were separat-ed from them. These parents includedmen who had come to the U.S. to findwork while the wife and childrenremained behind. It also included womenwho had been separated or abandoned bytheir husbands or who were escapingabuse and decided to leave one or more oftheir children with relatives.

Parents separated from their childrenworried about their health and whetherthey were being treated well. Some won-dered if their children would even knowthem. They worried what it must be likefor the children to be raised by other rela-tives. One of the strongest dreams ofimmigrants in this situation is to he re-united with their families. The followingcomments show the range of emotionsgenerated by these separations:

"I worry about them because I am notwith them and I do not want them togrow up without their father. This busi-ness of coming to the U.S. was supposedto be for a few months. Then I wentback home and did not plan to return,but our economic situation was notgood and I have come back to the U.S.two times already." (Man, Mexico,undocumented)

"My eight-year old daughter stayed inMexico alone with my mother for a whileand I think she does not fmgive me forthis." (Woman, Mexico, undocumented)

"Yes, I have cried, because one thinksabout one's family. I do not know howmy children are. I feel that way almostall the time and at night I don't evensleep. Sometimes I say that I can't putup with this any longer." (Man, threechildren in Guatemala, undocumented)

"It gives me a lot of sadness to not beable to watch my daughter growing. I donot know if she will get used to me whenI bring her to me. I am afraid that shewill not understand this and will throwit in my face." (Woman, Mexico,amnesty)

"Yes, it has been a long time since I haveseen them. They will not understandwhy I came but I swear to God that Ionly wanted it to be better for them andthat they would not lack in fbod."(Woman, Guatemala, (Omnesty)

"Yes, I worry that they have food,

33

clothes, sclumling that they have thebasic necessities. That is why I am here,far away, to get them a better life."(Man, Mexico, undocumented)

Sadness and SupportToward the end of the interview, people

were asked if they had ever cried here andto whom did they talk when things werebad. A few people felt fortunate that theyhad not experienced deep sorrow. A manfrom Mexico said: "I give thanks to Godthat up until now I have not had any badexperiences." And a woman living inGreater Minnesota explained: "No, I havenot cried because I have my family herewith me. Just the opposite, I have liked ithere because my children are studying."On the other hand, there are those whofeel very sad most of the time. For exam-ple, a woman replied: "Yes, [I cry all thetime. There are days when I cry for every-thing. I don't know if I am doing wellbeing here or not." A man put it this way:"1 am always sad. I w.)ul(l like tt; be withmy family. When one is alone, one doesnot eat well." Another woman said: "Yes, Ihave cried a lot. There are times when Ithink there are no more tears in my eyes."

The most common reason why peoplefelt deep sadness was separation fromtheir parents, loved ones and perhapschildren and their feelings of being alone.One man spoke for many people when hesaid, "I have cried for my mother and allof my people because it is very hard to beseparate from them." Sometimes, this ismixed with nostalgia for one's homeland.An undocumented woman from Panamasaid: "Sometimes I have cried when I havemissed my family and the life back there,which for me is much nicer and prettierthan it is here, even with all the needsthat a person has there."

Others have felt sadness because life isvery hard and sometimes it is hard to seethat they are making any progress:

"Yes, sometimes I feel bad because thereare many battles that one has to do.Sometimes it is unjust how the poor stif-fer so mueh. I ask my little God ("Diosi-to") to look after my children." (Woman,Mexico, undocumented)

"I have cried a lot. It is wry difficulthere. There are times when I don't knowwhat to do. I believe thw I have sinneda lot and that I am paying for it hem."(Woman, Guatemala, undocumented)

3

"When I arrived here, I felt that I wasnot going to make it. I thought that Iwas going to give up and that after allmy sacrifices I was going to go back toMexico in a worse situation than when Ileft." (Woman. Mexico, undocumented)

"I have cried for the lack of support andfor not havin,g money and when I do nothave enough food for my children."(W(nan, Mexico, undocumented)

"You miss your counby and your family,but more than anything else I I am sadfor! the humiliation that one receiveshere." (Woman, Mexico, amnesty)

Many people noted that there was noperson who they could really talk to whenthey felt bad "(I talkl with no onebecause I am almost always alone." Thereis much isolation in the immigrant com-munity and it is not limited to people whoare here alone. One woman, for example,told how she had no one to talk to becauseher husband was always gone working andher daughter was always in school.

Other people are able to speak withtheir spouses or brothers and sisters orcousins or friends who are here. Severalpeople explicitly mentioned the help theyhad received from talking with workers incommunity social service programs. Somepeople speak to God or to the virgin or thesaints "I talk in church with the virgin.I console myself with her and her withme." For many people, thinking aboutGod or thinking about their familieshelped them to get through difficultmoments. A few people drew strengthfrom their own will and resolve "Iresolve my problems alone, by calmingdown, so I am able to think about how toresolve them, economically, socially andphysically."

Stress and RelationshipsTwenty-eight percent of immigrants

who were here with their families saidthat there had been an increase in thelevel of tension within their families sincecorning here. Twenty-seven percent ofthose who were married said their spouseor partner had changed since cominghere. Women were three times as likely asmen to say that their spouse had changed.

In some cases, the changes in relation-ships havc been for the better. Onewoman said that her husband no longerhits her as he did in Mexico and another 27

said he no longer goes with other women.But about eight percent of the women whowere interviewed said they had been hit,pushed or threatened in their home sincecoming to Minnesota. An undocumentedwoman explained:

"My husband has hit me several times.1 le never hit me in Mexico, but mybrothers were also there and they woulddefend me. I believe that he took advan-tage of me because 1 am here alone(without protection!.

