It's John, not Juan, at the Car Wash

Anne M. Plant is a recent widow with two young daughters, 13 and 8, who traded their E! entourage lifestyle in Los Angeles for stability and structure in a provincial town on the Virginian peninsula. Now here's the true unfolding story of how Anne's sister and Army officer brother in law opened up their home. They have three children of their own; a girl, 13, a boy who's 10 and Baby Binkles, she is one. Taking in Anne and her two makes eight! The melding together of these two families is Operation Brady Bunch and it is high adventure.

The people of my new home in "Colonial Town," Virginia are as foreign and familiar to me as those I lived among in Los Angeles. This was highlighted one day when I took my car to be washed. I was struck by the composition of the work force of young men and women who were wiping down the cars. It was not the expected cadre of sunburned Spanish speakers; it was more of a fraternity/sorority team of college aged kids. It was John, not Juan, at the car wash. So much for the notion that low paid manual labor is something Americans won't do. Likewise, the local gardening profession is traditionally staffed. That is to say that the lawns are mowed and the bushes are whacked by the home-owning dads and allowance-seeking children of the neighborhood. However, I have seen a few familiar Hispanic faces headed to work for the greener grasses of the more affluent communities and several of the town's nail salons are predictably owned by Vietnamese. The immigrants are here and more are on their way.

Recently our local newspaper published conflicting reports on the immigration problem in Colonial Town. First it was reported that we don't have one, and compared to Los Angeles, we really don't -- yet. A local government study concluded that the current population of illegal immigrants was so small that it would cost more to enforce the existing laws of detection, detention and deportation, than to support them with services for which they did not legally qualify. This led to a lively public discussion in the Op/Ed pages as to which laws were cost effective so that we might all simply ignore the others. In the same edition, another story ran about problems directly related to illegal immigration. The article reported that our jails were primarily populated by illegal aliens and that our most egregious offender was here illegally. He had raped and killed a young girl. Apparently, the prison upkeep and emotional cost to the community had not been included in the first study. Adding fuel to the fire was the housing issue. Local developers were happy to build the desperately needed "work force" housing with granted zone exemptions, but the resulting taxable property would be insufficient to support the schools, roads and other services required by the newly housed population.

These issues are not new. Los Angeles has been plagued with these problems for decades with no clear solution in sight. What is striking to me is the nascent point of development of these problems in Colonial Town compared to Los Angeles. I am living at a flash point, watching this community make decisions at each fork of the road that will forever affect the future composition of the area. Which side will prevail? Will it be human greed which allows compromise of building zones and looks the other way as the community enslaves immigrant workers to a low-income living in a cash-based, black market economy and ultimately overloads the public services? Or, will it be the rule of law which enforces legal immigration at great cost to the individual seeking freedom from poverty and potentially stagnates the local economy? This battle is familiar; what is new to me is how these people are not integrated.

Colonial Town is still predominately white and legal; there is a sizeable African American and a small immigrant community but they are hardly integrated. Los Angeles is polyglot, legal and illegal. While living there I daily interacted with African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, Persians and others, not to mention a diversity of religions. I am deeply aware of the absence of the richness of their presence, their stories, their personal flair and their gift of different perspectives. However, I don't much miss the burden of tolerating reverse discrimination, the anger of some of the groups and their own attitudes of exclusivity. Living in Colonial Town is causing me to assess just how much I value diversity.

Colonial Town is later on the timeline and has a unique opportunity no longer afforded Los Angeles. It is behind Los Angeles in sheer volume of illegal immigrants. Its economy is not entrenched with legions of illegal laborers nor is the illegal population so large that the laws cannot be practically enforced. This is a rare opportunity to control immigration and encourage legal integration. Sadly, it is also behind Los Angeles in race relations and though I champion enforcing the law, I would also resist an insular posturing against other cultures. Fortunately, there are already efforts here to expand the local world view. Despite its multicultural mantra, Los Angeles has not solved its own race and immigration problems; history and enormity have further compounded them. The only lesson Colonial Town can clearly learn from Los Angeles is that uncontrolled illegal immigration results in unsolvable problems for the immigrant and host populations. Colonial Town has a chance to get out ahead. What can't now work for Los Angeles, could work for Colonial Town. Colonial Town should seize the opportunity to ensure that those who come here come legally. And equally important, it should aggressively work to integrate and benefit all those who legally reside within its bounds.

Comments

[amieg]

I love your blog. I am also newly widowed and raising young children, 13, 11 and 7. It is so hard to do and so hard to find time to laugh. Your posts made me laugh and I appreciate that!

amieg
http://mynewnormal.blog.com

[JuanMoTie]

People love diversity until they have to live next to it, until it drives the value of their homes downward, until it raises the crime rate and degrades the public (i.e. government) school system.

I could tolerate this "diversity" if the new immigrants came here longing to be Americans, but unfortunately, living in Phoenix, I find this not to be the case. There is no desire to learn English, rather we all want our children to learn Spanish. The Fourth of July is now a minor holiday and we are urged to celebrate Cinco de Mayo.

"Limosine Liberals" love diversity because they can treat immigrants like pets. That is, "cut my grass, now go home". The blacks still have their neighborhoods, the Mexicans theirs, etc. Liberals love government funded low income housing, but please, don't build it next door. Heaven forbid they send their kids to the same school my kids attend.

The liberal democrats ignore illegal immigration because they desire more "victims" to join their party. The republicans want cheap labor. They are both equally guilty.

The solution is very simple. All we have to do is look to Ellis Island.

We build a fence (Ellis Island had the ocean as a fence).

Set quotas. Close the door when the quota is met.

Screen all immigrants for criminal history, medical conditions, etc. Turn back the ones who fail.

Force the learning of a common language by conducting everything in English. The old language can be spoken at home like the Italians and Polish did.

My neighbor across the steet is a naturalized American. He came from Mexico as a teenager, washed dishes, and learned English. He finished high school and now he's a restuarant manager. Oh, I almost forgot, he became an American last year. He took the oath and we had a neighborhood party. He's as American as I am. That's how it works, that's how it was meant to work, and that's how we have to make sure it continues to work.

[devora]

Fascinating blog. Brave of you to mention that you are assessing how much you value diversity. Some might read that as racist. (I am not one of them.)

I moved from LA to very white small town Northern California and I miss the diversity. I am not sure how long you have been there, but monoculture can get pretty dull. Yes, the schools are better, it’s safer, it’s cleaner. Still….

As for illegal immigration, I had been a knee-jerk liberal on that issue. I appreciated the diversity immigration brought, no matter the cost.

But I recently came across some readings from Edward Abbey and my attitude is in flux. Taken from an environmental standpoint, can we tolerate mass immigration? Your idea is to begin in the small towns, where it is still possible to have an efficacious plan. Perhaps you are right. Still…I sure miss LA sometimes!