THE ECONOMICS OF NATIVIST BIGOTRY

A handful of American towns have recently passed laws aimed at undocumented immigration. Some of these laws have been overturned, such as a housing ordinance in Farmers Branch, Texas and a similar law in Valley Park, Missouri. More recently, a federal judge struck down ordinances in Hazelton, Pennsylvania that would bar illegal immigrants from working or renting homes.

THE LAWS WORK. BUT SO DO THE LAWS OF ECONOMICS

An article in the 9.25 edition of the New York Times describes the economic downfall of Riverside, New Jersey in the wake of passing anti immigrant legislation.

A little more than a year ago, the Township Committee in this faded factory town became the first municipality in New Jersey to enact legislation penalizing anyone who employed or rented to an illegal immigrant.

Within months, hundreds, if not thousands, of recent immigrants from Brazil and other Latin American countries had fled. The noise, crowding and traffic that had accompanied their arrival over the past decade abated.

With the departure of so many people, the local economy suffered. Hair salons, restaurants and corner shops that catered to the immigrants saw business plummet; several closed. Once-boarded-up storefronts downtown were boarded up again.

OOPS, LET’S HAVE A DO-OVER.

...last week, the town rescinded the ordinance, joining a small but growing list of municipalities nationwide that have begun rethinking such laws as their legal and economic consequences have become clearer.

“I don’t think people knew there would be such an economic burden,” said Mayor George Conard, who voted for the original ordinance. “A lot of people did not look three years out.”

In the wake of the Riverside disaster, perhaps other communities will be dissuaded from passing such ordinances.

THE TALE OF ANOTHER (SMALL) CITY

Some of the readers know that the Author is from Ligonier, Indiana, a small town in Northeastern Indiana. Latinos have been relocating to Ligonier since the 1970s, and to a large degree, Latinos have triggered an economic rebirth of the community.

Ligonier is a factory and farm town, and like other communities, its local retail and service economies have been gutted by big-box stores in neighboring communities.

But many Hispanics have opened restaurants and other businesses in the once vacant storefronts. Some struggle, but some prosper. When the Author is back in Ligonier, he patronizes these businesses, especially the restaurants.

A COMMON THREAD, A COMMON STORY ACROSS AMERICA.

Ligonier, like many small towns, has an immigrant past. In the second half of the 19th century and the early part of the 20th century, German Jews settled in Ligonier. They built and operated banks, businesses and factories. They constructed large ornate homes, homes which still provide a unique flavor to the town.

In the 1950s and 1960s, people from Eastern Kentucky and West Virginia came to Ligonier to work in are factories, escaping the poverty that is endemic to parts of Appalachia.

And now Latinos bring their energy and culture to Ligonier. What greater American story could be told about such a community? When he was living there, the Author never thought there was anything remotely unique about Ligonier. But yet it is unique, uniquely American.

RIVERSIDE, NEW JERSEY, IS A LOT LIKE LIGONIER.

Funny thing about America. Nearly everyone is an immigrant. Except the folks up the road from the Author in the Pueblos and Native American communities. Immigrants with a collective memory blockage.

Immigration is not new to Riverside. Once a summer resort for Philadelphians, the town became a magnet a century ago for European immigrants drawn to its factories, including the Philadelphia Watch Case Company, whose empty hulk still looms over town. Until the 1930s, the minutes of the school board meetings were recorded in German and English.

“There’s always got to be some scapegoats,” said Regina Collinsgru, who runs The Positive Press, a local newspaper, and whose husband was among a wave of Portuguese immigrants who came here in the 1960s. “The Germans were first, there were problems when the Italians came, then the Polish came. That’s the nature of a lot of small towns.”

But perhaps Ligonier, and Riverside, can change their nature and embrace the rebirth that the Hispanics have engendered.

ALL CULTURES AND PEOPLES ARE WELCOME IN THE DESERT OF THE REAL. EXCEPT THEM DAMM MARTIANS. THEY WILL TAKE SOME GETTING USED TO!