Some women have received help fromlocal shelters for battered women. Onewoman with legal status received helpfrom the police, although most womenexperiencing abuse have not relied on thelegal system:

"The worst experience that I have hadhere is when my husband hit me and theneighbors called the police. They tookhim away, but the next day I went to gethim. Since that day he hasn't put ahand on me because he knows I'll callthe police."

"7; -.7-7.77-77777:7177:-

"I worry that they will forget the cultureand values. All the education theyreceive is in English and they don't talkto me sometimes." (Woman. Mexico,undocumented)

"I think that they already do not want tospeak Spanish and that they will forgetwhere they come from." (Woman, Mexi-co, amnesty)

RopeDespite the difficulties of building a

new life here, many immigrants feel thatlife has indeed become better for them orat least have hope that this will happen. Itis very difficult to measure or talk aboutsomething like hope. One clue that itexists can be found in the fact that peoplecan articulate the goals and dreams theyhave for themselves and their families. Afew dreams are identified again and again.In no particular order, these are:

learning English

getting a better job and earning moremoney

Table 10: Plan to Return Permanently to Country of Origin?

Undocumented Legalized TotalYes 64 52% 21 24% 85 41%No 43 35% 56 64% 99 47%Don't Know 16 13% 10 12% 26 12%

Total 123 87 210

Worries About ChildrenImmigrants who have children here in

Minnesota share the same kinds of worriesthat are often voiced by parents heredrugs and alcohol, AIDS, gangs, gettingmixed up with bad friends, being kid-napped or abducted, not finishing schoolor not doing well in school. But immigrantparents have some additional concerns.They worry that their children, growingup in the U.S., will not understand whytheir parents left the old country andmade this move and will lose touch withMexican or Latin American culture:

"I think they will never understand whyI came and they will ash themsekvsmany questions about their father."(Woman, Mexico, undocwnented)

"I worry that day don't want to speakSpanish, that they don't realise what itmeans to be Mexicans."

becoming a legal resident and/or get-ting legal papers for one's spouse orchildren

seeing their children get a good edu-cation and start a good career

having their own house

II being re-united with parents, spouse,children and other loved ones

It is safe to say, though, that manyimmigrants have experienced disillusion-ment with the U.S. Some people camewith distorted perceptions of Americansociety. As one man said, "I did not thinkthat it would be so difficult. I thought thatall were rich and that there were nopoor." Others were surprised at how diffi-cult it was to find good work and at howmuch discrimination existed An undocu-mented woman from Mexico explained itthis

"I didn't know that they treated Mexi-cans so badly here. I thought that grin-gos treated Mexicans vent well. But Ibelieve that in. order to understand theU.S. you ean only do it by living here asan Ilispano. I don't admire the U.S. likeI did before living here."

But Others immigrants said that theyhad not become disillusioned or that theiroriginal image of the U.S. had not changedor had changed for the better.

"Before, they told us negative things butall is positive. We suffered a lot when wearrived but now we already can relax."(Man, Mexico, legal resident)

"My ideas have changed because herethere is a source of employment and Ihave liked this place. There is not thedelinquency, nor the violence, nor thelack of respect for human rights, like inGuatemala." (Man, Guatemala, undoc-umented)

"Me and nty family think that hercare better, that there is a better life forus." (Woman, Mexico, amnesty)

Perhaps one factor that has sustainedhope in some measure is that many peo-ple have some positive perceptions of Min-nesota. When asked what they liked aboutMinnesota, by far the most frequentresponses were that it is "tranquil,""quiet," and "peaceful." Some mentioned

the work and educational opportunities,and a few remarked that there did notseem to be as much prejudice as in Cali-fornia and Texas. Several people told ofthe friendliness and help they hadreceived. A man from Central Americatold of his bus trip from Minneapolis toMarshall, Minnesota:

"I was going to' Marshall and (fell asleepand went to South Dakota. Mien Iasked when we were getting to Marshall,the bus driver laughed at me, but then Icame back to Marshall with free busfare and money that they gave me."

A young woman who had just givenbirth said, "In the hospital they gave me ababy shower because we had nothing. Ihave had many problems, but I have metmany people who have helped me."

About two of every five (41%) of theimmigrants who were interviewed saidthey planned to return permanently totheir country of origin at some point intheir lives. Undocumented people weretwice as likely as legal immigrants to saythey planned to return permanently (52%to 24%). Overall, nearly half of the sample(47%) had no plans for permanent return,although they might go back to visit. Oneof every eight (12%) who answered thequestion said they really didn't know whatthey would do.

3629

7. Basic Necessities andServices

ftespite the large number of peo-ple who are working, basicneeds cannot be taken forgranted. Pay is low and workingconditions are far from ideal.

This chapter looks at access to some ofthe basic necessities within the immi-grant's living environment.

LanguageOne normally would not think of lan-

guage skills as one of the basic necessitiesfor survival, at least not in the same waythat we think of shelter, food and healthcare. Bat foi Mexican and Latin Americanimmigrants, adapting to and learning anew language is vital to building a new lifehere. Just under one-fourth (23%)answered "yes" when asked if they couldread English and 26 percent answered"yes" when asked if they could under-stand English. The rest either answered"no" or "a little." When asked what per-cent of a conversation in English theythought they could understand, most indi-cated less than 50 percent.

