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Iowa's Latino population grows despite recession, 2008 raid | desmoinesregister.com | The Des Moines Register
Iowa's Latino population is growing steadily, despite a competitive job market and tougher enforcement of immigration laws.
The U.S. Census Bureau estimates Iowa's Latino population totaled 134,402 for the 12 months ending July 1, 2009. That was up 5 percent, or an increase of 6,488 people, compared to a year earlier.
Over the past two decades, Iowa's Latino population has quadrupled.
"It is actually growing faster than most people had been projecting," said Mark Grey, director of the Center for Immigrant Leadership and Integration at the University of Northern Iowa.
Grey had expected Iowa's Latino population growth to be either flat or rising only slightly. The recession has slowed hiring in Iowa, and he thinks some employers are shying away from hiring Latinos in the wake of the federal government's May 2008 immigration raid at the Agriprocessors meat plant in Postville.
Besides immigration from other countries and migration from other states, two key factors are driving growth: Most Latinos moving to Iowa are young people, and they have high fertility rates, said Sandra Burke, a demographer at Iowa State University's Community Vitality Center. At least half or more of the growth of Iowa's Latino population is from births, she said.
The median age of Iowa Latinos is 22.9 years, while the median age for all Iowans is 38, according to the State Data Center of Iowa. Meanwhile, the average family size for Iowa Latinos is 3.5, while the average family size among all Iowans is 2.9.
A wonderful place to raise a family
Many Latinos are joining family members already here, said Sandra Sanchez of Des Moines, chairwoman of the Iowa Commission of Latino Affairs.
"Iowa is really a wonderful place to raise a family," often better than in large cities such as Los Angeles or Chicago, said Sanchez, who is also director of the Immigrant Voice Program of the American Friends Service Committee.
The program works with Latino immigrants in central Iowa to help build a sense of community, including involvement in the political process in their communities.
Family factored in the arrival of Henry Lievano, 22, a native of El Salvador who came to Des Moines three months ago and is residing here with his aunt and some cousins.
He's employed as a hair stylist at a salon east of the Iowa Capitol. He arrived in the United States when he was 8 and previously lived in Washington, D.C.
He said he's happy to be in Iowa.
"I really like it - the lakes, the parks," Lievano said.
Enrique Hernandez, 26, also joined family, arriving in Des Moines a year and a half ago to join his brother. Hernandez is a native of Guatemala who first moved to Mexico, staying there a year before heading north to California. But he stayed in California for only a week before moving to Iowa because he couldn't find a job. Since coming here, he's found employment on a farm near Carlisle and in Des Moines cooking hamburgers.
"I like Iowa. It's good. They let you work," he said.
Money attracted cook from Mexico
The ability to work also attracted Jose Sandoval, 19, who came here a year ago from the Mexican state of Michoacan. He's employed as a cook in West Des Moines, earning $9 an hour. He has no relatives here, but has friends in Des Moines.
When asked why he came to Iowa, Sandoval had a one-word response:
"Money," he said.
There is no official count of illegal immigrants in Iowa and estimates vary widely. Grey believes the percentage of undocumented Latinos in Iowa could range from as low as 25 percent to as high as 60 percent of the overall estimate.
Latinos are Iowa's largest minority group, representing 4.5 percent of the state's 3 million residents.
Woods & Pool Economics Inc. of Washington, D.C., a firm that specializes in long-term economic and demographic projections, has estimated that by 2040, Iowa will have 361,780 Latinos, or 10.4 percent of the state population. Other minority populations in Iowa are growing, too.
Grey sees the continued growth in the Latino population as an economic plus.
"There is no doubt that the growing presence of these folks is going to revitalize local economies," including places such as Marshalltown, Perry, Storm Lake, Denison and other Iowa communities with large Latino populations, Grey said.
Although more than three-fourths of Iowa's Latinos are of Mexican heritage, the past decade has seen an increasing diversification from other countries, Grey said. Most Latinos coming to Iowa are lower income and less educated than the rest of the population. But Grey believes the United States will become attractive for more highly educated Latinos as foreign economies struggle.
