Guanajuatense and Other Mexican Immigrants in the United States ...

A growing number of Mexican newcomers have settledin U.S. non-metropolitan areas and work in agriculturalindustries. The non-metropolitan Latino populationgrew from 1.8 million to 2.4 million between 1980 and1990, an increase of 30% (Rochín and Marroquin, 1997).The immigrants among their ranks grew from 37.9% to39.1% (Rochín and Marroquin, 1997). 10 An estimatedone million Mexicans live in metropolitan areas, wherehousing is available, but they work in traditional nonmetropolitanindustries, such as agriculture and food-processingplants (Rochín and Marroquin, 1997). Mexicansand Chicanos live within the metropolitan areas of Fresnoand Sacramento, Calif., but harvest tomatoes, cucumbers,and many other crops grown in surrounding farmland.The same residence and employment pattern can befound in other parts of the country. Mexican immigrantsand migrants live in Omaha, Neb., and Newark, Del., andwork in surrounding meat processing-plants (Gouveia,forthcoming; Horowitz and Miller, forthcoming).Additionally, the increasing Mexican population innon-metropolitan areas and metropolitan centers in majoragricultural regions is reflected by the growing number offarmworkers. It is estimated that the farmworker populationin the United States, the majority of whom are ofMexican descent, increased from 1.8 to 2.5 million from1960 to 1996 (Greenhouse, 1998). Given the Bureau ofthe Census’ shortcomings in enumerating migratoryfarmworkers, especially transnational migrants [migrantswhose permanent base is in a country other than theUnited States], the growth of the farmworker populacemay be higher than indicated in the census figures (Garcíaand González, 1995; Palerm, 1995). The mobility,housing and residence practices, and limited knowledgeof the English language of the migrants make them difficultto locate and enumerate (García and González, 1995;Palerm, 1995).The increase in the farmworker population hascaught many so-called experts by surprise. A couple ofdecades ago, during the height of research at land-grantuniversities on mechanizing harvests, agricultural economistspredicted the decline and possible elimination oflaborers in the harvest process of many vegetables andfruits (Palerm, 1991). Instead, as Palerm (1991), Garcíaand González (1995), and Griffith and Kissam (1995)have found in their research, the opposite has occurred inCalifornia, Pennsylvania, Florida, and other states.Today, there are more farmworkers in these states thanever before.Mexican EnclavesIn and out of non-metropolitan areas across thenation, Mexican immigrants are settling in communitiesnear labor-intensive agriculture and food-processingplants. They are creating enclaves – a growing concentrationof foreign- and U.S.-born Mexican residents – thatdid not have a settled Mexican population in the past.This population is changing the demographic characteristicsof local neighborhoods, from predominantly agingand Anglo to young and Mexican. At the same time,Mexican populace is altering the local culture, by introducingthe Spanish language, setting up another way oflife, and establishing traditional Mexican practices, suchas tandas [rotating credit associations] and compadrazgo[fictive kin] ties.In Pennsylvania, the authors (García and González,1995) Mexican enclaves are emerging and their populationsare growing in many counties, such as Burks andChester, that until two decades ago did not attract Mexicanimmigrants and migrants in large numbers. In the1990 census, 232,000 Latinos were enumerated in Pennsylvania.If the thousands of transnational Mexicanmigrants who live in relatively hidden labor camps wereincluded in the census, this number would be higher. Inthe census, Puerto Ricans made up the majority of theLatinos at 65%, while the Mexicans were the secondlargest constituency group at 10.2%. The majority of thePuerto Ricans live in cities on the eastern side of the state(Falcon, 1993), while the Mexicans are concentrated intownships and boroughs outside of these metropolitanareas in vegetable, fruit, and mushroom-producingregions (García, 1997).Enclaves in Southern ChesterCounty, PennsylvaniaThe largest concentration of Mexican immigrants andmigrants in Pennsylvania are found in Southern ChesterCounty (see Map 2), a semi-rural and major mushroomproducingregion in the country. Southern ChesterCounty is comprised of four boroughs and 19 townshipsin 18 municipalities. 11 The communities are small, withunder 10,000 inhabitants, and situated along the old BaltimorePike, Route One. Interspersed around them aremushroom houses, migrant labor camps, and horseranches. In the communities, Mexican workers and theirfamilies, mainly from Guanajuato, are creating enclaves.Two examples are found in Kennett Square and Toughkenamon(see Map 2).3