Spanish is the language in which theyalso feel most comfortable. More thanthree of every four (77%) said that theyspeak only Spanish with the people withwhom they live, while another 20 percentspoke both Spanish and English. Learningsometimes happens more quickly amongchildren. More than half of the immigrantswith children (57%) said that their chil-dren spoke only Spanish with one anoth-er, while 35 percent were using bothSpanish and English and 8 percent spokeEnglish only.

The desire to learn or improve one'sability to understand English is universal.Ninety-nine percent thought it was impor-tant for them to improve their English,and this was true even for those whoalready have a good command of the lan-guage. Only half, however, said they hadbeen able to take any kind of class on Eng-lish, and some of these classes had notlasted very long. Only 41 percent of

3 7

undocumented immigrants had been ableto take any kind of English class, compar-ed to 63 percent of those with legal status.

The most frequent reason given for nottaking classes was lack of time afterworking many hours, taking care of chil-dren, cooking and so forth, there was nottime to take regular classes. A woman liv-ing in Minneapolis spoke for many otherswhen she said: "With my children and thejob, I have not had enough time." A fewpeople said they had not gone because, inaddition to working, they wanted to havemore time with their children and wereputting that ahead of learning English. Awoman from St. Paul explained that shehad not yet gone to classes "because Iwant my daughter to get a little biggernow she needs me a lot."

Others didn't know where to go, or inparticular didn't know where to go forclasses that did not cost anything. Troublegetting transportation to the classes orfinding child care also made it difficult formany people to go to classes. But a num-ber of people also complained about theclasses themselves, particularly about pro-grams in which there were frequentchanges in teachers. For example, onewoman from St. Paul said, "They are bor-ing and there are different teachers everytime and I don't like this," and anotherwoman said, "I don't like their changingteachers every day."

Special Note: The Need forTranslators and Interpreters

Ninety-three percent of those inter-viewed agreed that it'd be better if moreplaces had translators who could speakSpanish. We asked in what kinds of placesare translators most necessary. Aside fromthose who simply answered "everywhere,"most people were able to name at leastone kind of place. As Table I I indicates,by far the greatest demand for tran.datorsis In medical services hospitals, clinicsand doetor's offices, but especially within 31

Table 11: In What Type of Places WouldYou Like There to beTranslators?

Number of PeopleHospitals, Clinics, Doctor's OfficesSupermarkets and Discount StoresPublic Offices, esp. the License BureauSchools, including the universityWorkplaceJob Service and Employment AgenciesCourts, Lawyers, Legal ServicesTelephone CompanyPost OfficePublic Utilities gas, lightBanks

Mentioning9442

352927252214

14

13

12

32

hospitals. Next frequently mentioned werestores, primarily supermarkets and dis-count stores like Target and K-mart. Pub-lic offices or government offices, mostnotably the motor vehicle license bureau,received the third highest number of men-tions.

HousingMany immigrants live in large house-

holds, often with members of the extend-ed family (their own parents, uncles,aunts, brothers, sisters, cousins) or withother friends who are helping to shareexpenses. Forty-five percent lived inhouseholds of five persons or more, gener-ally in small-to-average size apartments ortrailer homes. Over one-fourth of theimmigrants (27%) felt that there were toomany people living in their apartment.One woman described the impact ofcrowded conditions this way:

"The tension level has gone up because Ido not like living the way we are. I amnot into people fighting a lot or listeningto the radio. That makes me feel bad."(There are seven people living in a one-bedroom apartment the woman, herhusband, her baby, and four relatives.)

Twenty-two percent of those inter-viewed had lived in a shelter at somepoint after their arrival in Minnesota. Infact, twelve of the interviews (6%) weredone with people who were currently stav-ing at a shelter for the homeless or a shel-ter for battered women. Immigrants with

legal status were just. as likely as undocu-mented people to have stayed at a shelter.

FoodWell over one-third of those inter-

viewed (38%) said that they had experi-enced hunger in Minnesota. Interviewersbelieved that some people were reluctantto admit that this was the case, perhapsbecause it felt shameful to do so. Nearlyhalf (46%) had gotten food from a foodshelf at least once in Minnesota. Legalimmigrants were slightly more likely tohave used a food shelf than undocument-ed immigrants, although it must beremembered that on the average theyhave also lived in Minnesota longer. Thefollowing table shows some of the waysthat people have obtained food:

Went to a food shelfWent to a soup kitchenGot food from friends or relativesGot food at workSent children to eat meals with

friends or relatives

46%29%22%

7%5%

Health CareMany immigrants have arrived in Min-

nesota only recently and have not had ill-nesses or injuries requiring medical careso far during the time they have beenhere. Others have simply not gone to thedoctor's office when they needed to. Over-all, 47 percent have seen a doctor in Min-nesota. Twenty-one percent, which repre-sents almost half of all those who haveseen a doctor, have gone to an emergencyroom for treatment at least once. Thismay be due to difficulties in obtaining rou-tine preventive care or to the severity ofworkplace injuries or to some other rea-son. Just under one-third (31%) had seena dentist in Minnesota.

About one in every four (24%) said theyhad problems seeing a doctor when theyneeded to see one. In most cases, the rea-son given is that medical care is veryexpensive for them. A woman raising herchild alone said: "I almost never gobecause it is expensive. I pray to God forour health because we can't pay a doctor."A man with a wife and one child said: "Ido not have money. You have to healyourself alone here. I still have not paidthem Ion a previous visit) and I don'tknow how I will."