Iowa's meatpacking industry, farming and construction industry have long been key sources of employment for immigrants, particularly from Mexico and other Spanish-speaking countries. But job opportunities have been reduced amid the global economic downturn.
Iowa's statewide average unemployment rate increased from 4.4 percent in 2008 to 6 percent in 2009. In May 2010, Iowa's jobless rate was 6.8 percent. However, Iowa's employment picture is much better than the national unemployment rate of 9.5 percent in June.
The 2008 federal government raid at the former Agriprocessors Inc. meatpacking plant in Postville led to hundreds of deportations, and news about the raid was expected to discourage immigration to Iowa. The raid resulted in the arrests of nearly 400 people, nearly all from Guatemala and Mexico.
Immigration enforcement has tightened in other ways.
According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a total of 6,317 people were deported in 2009 from a five-state area that includes Iowa. That was up 19 percent compared to a year earlier.
In the same region, ICE Fugitive Operations Teams made 1,290 arrests in 2009, up 22 percent from 2008. However, ICE spokesman Greg Palmore in Houston said the agency's focus now is more on employers rather than employees.
Latino population went up in Postville
In Postville, the Latino population has undergone a resurgence, although the mix among nationalities has changed. Postville is on the border of Allamakee and Clayton counties, both of which showed increases in their Latino populations in 2009 compared to 2008, census estimates show.
At the Postville school district, 209 Latino students were enrolled for the 2009-2010 academic year, nearly as many as the 212 Latino students during the 2007-2008 academic year, when the Agriprocessors' raid occurred, according to school officials.
Paul Rael, Hispanic lay minister at St. Bridget's Catholic Church in Postville, said there is no doubt the community has lost many young residents from Guatemala. But most people of Mexican descent have remained, working on farms, at construction jobs and in other places, and some newcomers have arrived, he said. One day in the past couple of months, Rael registered 18 new families at a local food pantry, all of them Latinos.
Professor Grey said Iowa is also attracting many people of African heritage from abroad and within the United States. Other people coming here include natives of central Pacific countries, as well as second-generation Southeast Asians.
"The bottom line is that if you have ways for people to make money here, they are going to figure out ways to get here," Grey said.
Iowa's Latino population is growing steadily, despite a competitive job market and tougher enforcement of immigration laws.
The U.S. Census Bureau estimates Iowa's Latino population totaled 134,402 for the 12 months ending July 1, 2009. That was up 5 percent, or an increase of 6,488 people, compared to a year earlier.
Over the past two decades, Iowa's Latino population has quadrupled.
"It is actually growing faster than most people had been projecting," said Mark Grey, director of the Center for Immigrant Leadership and Integration at the University of Northern Iowa.
Grey had expected Iowa's Latino population growth to be either flat or rising only slightly. The recession has slowed hiring in Iowa, and he thinks some employers are shying away from hiring Latinos in the wake of the federal government's May 2008 immigration raid at the Agriprocessors meat plant in Postville.
Besides immigration from other countries and migration from other states, two key factors are driving growth: Most Latinos moving to Iowa are young people, and they have high fertility rates, said Sandra Burke, a demographer at Iowa State University's Community Vitality Center. At least half or more of the growth of Iowa's Latino population is from births, she said.
The median age of Iowa Latinos is 22.9 years, while the median age for all Iowans is 38, according to the State Data Center of Iowa. Meanwhile, the average family size for Iowa Latinos is 3.5, while the average family size among all Iowans is 2.9.
A wonderful place to raise a family
Many Latinos are joining family members already here, said Sandra Sanchez of Des Moines, chairwoman of the Iowa Commission of Latino Affairs.
"Iowa is really a wonderful place to raise a family," often better than in large cities such as Los Angeles or Chicago, said Sanchez, who is also director of the Immigrant Voice Program of the American Friends Service Committee.
The program works with Latino immigrants in central Iowa to help build a sense of community, including involvement in the political process in their communities.
Family factored in the arrival of Henry Lievano, 22, a native of El Salvador who came to Des Moines three months ago and is residing here with his aunt and some cousins.
He's employed as a hair stylist at a salon east of the Iowa Capitol. He arrived in the United States when he was 8 and previously lived in Washington, D.C.
