Hunting Season

by Mirta Ojito

  The month after the election, national Latino leaders, emboldened by their show of power on Election Day, said they would “keep a report card” on the immigration debate expected to take place in 2013 so they could mobilize Hispanic voters against those who do not support “comprehensive immigration reform,” a code phrase for legislation that would allow undocumented immigrants to remain in the country legally and on a path to citizenship.14

  On April 17, a bipartisan group of eight senators introduced a sweeping immigration bill that President Obama characterized as “largely consistent” with his principles but that drew the ire of opponents who began to publicly discuss strategies to kill the bill. At issue is the fear among conservatives that a clear path to citizenship would encourage even more illegal immigration. The bill passed the Senate in late June. As of this writing, it is unclear if the House will pass a similar bill.15

  Last year, one of my children wrote a letter to Vice President Joe Biden as part of a class project. Biden replied, or signed the letter that someone else wrote for him, addressing my son’s question about undocumented immigrants but emphasizing the illegality of their status and placing the burden of solving their problems on the immigrants themselves.

  “This Administration is working to protect our borders at points of entry with additional personnel, infrastructure, and technology,” he wrote in the letter dated December 20, 2012. “The Recovery Act provided over $400 million in funds to accomplish this. While strengthening border control is an important pillar of reform, we are also removing incentives to enter the United States illegally by preventing employers from hiring undocumented workers. Enforcement, however, is not the only solution. We must also require current undocumented workers who are in good standing to come out of the shadows and follow a responsible path to citizenship.”

  The Obama administration has deported a record number of undocumented immigrants—as of August 2012, 1.4 million, more per month than George W. Bush did during his eight years in office.16 And the border has never been more secure. Last year, Customs and Border Protection’s budget reached $11.7 billion, 64 percent more than in 2006, when the Republicans had the White House. There are now 651 miles of fence, 21,444 agents, and nine drones protecting the US-Mexico border.17

  All of that protection has paid off, and may have become somewhat superfluous as immigration from Mexico has tapered off. A report of the Pew Hispanic Center, released in April 2012, revealed that “the largest wave of immigration in history from a single country [Mexico] to the United States has come to a standstill. After four decades that brought 12 million current immigrants—most of whom came illegally—the net migration flow from Mexico to the United States has stopped and may have reversed.” The researchers explained that the decline was the result of many factors, including the weakened US economy, stronger economic conditions in Mexico (coupled with plunging birthrates in that country), and the perception—rooted in reality—of the dangers of crossing the border, with its heightened security, risk of deportation, and the threats from organized crime.18

  In Patchogue, people say things have changed, that immigrants no longer fear the police or the teenagers who used to harass them. It is no longer open season on Hispanics, they say, but it is all very anecdotal and very inconsistent.

  After years without reports of attacks, a Hispanic man was assaulted and robbed in April of 2013 in the village of Patchogue. In the weeks that followed, and up to May 14, when Newsday published the story, there were other attacks in East Patchogue.19 Mayor Pontieri said they appeared to be crimes of opportunity, not of hatred, and he was comforted by the fact that this time he was one of the first to hear about the attacks. “For me, the fact they came to see me first shows me we have made headway,” he told me. “It’s about trust.”20

  Julio Espinoza says he doesn’t notice any racism, but then he never did. He is a busy man who spends his day rushing between his several stores—the business has grown to employ practically everyone in his family—and chatting with friends and clients who still come to him for advice and wisdom. The uncertainty he felt right after Lucero was killed has been replaced by the complacency that comes when one’s immediate world remains untouched. His children are well and thriving, and the youngest has already graduated from the high school that Jeffrey Conroy and his friends once attended and that so divided the community with its separate areas for immigrants and natives.

  Angel Loja, who practically disappeared after he testified in the trial and refused to speak to the press, breathes a heavy sigh when asked if things have changed. “¡Ay, señora!” he tells me every time I ask, as if he were dealing with a persistent but naive child who can’t quite comprehend the ways of the world. Racism permeates everything in Patchogue, says Loja, who has moved from the village and found a job driving a school bus. He is in a stable relationship and seems less sad than when I met him in 2011, but he remains angry at elected officials in Patchogue and in the state, and at the way he knows many people regard him because of the color of his skin or the slant of his eyes. He is trying to save $1,500 to pay the expenses related to the residency status he hopes to acquire soon.

  The Justice Department has not yet issued the final results of its investigation of the Suffolk County Police Department, but on September 13, 2011, it did release some preliminary observations and recommendations, which were highly critical of the police department.21 Among other things, the twenty-eight-page letter pointed to a lack of follow-up after bias crime reports as well as inconsistent reporting and tracking of hate crimes. It also criticized the department for inquiring about immigration status during investigations, and mentioned language barriers as possible obstacles to building relationships with members of the Hispanic community. In addition, the letter pointed to signs that preceded Lucero’s murder and that the police chose to obviate. “The tendency to brush off attacks as ‘just kids being kids’ fails to recognize the severity of criminal conduct in which minors may engage,” the Justice Department stated, adding that “bias-driven behavior, even if it does not rise to the level of a hate crime, can be significant, and it should be addressed. Unchecked, it can develop into serious hate crimes, as evidenced by the events preceding the death of Marcelo Lucero.”22

  When the letter was released, some changes had already taken place in Suffolk County. Lola Quesada, the police officer so often standing by the side of the Lucero family, was promoted to special assistant to the police commissioner for minority affairs, a new position. As such, she shed her uniform and became a full-time community relations officer to the Latino community. Among other things, she teaches what she calls “street survival Spanish” at the police academy for new recruits. The report lauded her work as well as the fact that police officers are encouraged to learn Spanish and to interact even more with the Latino community.23 In 2011, Quesada was promoted to the rank of detective in the Hate Crimes Unit.