Several people also mentioned theirinability to speak English and the lack of

38

'

Spanish-speaking staff at some clinics asan obstacle to obtaining health care:"When I have problems with my appoint-ments they always tell me I have to bringsomeone who can speak English."

For some undocumented people, fearthat they might be discovered and deport-ed keeps them away from clinics, hospi-tals and doctor's offices, even when theyneed medical care, as illustrated by thefollowing comments:

"Now I no longer go to the doctor eventhough I feel bad. I only suffer because Iknow they will ask me for papers."(Woman, with Husband and Three Chil-dren)

"Since I am urulocurnented, I am ofraidthat they will return me to my country."(Man, here alone)

"I do not go because at doctor's officesthey ask for a lot of information and Ido not have a social security number. Ican ill ogal." (Alan, here alone, refugeefrom Guatemala)

Outright denial of service due to immi-gration status has also occurred. Anundocumented person gave the followingexample:

"About a month ago I had pains in mystomach and they would not take care ofme at the hospital. They asked me if Ihad papers and I to/d them `no' and theywould not see me."

Legal immigrants were much more like-ly to have received medical care, dentalcare, and emergency room care thanundocumented immigrants, and they werealso more likely to report being unable tosee a doctor when they really needed to.These differences may be due to the factthat on the average legal immigrants havebeen here in Minnesota longer, and thushave had more time to accumulate illness-es and injuries needing attention. The fig-ures also show, however, that having legalstatus provides no guarantee against oneof the great dilemmas facing low-incomeworking people in this country gainingaccess to medical care.

TransportationAbout two of every five immigrants said

that they had problems with transporta-tion. Many people cannot afford 3 Car andmust either take the bus, rely on ridesfrom friends or relatives, or walk.

Transportation is essential for gettingto jobs or to make applications for work.Some people are keenly aware that lack ofadequate transportation limits theiropportunities for better jobs. As one manfrom St. Paul said: "There aren't manybuses in the suburbs. There are manygood jobs but I am not, able to go to thembecause I don't have transportation." Awoman living in Minneapolis added: "Iknow there are better jobs but you can'tgo because you need a car because thereare no buses." This is also true for peoplein cities who have or want to have jobswith unusual hours.

39

The absence of public transportation insmall towns outside the Twin Cities andlong waits between buses on some cityroutes were also mentioned by severalpeople. Difficulty in reading schedules andasking directions was experienced bythose who could not understand English,particularly in their first few months here.A man from Panama who is here alonesaid that, "buses are hard for me because Ido not understand the schedule and if onebus passes there is a long wait for the nextone what happens is that one arrives atwork late and they discount you for thathour."

Some people simply don't have enoughmoney even for bus fare. "When I want togo someplace either to look for work orjust to go there," said a man fromGuatemala, "I have to do it walking."

SchoolNearly all of the immigrants with

school-age children had their childrenenrolled in school. However, for manyparents this was only done with some fearand hesitancy. Thirty-nine percent of theparents and 53 percent of the undocu-mented parents answered "yes" whenasked if they had been afraid to send theirchildren to school.

Language is one of the difficulties thatmakes some people nervous about school.An undocumented woman from Mexicosaid, "I do not understand anything andthere are not people who can explain tome in Spanish how my daughter is doing."

Another zommon fear is that the chil-dren might be mistreated or insulted orharassed by other students Incidentssuch as these are bound to have someeffect On how comfortable students feel inschool. Among the experiences related by

these parents were the following:

"They tease them because they eca tacosand they say the `taco girls' or the`refried bean girls'."

"The children here do not understand orrespect the children from other places."

"They make fun of them. At times thechildren are voy sad and they cty."

"T hey say a lot of things to them. Before,they made fun of them because theydidn't speak English and now they makefun because they speak two languages."

"Some used to treat them very badly,calling them `chicanitos' or Vexicanitosmojados' but not any more."

Finally, one in every four parentsand one of every two undocumented par-ents said they had been afraid to sendtheir children to school because of theirimmigration status. Several parentsdescribed their reluctance to talk withteachers or intervene on their child'sbehalf because of fear they might be dis-covered and deported.

34

4 0

1

8. Recommendationshese recommendations arcdrawn from the experiences ofnew Hispanic immigrants andfrom interviews with communityleaders and service providers.

We asked immigrants what actions or ser-vices would most improve their lives herein Minnesota. Service providers and com-munity leaders were asked similar ques-tions, as well as what their dreams wouldbe for these people. Their dreamsstretched from taking on the INS and thewhole immigration system to providingappropriate food for them at food shelvesand drop In centers. Finally, the steeringcommittee had many long discussions asto what outcomes we would like to seefrom the project.

