Hispanic Immigrants on the Eastern Shore of Maryland: Adjustment

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Hispanic Immigrants on the Eastern Shore of
Maryland Adjustment Accommodation

• Tim Dunn, Ph.D. Associate Professor of
  Sociology, Salisbury University
• Amy K. Liebman, MPA, Coordinator, Bienvenidos A
  Delmarva, Business, Economic and Community
  Outreach Network (BEACON), SU Perdue School of
  Business
• Dr. Ana María Aragones, Professor of Economics,
  National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico
  City

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Hispanic Population Growth on 8 Eastern Shore
Counties 1990-2007
Wicomico Talbot Caroline Queen Annes Dor-chester Worcester Som-erset Kent 8 County Total
1990 610 167 231 189 177 275 229 476 2,354
2000 1,842 615 789 444 385 596 334 549 5,554
2007 (est.) 3,093 1,111 1,478 923 654 1,079 574 707 9,619
Growth 1990-2000 2000-2007 202 68 268 81 242 87 135 108 118 70 117 81 46 73 15 29 136 73
Source US Census 1990, 2000, 2008 undercount
concerns!
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2003-04 Needs Assessment Methodology

• Eastern Shore Regional Library, BEACON, SU
• Survey (Ethno)185 Participants snowball/network
  referral sample non-random
• 4 Counties Wicomico, Somerset, Caroline,
  Worcester
• 11 Focus Groups 90 participants
• 8 with immigrants in 7 E. Shore counties
• 3 with service providers
• 275 participants total

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Summary

• Growing, growing, growing population
• Inexperienced immigrants, but here to stay
• Want to Learn English
• Transportation is a major problem
• Hardworking, industrious
• Isolated from receiving communities
• Keys to Successful Adaptation Selective
  Acculturation Strong Immigrant Communities

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Most Difficult Things about Life in US
6
Desired Services for Better Life
English Classes 20
Transportation Services 19
Immigration Papers/Documents 16
Better Jobs 13
Health Services 13
Better/Spanish Speaking Police 6
Information provided in Spanish 5
Other 8
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Demographic profile

• Gender 66.5 Male, 33.5 Female
• Age Median 29 years old
• Education Median 6 years of school
• Marital Family Status
• 41 Single, 39 Married, 20 Living Together
• Children Median 1 child / household, but about ½
  also had children in home country (split
  families)
• New Mexican Migrants but here to stay
• 77 First trip to the US
• 58 Delmarva First Mign. Experience
• 50 here less than 2 yrs, rapid pop. growth
• 57 plan to remain in same town 3 yrs
• Origin 75 Mexican, 19 Guatemalan, 6 Other

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Occupation in US

• 80 of unemployed are female, nearly all taking
  care of children
• Services Restaurant, Hotel, Domestic,
  Maintenance

9
Occupation in Sending Country
AgriculturePeasants, Farmworkers ServicesDomesti
c, Restaurant, Hotel, Retail Sales
10
Language Over 90 have only limited or less
understanding of English
Neither speaks nor understands English 44
Doesnt speak English, but has a very limited understanding of English 28
Speaks and understands some English 20
Doesnt speak but understands English well 3
Speaks and understands English well 5
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Strong Desire to Learn English

• If it were possible to gain a command of the
  English language to understand legal immigration
  issues that would be great.
• To get better jobs you always need the language
  English.
• Noted language as barrier to accessing health
  services.

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Language

• Typical learning cycle for non-English speaking
  immigrants in the US is 3 generations
• 1st generation learns enough to get by
• 2nd generation is bilingual
• 3rd generation 80-90 monolingual English

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TransportationFocus group participants noted

• lack of transportation as barrier to accessing
  services.
• risks of driving a car. Drive only when it is
  essentialwork, food. Cant legally obtain a
  drivers license if undocumented.
• public transportation limited.
• poor treatment by bus drivers.
• racial tension between riders and drivers.

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Transportation
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Victims of Crime

• 21 of survey respondents victims of crime
• National rate is less than 10

16
Police Service Attitudes

• 31 do not trust the police enough to report a
  crime or seek their help.
• Reasons for lack of trust

17
Contact with Health Services

• 61 have gone to a hospital, clinic or private
  doctor (most a few times)
• Were a bit stubborn when it comes to our
  healthAs long as we dont have any broken bones,
  we wont go to the clinic.
• Focus group noted language as barrier to
  accessing health services

18
Contact with Local Educational Institutions

• 27 have taken a class of some type ---
  English86 (church, library)
• 27 said children in their household attend
  public schools
• Of those, 12 problems registering

19
Employment Hardship

• Because they are undocumented, feel vulnerable at
  work
• If youre illegal, you cant do anything
  otherwise theyll call the migra.
• Risk of deportation too great to seek redress
• One comes to this country to work, not to look
  for problems.

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Housing

• Renters (94)
• Crowding
• 6 -- Median Number of People / Household (vs. 2.6
  MD Avg)
• 15 live in households with 10-16 people
• 17.5 report problems with housing
• Potable Water problem

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Documentation

• 84 Unauthorized Immigrants
• 2/3 have taxes withheld from pay
• Very limited access to legal entry
• Strong labor demand
• 27 have Consulate Issued ID Cards (Matricula
  Consular)
• Most lack information or opportunity to get card

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Social Support Isolation

• 56 belong to a religious institution here
• 75 have family/friends in area
• 13 belong to sports/recreational group and 2
  belong to social group
• 54 said they do not have relations with other
  racial or ethnic groups
• Of the 46 who do have relations with other
  groups, 61 said they are work-related only
• Inter-ethnic Relations Tensions with African
  Americans, whites ignore

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Summary

• Growing, growing, growing population
• New, inexperienced immigrants
• But here to stay in this region
• Want to Learn English
• Transportation is a major problem
• Hardworking, industrious
• Isolated from receiving communities
• Keys to Successful Adaptation Selective
  Acculturation Strong Immigrant Communities