He said he's happy to be in Iowa.
"I really like it - the lakes, the parks," Lievano said.
Enrique Hernandez, 26, also joined family, arriving in Des Moines a year and a half ago to join his brother. Hernandez is a native of Guatemala who first moved to Mexico, staying there a year before heading north to California. But he stayed in California for only a week before moving to Iowa because he couldn't find a job. Since coming here, he's found employment on a farm near Carlisle and in Des Moines cooking hamburgers.
"I like Iowa. It's good. They let you work," he said.
Money attracted cook from Mexico
The ability to work also attracted Jose Sandoval, 19, who came here a year ago from the Mexican state of Michoacan. He's employed as a cook in West Des Moines, earning $9 an hour. He has no relatives here, but has friends in Des Moines.
When asked why he came to Iowa, Sandoval had a one-word response:
"Money," he said.
There is no official count of illegal immigrants in Iowa and estimates vary widely. Grey believes the percentage of undocumented Latinos in Iowa could range from as low as 25 percent to as high as 60 percent of the overall estimate.
Latinos are Iowa's largest minority group, representing 4.5 percent of the state's 3 million residents.
Woods & Pool Economics Inc. of Washington, D.C., a firm that specializes in long-term economic and demographic projections, has estimated that by 2040, Iowa will have 361,780 Latinos, or 10.4 percent of the state population. Other minority populations in Iowa are growing, too.
Grey sees the continued growth in the Latino population as an economic plus.
"There is no doubt that the growing presence of these folks is going to revitalize local economies," including places such as Marshalltown, Perry, Storm Lake, Denison and other Iowa communities with large Latino populations, Grey said.
Although more than three-fourths of Iowa's Latinos are of Mexican heritage, the past decade has seen an increasing diversification from other countries, Grey said. Most Latinos coming to Iowa are lower income and less educated than the rest of the population. But Grey believes the United States will become attractive for more highly educated Latinos as foreign economies struggle.
Iowa's meatpacking industry, farming and construction industry have long been key sources of employment for immigrants, particularly from Mexico and other Spanish-speaking countries. But job opportunities have been reduced amid the global economic downturn.
Iowa's statewide average unemployment rate increased from 4.4 percent in 2008 to 6 percent in 2009. In May 2010, Iowa's jobless rate was 6.8 percent. However, Iowa's employment picture is much better than the national unemployment rate of 9.5 percent in June.
The 2008 federal government raid at the former Agriprocessors Inc. meatpacking plant in Postville led to hundreds of deportations, and news about the raid was expected to discourage immigration to Iowa. The raid resulted in the arrests of nearly 400 people, nearly all from Guatemala and Mexico.
Immigration enforcement has tightened in other ways.
According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a total of 6,317 people were deported in 2009 from a five-state area that includes Iowa. That was up 19 percent compared to a year earlier.
In the same region, ICE Fugitive Operations Teams made 1,290 arrests in 2009, up 22 percent from 2008. However, ICE spokesman Greg Palmore in Houston said the agency's focus now is more on employers rather than employees.
Latino population went up in Postville
In Postville, the Latino population has undergone a resurgence, although the mix among nationalities has changed. Postville is on the border of Allamakee and Clayton counties, both of which showed increases in their Latino populations in 2009 compared to 2008, census estimates show.
At the Postville school district, 209 Latino students were enrolled for the 2009-2010 academic year, nearly as many as the 212 Latino students during the 2007-2008 academic year, when the Agriprocessors' raid occurred, according to school officials.
Paul Rael, Hispanic lay minister at St. Bridget's Catholic Church in Postville, said there is no doubt the community has lost many young residents from Guatemala. But most people of Mexican descent have remained, working on farms, at construction jobs and in other places, and some newcomers have arrived, he said. One day in the past couple of months, Rael registered 18 new families at a local food pantry, all of them Latinos.
Professor Grey said Iowa is also attracting many people of African heritage from abroad and within the United States. Other people coming here include natives of central Pacific countries, as well as second-generation Southeast Asians.
"The bottom line is that if you have ways for people to make money here, they are going to figure out ways to get here," Grey said.