In 1985 Mayor Koch of New York Cityargued that undocumented people shouldnot be discouraged from making use ofthose city services to which they are enti-tled; on the contrary, for the pubhc well-being, they should be encouraged to do so.He wrote:

"For the most part, these...(undocumented people! are seff-supporting, law abiding residents.The greatest problem that they poseto the city is their tendency to underuse services to which they are enti-tled and on which their well beingand the city's well-being depend.For example, victims of crime, con-sumer fraud or workplace safetyviolations may decide not to reporttheir vietimizationfor fear that theirpresence in the city will come to theattention of immigration authori-ties. Persons who need medical caremay decide not to seek it, some fam-ilies may keep their children out ofschool, and adults may fail to availthemselves of ESL classes for thevery same reason- It is to the disad-vantage of all who live in the City ifsome of its residents are uneducat-ed, inadequately protected fromcrime, or untreated for illness. Thisis true regardless of one's views onthe propriety of unauthorized immi-gration. "

The same barriers and realities which4

exist for people of color and low incomepeople in general need to be addressed forimmigrants as well. However, it is ourintention in the recommendations belowto focus on the special interests of newimmigrants and not on the general publicpolicy needs the people of color and low-income people. We have five basic recom-mendations:

1. Reducing fear

2. information sharing to community

3. challenge of language: ESL programsand interpreters

4. new and expanded services

5. re-evaluation of immigration law andemployer sanctions

I. Reducing Fear & CreatingSafe Environments

Currently the Immigration and Natural-ization Service (INS) is the agency man-dated to control immigration. No individ-ual or organization or state or localgovernment is required to report undocu-mented immigrants except when theyundertake illegal activities.

State, county and city governments inMinnesota should not spend time andresources tracking down and reportingimmigrants to the INS. That is not theirjob. Instead, units of government can cre-ate safe environments in which immi-grants would feel free to seek information,report crimes, obtain a driver's license,see a doctor and participate in the life ofthe community. They can do this by pass-ing an ordinance or legislation that explic-itly directs agencies not to endanger thesafety of undocumented immigrantsunless that person is engaged in criminalor fraudulent activity.

Saint Paul, like several other cities, hasan ordinance which applies only to Cen-tral American political refugees. Webelieve that, to be effective, such ordi-nances should be extended to cover allundocumented immigrants.

Certain offices have become known asplaces where there is real danger of beingpicked up by the INS. The Motor Vehicle

Bureau is one of those places. Once localordinances or state legislation is passed,these offices should make an extra effortto publicize their new policies.

2. Information Policy andInformation Sharing

Government agencies, service provid-ing agencies and private organizationsought to re-evaluate the kind of informa-tion they require before providing servicesand ought to receive training on how to bemore sensitive to immigrant clients.

La Clinica, a medical service for Ills-panics in St. Pau; -Iescribes their philoso-phy: "It is a barrier to ask people abouttheir immigration status. All we reallyneed to know is the age roughly, the sex,the ethnic background, an address andphone number so that we can contactthem."

There is no need for schools to askabout immigration status, particularly

when the U.S. Supreme Court has ruledthat undocumented children have theright to public education. There is noneed for Minnesota's innovative Children'silealth Plan, which provides outpatienthealth care for the children of the workingpoor, to ask for Social Security numbers.Such actions reinforce the fear and dis-comfort that, people feel about talking withteachers, going to the doctor's office orseeking other kinds of help. Asking for cit-izenship papers, social security numbers,and other kinds of intrusive or threateningdata should be abandoned unlessabsolutely necessary.

While the system re-examines itself,the community also needs further infor-mation about their rights and responsibili-ties. Some immigrants are aware of thelaws in MN, but often people do not knowabout their rights as employees (workerscompensation, minimum wage, safety reg-ulations, etc.), students or tenants.

Table 12: What Would Most Help You Improve Your Life in Minnesota?(percent answering yes to each item)

Undocumented Legalized TotalClasses or programs to help me learn 95 73% 59 66% 154 70%

English

Finding a job or a better job 94 72% 55 62% 149 68%

Help with immigration law 97 74% 42 47% 139 63%Housing finding a better place to

live63 48% 35 39% 98 45%

General legal help 57 44% 34 38% 91 41%

Getting training for a better job 48 37% 39 44% 87 40%

Getting medical care 48 37% 31 35% 79 36%Help with transportation 39 30% 22 25% 61 28%Ile lp getting into college 33 25% 27 30% 60 27%Food 41 31% 15 17% 56 26%

Help paying utility bills 25 19% 27 30% 52 24%Child care 26 20% 17 19% 43 20%

Clothing 23 18% 15 17% 38 17%

Finding things for children to do 13 10% 19 21% 32 15%

Help with alcohol or drug problems 13 10% 9 10% 22 10%

Help with family planning 1 4 11% 7 8% 21 10%

Finding a women's shelter 2 2% 1 1% 3 I%

4 4

4. a

Three strategies that should be consid-ered are:

S . putting up signs in buses or otherpublic places in Spanish with infor-mation about people's rights andwhere to call for further assistance.These could include phone numbersfor human rights and tenants hot-lines.

training of community service advo-cates who can do small group pre-sentations to immigrants in homesor other environments that peopletrust. These advocates can be volun-teers who are from the communityand who can themselves be trainedand empowered to help themselvesand others. We began to do some ofthis at the end of our research andfound great interest in the communi-ty presentations.

preparing booklets that provide aclear summary of immigration law.

3. Language and InterpretersThree things are on the minds of most

Hispanic immigrants as they try to im-prove their lives here: learning English;finding a job or a better job; becominglegal residents or helping other familymembers become legal residents. This isan oversimplification, of course, but theseare clearly the concerns mentioned mostoften when immigrants were asked toindicate what activities or services wouldimprove their lives in Minnesota. (SeeTable 12.)

