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“Remember, remember always that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists.”
– President Franklin Roosevelt, April 1938 address to the Daughters of the American Revolution
In spite of their status as a nation of immigrants, Americans have struggled with each wave of immigration, chafing against the influx of Irish and Germans in the late 19th century, Italians in the early part of the 20th century and, today, Hispanic immigrants, both legal and illegal.
An interesting phenomenon happens over time, however: What is initially seen as a threat becomes a source of community strength.
Some Noble County residents are seeing that happen now. The wave of immigration that swelled population over the last two decades has ebbed and started to fall.
The results illustrate how communities that welcome immigrant and refugee populations benefit from the new residents and how local economies come to depend on them.
Angela Mapes Turner, in stories published Sunday, found that a crackdown on illegal immigration and the effects of recession have left a noticeable void as immigrants leave. West Noble School Corp. in Ligonier, which in 2007-08 had the highest percentage of limited English-speaking students in the state, has lost nearly 50 of the Hispanic students who began the school year there last fall.
Armando Calvo, who owns a supermarket, said he noticed customers began disappearing about October. Another storeowner, Feliciano Fernandez, said he knows of six or seven immigrants who have returned to Mexico so far this year. A property management company has seen its rental occupancy rates fall from 90 percent a year ago to about 50 percent.
Mayor Patty Fisel said the declining immigrant population will hurt Ligonier’s economic status and sense of identity. If not for immigration, Noble County’s population since 2000 would have decreased.
Ligonier’s population grew from about 3,400 in 1990 to about 4,500 in 2007. It is now estimated at 6,000, thanks to immigrants seeking work in small factories.
The growth wasn’t without pain. A former mayor who tried to promote diversity in the community was easily defeated in his 1995 re-election bid. But the community, beginning with its school district, came to embrace the new residents who rejuvenated the town.
The Washington, D.C.-based Migration Policy Institute, in a January report on immigrants and the current recession, points out that “public policies – such as lack of access to the social safety net for unauthorized immigrants and many recently arrived legal immigrants – may increase immigrants’ vulnerability to abject poverty if they become long-term unemployed.” The report also notes that economic need can push immigrant workers into dangerous working conditions or into working off the books.
As the downturn continues, attention must be paid to communities like Ligonier, which disproportionately bore the effects of immigration in recent years and now struggle as the economic boost it created is lost.
A strong social safety net should benefit not only native-born Hoosiers, but also the immigrants who have revived the state’s struggling rural communities.
