FROM "PLANNING," THE MAGAZINE OF THE AMERICAN PLANNING ASSOCIATION, EXCERPTS FROM AN ARTICLE IN THE MARCH 2008 ISSUE ENTITLED "LA VIDA LOCAL." IT'S THE STORY OF A SMALL TOWN IN NEW JERSEY, AND THE UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES OF PASSING DRACONIAN ANTI-IMMIGRANT LAWS (THE MAGAZINE IS BEHIND A SUBSCRIPTION WALL)
"The law wasn't enforceable. All it did was scare people," says Ed Robins, a self-described "aging hippie." He's standing otuside the Riverside Arts Guild, his music story and recording studio in Riverside, New Jersey, across the Delaware River from suburban Philadelphia. "One of my musicians was Brazilian, and when his landlord threatened him with exposure, he went home."
Robins is talking about a series of events that began in the summer of 2006 in this old factory town of 8,000. That's when the Riverside Township became the first muncipality in the state to enact legislation penalizing those who knwoingly rented to or employed undocumented immigrants. In deciding to do so, it joined dozens of other communities that are addressing one of the nation's hottest issues: how to handle the more than 10 million immigrants (both legal and illegal) who have entered the country since 2000, a total that's the largest in any seven-year period in American history.
Ed Robins represents one point of view in Riverside. Mark Remsa has a different take on the matter. "It's a matter of ensuring proper population density - and not overcrowding," says Remsa, director of economic development and regional planning for Burlington County, New Jersey, which encompasses Riverside. "That means that building codes are paid attention to and violations are enforced."
Immigrants have been coming to Riverside since the 1960's. Many of the first wave came from Portugal, creating a comfort zone for the latest group of newcomers - the Brazilians - who share a language and culture. Between 2000 and 2006, local officials estimate, more than 3,000 immigrants (both legal and not) arrived. Residents grew used to seeing "Brazilian Cadillacs," their term for the white vans that waited curbside to transport construction crews to work sites, and businesses on the main street welcomed the yellow and green flags that flapped outside stores, knowing that they brought customers downtown.
Yet some residents said the clannish manner of the foreigners made them feel uneasy. "I felt like a minority myself," says Nicole Forssell, a crossing guard and mother of three. "I felt they were always staring at us, and I was uncomfortable that they spoke in their own language to each other."
So when the ordinance passed, it didn't do so quietly Hundreds of demonstrators gathered - in protest and in support - causing enough of a ruckus that police cordoned off the town'a main streets. Within months, though, the streets took on a markedly different aspect. As Brazilians and Latin Americans fled Riverside, they left behind the dozen or so businesses - bodegas and restaurants, hair salons, and Western Union offices - that had catered to them. Today, Scott Street, the town's main drag, is deserted, the shops empty.
"People used to line up outside the supermarket before it even opened. Now nobody comes," says Enrique, a Brazilian behind the counter at a Mini-Market lined with shelves of coconut milk and "tostines" crackers. "Our city was beautiful; now it's sad," he sighs. "I look out the window and all I see is ghosts."
Mike Law, a landlord who says he counts many immigrants on his rent rolls, believes the Brazilians kept the streets hopping. "A lot of these stores were empty until the Brazilians came here," he says. "They opened businesses and they patronized businesses. To me, they were the Irish and the Italians of the 21st century. I think people were jealous of their success in a town that, frankly, had fallen behind the eight ball."
Robins echoes the sentiment. "There was a cold reality here after a whole: we saw that our economic base was ruined and that the ordiance was wrong. It created nothing but prejudice and separation."
It took about a year for the realization to sink in, but in September 2007 the town rescinded the ordinance. The rules were never enforced, anyway, as several human rights and business groups sued after the law was enacted in July 2006. "I don't think people knew there would be such an economic burden," says Mayor George Conard, who had voted for the legislation as a township commissioner.
IF THIS WILL HAPPEN IN A SMALL TOWN IN NEW JERSEY, WHAT IS THE FATE OF A STATE LIKE ARIZONA WHICH HAS JUST PASSED DRACONIAN ANTI-IMMIGRANT LEGISLATION AFFECTING THE STATE AND ITS SIX MILLION RESIDENTS?
WE HEAR JAMMERINGS ABOUT THE ECONOMIC DRAIN OF IMMIGRANTS, LEGAL AND ILLEGAL, BUT THEIR PRESENCE HERE IS, BY DEFINITION, AN ECONOMIC PLUS FOR OUR NATION - AND THOSE CITIES AND STATES THAT HAVE DECIDED TO SCAPEGOAT THEM ARE, I SUSPECT, GOING TO BE FINDING THAT OUT SOON.