Over two-thirds (70%) of the immi-grants indicated an interest in classes orprograms to improve their English. Thechallenge of language is one of the areas ofgreatest difficulty for new immigrants inMinnesota. Whereas in Texas and otherstates people can often live in monolingualSpanish speaking communities with littleneed to know English, the same cannot besaid for Minnesota. Interpreters as well asEnglish as a Second Language (ESL) pro-grams are two ways to bridge the languagegap.

The more that people can learn Eng-lish, the less they will need interpreters.Barriers to participating in English classesought to be investigated and removed.These include: "lack of time, money andtransportation," and "because there is noone to take care of the children." in addi-

4 3

tion, some programs require social securi-ty numbers and information on immigra-tion status, and that can be intimidating.In addition people requested certainspecifics: more stability in teachingassignments, so they are not seeing newteachers all the time; classes in the morn-ing and afternoon and at various times toaccommodate changing woi k schedules;and classes at more than a beginninglevel.

Interpreters should be trained andhired throughout Minnesota's governmentand social service network,13 with specialattention to the areas identified by immi-grants in Table 11. In many cases now,immigrants must bring their own inter-preters, which limits their access to ser-vice. In some areas, the quality and skillsof the interpreter are very important.Training programs that would certify theskills of interpreters in specialized areassuch as medical and court interpretationare urgently needed. Another modelwhich could be investigated in Minnesotais one which currently exists in Queens,New York, where at any hospital in whichat least 5 percent of the clients speak aforeign language, an interpreter is provid-ed at the hospital 24 hours a day.

4. New Services & ExpandedServices

Over two-thirds of the immigrantswanted to find a job or a better job; whilethe great majority of immigrants inter-viewed for this study were already work-ing, pay was low and there was an eager-ness to find better pay and conditions.

New approaches ought to be developedto create work opportunities for undocu-mented immigrants, who generally cannotobtain access to regular job training pro-grams. Cooperatives and self-employmentare possible avenues. In other parts of thecountry churches have become veryinvolved in the development of house-cleaning cooperatives. Small seed funds sothat people can start up their own busi-nesses are also needed. In some cases peo-ple have already begun to so, such as themechanic we Interviewed who works outof his home garage. Some immigrantshave run their own businesses in theirhome countries.

Another very high priority for inuni-grants was immigration law. Nearly two-thirds (63%) wanted help with immigra-

L. .4

3S

tion law. Among undocumented immi-grants, 74 percent wanted help. (Table 12)The problem of jobs and legal papers arefrequently intertwined. One man said: "1would like to have my papers to be able tofind jobs anywhere in hotels, restau-rants or my profession, to be workinglegally with everything in order." Anotherperson expressed a very common thoughtthis way: "Looking for work is my maineffort and my greatest problem is that Idon't have papers." It is striking thatalmost half of those with legal status alsowanted help with immigration law. This ismost likely due to the various hurdles thatamnesty participants must still undergobefore their temporary permission isupgraded to permanent residency status,but also because many legal immigrantshave spouses and children who are notdocumented.

Help with immigration law is especiallyimportant in rural Minnesota, where littleaccess to legal services exists and wherelegal services often have no Spanish-speaking capability.

Another very clear need, which flowsmore from the results of the whole studythan from the question asked in Table 12,is for counseling and support. Studiesdone of Central Americans living in Cali-fornia document that many are sufferingfrom Post Traumatic Stress Disorder(PTSD). Although their situation is specif-ic to the violence in their home countries,the pain of separation, the fear, the stressand the cultural adjustment which manyimmigrants undergo needs outlets, and forthe most parts those outlets do not exist.

Agencies in Minnesota report similarpatterns. Staff at La Clinica find that men-tal problems is one of the primary diag-noses. "People may come to the clinic fora cut or an infection, but then the otherdiagnoses come out." Or as another ser-vice provider describing the needs of newHispanic immigrants said: "work, food,housing, drugs, but more than anythingelse, people with whom to speak with,people who will listen to them."

To address some of these emotionalneeds and crisis, a combination approachwould be ideal. Because of cultural values,professional therapy and the like is seenas only for crazy people. This cultural bar-rier impedes many from seeking services.However, that could be overcome if thelistener could be deemed to be non-

threatening and just a friend, a peer coun-selor. Therefore our three ways of meetingthis ever-growing and barely discussedneed are:

1111 support groups, some of which arealready in existence;

III training of para-professionalscommunity members who could betrained as listeners and advocates,and who through the training mayalso help themselves and othersimmediately around them;

II the existence of bilingual counselorsand counseling programs. There is awoeful shortage of programs in Min-nesota to serve many of the counsel-ing needs of immigrants, especiallywomen.

5. Reform of ImmigrationLaw

Finally since many of these problemsstem from federal immigration law, wehope that this report will provide onemore voice to the national debate onimmigration policy.

First, the "employer sanctions" provi-sion of federal immigration law should berepealed. Employer sanctions have failedto deter unauthorized immigration andhave led to widespread job discriminationagainst Hispanics, Asians, and others with"foreign" appearance or accent, regardlessof whether they are here legally or not.14

Second, immigration law is biasedagainst immigrants from Mexico and LatinAmerica. Most of the people who want tocome to the U.S. are from these countries,but the law doesn't take that into account.Thus, quotas are sufficiently high to allowmost Europeans who wish to immigrate todo so, but they force hundreds of thou-sands of Mexicans and Latin Americans toenter illegally. Federal immigration policyshould be changed to eliminate this bias.Mexicans and Latin Americans shouldhave just as much chance to immig,ratelegally as residents of any other country.

