Latin immigrants less like to settle in Boston

Yawu Miller

Immigration is fueling a major increase in the number of Latinos in Massachusetts, according to a study by the Mauricio Gaston Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy.

The 490,839 Latinos now living in Massachusetts make up 7.9 percent of the state’s population.

But don’t look to see scores of new faces on the streets of Boston. The new immigrants, many of whom are coming from Central and South America, are much less likely to settle in Boston, Springfield and Worcester than they are to land in smaller cities and towns like Fitchburg, Everett or Southbridge.

The new trends in immigration also present new challenges for the nonprofit and government agencies that have traditionally served Latinos in large cities where their population is more concentrated. The new immigrant populations often face more complex challenges and are harder to reach.

Policy makers, service providers, community activists and elected officials gathered at UMass Boston last week for the Gaston Institute’s bi-annual conference, where immigration was one of three topics studied, along with economic development and education.

Each session included a panel discussion and extensive dialogue with audience members. Gaston Institute representatives took notes on each discussion.

“We use these conferences a lot to shape the kind of work we do,” said Gaston Institute Director Miren Uriarte. “It’s really an iterative process.”

This year, immigration has been the most urgent and challenging issue, Uriarte said, with small municipalities enacting regulations aimed at immigrants.

“In Everett there was an ordinance enacted that limited the number of people who could live in a house,” she said. “It’s specifically targeting immigrants who tend to share houses.”

But, as journalist and author Roberto Suro noted, the rapid growth of immigrant populations has impacts on local governments, increasing the need for Spanish-speaking workers in schools and public services.

“Local governments react,” Suro said during a panel discussion at the conference. “They often react negatively. The most negative reactions tend to be in the places with the lowest immigrant populations. People who live in areas where there are larger immigrant populations tend to view immigrants more favorably.”

Immigrants now make up 15 percent of the U.S. workforce, a figure similar to the percentage at the turn of the last century. But the causes of the current wave of immigration from Latin America are markedly different than the causes of immigration 100 years ago, according to Maria Elena Letona, executive director of Centro Presente.

Letona cites the free trade agreements U.S. presidents have entered into with many Latin American heads of state, as well as the policies of the World Bank and World Trade Organization, which she said are slanted toward multinational corporations.

“They’re decimating the economies of these countries,” she said. “Migration has been a fact of life since humans first began to walk and look for food.”

The trade agreements have generally meant wages for the average worker in Latin America, and a greater concentration of wealth among U.S. corporations.

“We need to understand this economic model,” Letona said. “Immigrants send millions of dollars back home to sustain these economies. It’s a very complex economic reality.”