4 4

Notes1. For example, the Immigration Act of

1990 grants "employer-sponsored"immigration visas to 140,000 peopleper year. Nearly all of these visas arereserved for skilled workers, man-agers, executives, professionals andresearchers. In addition, 10,000immigration visas are reserved eachyear for wealthy non-residents whoare willing to invest at least one mil-lion dollars in American businesses.See "Major Immigration Bill Is Sentto Rush," New York Times, Oct. 29,1990, and "Immigration Bill WouldExpand Access to U.S., Easing Entryfor Skilled Professionals, Investors,"Wall Street Journal, Nov. 15, 1990.

2. U.S. Department of Justice, Immigra-tion and Naturalization Service,1989 Statistical Yearbook of theImmigration and NaturalizationService (Washington, D.C.: Govern-ment Printing Office, 1990), p. 46.

3. Vernon Briggs, "Methods of Analysisof Illegal Immigration Into the UnitedStates," International Migration Re-view, Vol. 18, No. 3 (1984): 623-641.

4. Jeffrey Passel and Karen Woodrow,"Geographical Distribution of Undoc-umented Immigrants: Estimates ofUndocumented Aliens Counted inthe 1980 Census by State," Interna-tional Migration Review, Vol. 18,No. 3 (1984): 642-671.

5. Jeffrey Passel and Karen Woodrow,"Change In the Undocumented AlienPopulation in the United States,1979-1983," International MigrationReview, Vol. 21, No. 4 (1987): 1304-1334.

6. D.G. Papademetriou, "The U.S.Legalization Program: A PreliminaryFinal Report" International Migra-tion, Vol. 29, No. 1 (1989): 5-23.

7. Figures for Minnesota were obtainedduring an interview at the INS officein Bloomington, Minnesota on Feb-ruary 12, 1991.

8. This study was loosely modeled afteran excellent study published by theCoalition for Immigrant and Refugee

Rights and Services (CIRRS) in SanFrancisco in 1991. CIRRS's report,Dreams Lost, Dreams Found:Undocumented Women in The Landof Opportunity, was based on inter-views with undocumented Latina,Filipino and Chinese women. Manyof the interviewers were themselvesundocumented.

9. Frank D. Bean, Barry Edmonstonand Jeffrey Passel (eds.), Undocu-mented Migration to the UnitedStates: IRCA and the Experience ofthe 1980's (Washington, D.C.: UrbanInstitute, 1990).

10. Tom Barry (ed.), Mexico: A CountryGuide (Albuquerque, N.M.: Inter-Hemispheric Education andResource Center, 1992), pp. 95-98.See also David Brooks, "Mexico:Whose Crisis, Whose Future," inNACLA Report of the Americas. Vol.21, No. 5-6 (1987): 13-39.

11. Minnesota Department of Revenue,Tax Incidence Study, 1991.

12.0ther useful research studies of thework experiences of Hispanic immi-grants include the following:

Leo R. Chavez, Estevan T. Flores andMarta Lopez-Garza, "Here Today,Gone Tomorrow?: UndocumentedSettlers and Immigration Reform,"Human Organization, Vol. 49, No. 3(1990): 193-205;

Estevan T. Flores, "Research onUndocumented Immigrants and Pub-lic Policy: A Study of the TexasSchool Case," International Migra-tion Review, Vol. 18, No. 3 (1984):505-523;

Nestor P. Rodriguez, "Undocument-ed Central Americans in Houston:Diverse Populations," InternationalMigration Review, Vol. 21, No. 1(1987): 4-26;

Rita J. Simon and Margo DeLey,"The Work Experience of Undocu-mented Mexican Women Migrants inLos Angeles," International Migra-tion Review, Vol. 18, No. 4 (1984):1212-1229.

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13. For additional information, see theReport of the Task Force on Inter-pretive Services, which was present-ed to the Hennepin County Board inFebruary, 1992. The report is avail-able from the liennepin CountyOffice of Planning and Development.

14.See U.S. General Accounting Office,Immigration Reform: EmployerSanctions and the Question nfnis-crimination (Washington, D.C.: Gov-ernment Printing Office, 1990). TheGAO found that 19 percent ofemployers surveyed around thecountry admitted to discriminatorypractices based on national originsor citizenship status. Fourteen per-cent reported that, after employersanctions went into effect, theybegan to hire only U.S.-born personsor they refused to hire persons withtemnorary work authorizations. Ahiring audit included in the GAOreport found that Anglo job appli-cants were three times more likelythan their equally qualified Latinopartners to receive favorable treat-ment from employers.

Several advocacy and communityorganizations have also done studiesshowing that employer sanctions areleading to discrimination againstlegal residents who look "foreign" orspeak with a foreign accent. Espe-cially useful are:

Employment and Hiring PracticesUnder the Immigration !Worm andControl Act of 1986: A Survey of SanFrancisco Businesses, published bythe San Francisco-based Coalitionfor Immigrant and Refugee Rightsand Services in 1989;

Tarnishing the Golden Door: AReport on Widespread Discrimina-tion Against Immigrants and Per-sons Perceived as ImmigrantsWhich Has Resulted from the Immi-gration Reform and Control Act of1986, published by the City of NewYork Commission on Human Rightsin 1989;

The Human Costs of EmployerSanctions: Recommendations forGAO's Third Report to CongressUnder the /mniteration Reform andControl Act of 1986, published bythe Mexican American Legal Defense

and Educational Fund in 198'). and

Employer Sanctions A CostlyExperiment, published by the Coali-tion for Humane Itntnigrant Rights ofIms Angeles in 199n

(For more information about (hescand other reports, contact the l'rb;inCoalition.)

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Appendix A: The Lives of ChildrenThirty-eight itilmigrant children were

also interviewed to learn more about theirperspectives. The children were askeddifferent questions than the adults and theinterviews were more informal andunstructured. The chikiren ranged in agefrom 5 to 18 years old. Over two-thirds ofthe interviews were done in the Min-neapolis-St. Paul area; the rest were donein Greater Minnesota. Nearly all (35)were originally from Mexico. This appen-dix reports very briefly and selectively ontheir responses

DreamsChildren were asked to talk about their

dreams and wishes. Not surprisingly, themost common theme mentioned by 22of the children was having moremoney, having -lots of money," or beingrich. As one child put it more elegantly:"I dream that my family never lacks inanything." A twelve year old girl fromMexico said she wanted a lot of moncy notonly to help her family but. also "to helpthe children of El Salvador."

The next most common wish, cited byover one-third (13) of the children, was toreturn or travel to their home country.Typically, children stated simply that theywanted "to go to Mexico." A ten year oldgirl said, "I dream that we buy two planetickets so that we would return to Mexico

or if not by plane, then on the bus."Young children are often seen as very flex-ible and adaptive. However, it is clearthat many of these children arc feeling thestrain and loss of moving away from theirfamiliar culture and homeland to this verydifferent land.

Other dreams and wishes frequentlymentioned by children included:

that their family would have theirown house (11);

that other family members, such asmothers, sisters, grandparents, whowere still in the home country wouldbe able to come to the U.S. and livewith them (10);

that they would he able to learn Elle-htitt

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Several children wished that theirmothers would not cry so much or thattheir mothers would he happy. Amongthe "dreams" of an 11 year-old girl were"that my mother not cry, that my fathernot yell so much, that my grandmotherwould be here with us, and that I wouldgrow fast, very fast." The strain felt bythat child is very evident. A few childrentalked about death, specifically about thehope that they and their family wouldnever die. A small number of girlsre,zpomk41 that they %Van!. ,1 to be -verypretty" or beautiful.

Likes and Dislikes AboutMinnesota

During the interview, children wereasked about what they liked and did notlike about Minnesota. As might be expect-ed, many children did not like the climate

specifically the cold winters. As one 14year-old said: "1 do not like that it is verycold and I cannot go out But that feelingwas not shared by everyone. Quite a fewchildren said that, they liked the snow.

Stores, clothes and parks were fre-quently mentioned by children as thingswhich they liked about Minnesota: "1 likethe stores and looking in the stores."Some children talked about adequate foodand modern conveniences. A 13 year-oldboy said that "here there is a lot of foodand in my house there is water a lot ofit." This was not the ease in his homecountry. In Mexico, he said, "I had toheat the water to bathe myself; here itcomes by itself into the bathtub." A fewchildren said there was more help herethan in their home country for peoplewho need food or shelter.

One of the dislikes expressed by chil-dren was that very few Americans knowSpanish and the children feel that "no oneunderstands me." Some were upset byracial attitudes they have encountered.An 18 year old said one of the things shedid not like was "people who think badlyof other races."

)nc hopeful sign vms that positive feelmg, ibout school strongly outweighednegative feelings. Fourteen of the chil-

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42

dren specifically mentioned schools asone of the things they liked about Min-nesota. A 13 year-old said: "The schoolsare big and beautiful and they have every-thing, many materials." An 18 year-oldsaid: "1 like the high schools and theopportunities they give to people whocome from other countries." Only threeof the children explicitly named schoolsas one of the things they did not like,although it is clear that these negativefeelings were held very strongly by thissmall group. One 14 year-old said that "in

the school they discriminate against Mexi-cans; it feels ugly." Another said she didnot like school even though the schoolshave everything. For another, "everythingseems lousy" about her school and teach-ers.

HidingUndocumented people and families

with one or more undocumented mem-bers sometimes have to keep their trueselves hidden and secret. That is also truefor children. Nearly half the children whowere interviewed said they have had tochange their names or make up storiesabout who they were.

"My mother has changed her name, andshe tells me that I should not call her byher name when there are other peoplearound."

"When we came, my mother told menever to tell my real name."

"La migra got us and when they askedour names my sister gave a differentriame and so did I."

"Well, at times I had to say that I wasnot -the daughter of my mother. I had tosay that my mother was my aunt."

"Yes I we have done thatI so that noth-ing happens to us. My mother says thatwe should not talk to anyone and thatwe should never tell the truth."

"Yes fwe gave false names! in nuanato the coyotes so that if la migra gotthem they wouldn't know who I am."

A couple of the older teenagers saidthey had lied about their age and had useda different name in order to get a job.

Living this way has not been easy formany children. Most of the children whohave had to make up stories and use falsenames said they felt bad about doing it.An 11 year-old said: "You are better off in

your own country. You come to live hereand you have to pass in hiding or with adifferent name. That is bad." Anotherchild said that "it is not good becausebefore coming here my mother told menot to tell lies and when we eame she toldme to tell them." But other children haveaccepted the necessity for doing this anddid not feel badly. "If I had not changedmy name," said an 18 year-old matter-of-factly, -I would not, bc here now.- Anoth-er child said it was fine to use anothername so she would be "able to pass and sothat they do not put me in jail."

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