  There were some other positive signs in Suffolk County. Mayor Pontieri, who has never visited his parents’ native Calabria and rarely leaves Patchogue, traveled to Gualaceo in the summer of 2010 at the invitation of Marco Tapia, Gualaceo’s youthful mayor. The four-day visit was informal and generated a lot of publicity for the mayor, who told reporters he was making a “goodwill” trip. The Lucero family, still reeling from Pontieri’s decision to invite Steve Levy to the memorial a year after Lucero’s death, refused to meet with him. But Pontieri met with local officials, danced with Gualaceñas, and gave a brief speech in which he said that he didn’t want to focus on the past but to acknowledge it and move on. As always, he established a connection by dwelling on his immigrant roots: “When the ambassador for Ecuador visited Patchogue, after the tragedy of Marcelo Lucero, I showed him a picture of my grandfather and the men who worked for him. . . . They were strong young men with shovels who were building the roads of Patchogue. Not much has changed from now and then. We still have strong men with shovels building roads, except then they were from Italy. Today many are from Ec
uador!”24

  He got thunderous applause for that. Skillfully, as he has learned to do, Pontieri skirted the immigration debate by repeating his mantra that such talk was above his pay level. His job is to make sure that Patchogue is safe and prosperous for all its residents, no matter their immigration status or nationality. That kind of forward-looking, safe talk has served him well. Pontieri has traveled to several cities in the United States spreading a message of tolerance and integration, he has written about his experiences in Patchogue, and he was the indisputable star of a one-hour PBS documentary titled Not in Our Town: Light in the Darkness, about the Lucero case, which was released in the fall of 2011.

  Pontieri and Quesada were not the only ones to earn accolades or promotions or both after the Lucero case. Megan O’Donnell, the prosecutor, was promoted to deputy bureau chief, and in early 2013 she left the district attorney’s office for a job at the Suffolk County Attorney’s Office, handling civil matters for the county in federal court. The Patchogue-Medford Library received the 2010 National Medal for Museum and Library Service from the hands of First Lady Michelle Obama during a White House ceremony on December 17, 2010. The medal is the highest honor conferred to museums and libraries for outstanding community service; in this case, it honored the library’s ongoing work with immigrants.25

  Three months later, Gilda Ramos received the Paralibrarian of the Year Award, given by Library Journal. She, along with Jean Kaleda, is widely believed to have spearheaded the community outreach efforts that earned the library national recognition. The library has become the indispensable institution for Ecuadorians in Suffolk County, an incredible turn of events that speaks volumes of Kaleda’s tenacity and warmth. She too has visited Gualaceo. She spent ten days traveling through Azuay in March 2011. When I asked why, she replied, “Because they are my patrons! I have to know where they come from.” But of course, it is more than that.

  Nationally, immigrants too are getting some kind of delayed recognition and acceptance. A generation ago, California voters approved a ballot initiative to keep undocumented immigrants away from public hospitals and schools, but now “more California residents than ever before say that immigrants are a benefit to the state,” the New York Times reported in February 2013.26 In Arizona, where Mexican ethnic studies were once banned, a federal judge has ordered that courses that reflect the history, experience, and culture of Mexican Americans can be taught in the classrooms.27

  A study released in October 2011 by the Fiscal Policy Institute, a nonprofit research organization in New York, found that immigrants, no matter their legal status, are important contributors to the economy on Long Island and are a relatively affluent group, with a median income for a family with at least one immigrant adult of $98,000, compared with $110,000 for families headed by US-born adults. The report stated that in Nassau and Suffolk Counties, two of the country’s fifty most affluent counties, immigrants represent about 16 percent of the population and add about 17 percent of value to the economy through their work.28 In an interview with the New York Times about the study, Steve Levy, the Suffolk County executive, contended that the study had been done by a “left-leaning” group that had not drawn a distinction between documented and undocumented immigrants. “No one is denying that legal immigration contributes to our culture and our economy,” the Times quoted Levy as saying. “It looks like selective data was put into this study omitting the drain on services that come about from the illegal population.”29

  Once again, Levy was wrong. While economists agree that the cheaper labor of undocumented immigrants helps lower the wages of adult US workers without a high school diploma, they also agree that the net impact for everyone else is positive. Immigrants—documented or not—benefit the economy and contribute about $15 billion a year to Social Security through payroll taxes. They can be a drain on services in areas where they congregate in great numbers. However, the dollars they bring to local economies outweigh the costs of the services they receive.30

  Perhaps nothing has had a bigger impact on Suffolk County than a major restructuring in the political front. Jack Eddington, bruised from the accusations of racism lobbed his way, retired from politics, saying he was tired of the partisanship, the bickering, and the whole game of politics.

  Levy “abruptly ended his bid for a third term in March 2011 in a deal to end a 16-month criminal investigation of his political fund-raising,” the New York Times reported. Levy, who had amassed a campaign war chest of $4.1 million, agreed to turn over the money to the Suffolk district attorney’s office. In return, Thomas J. Spota, the district attorney, closed the investigation, which he said had begun in the summer of 2009. Spota said little about the investigation, but he indicated that there was no evidence that Levy, who up to then had enjoyed an impeccable reputation on matters of finance and ethics, had personally benefited from his campaign funds.

  Ironically, some of that returned and unclaimed money—$17,500—ended up in the hands of the Workplace Project, an immigrant rights organization, after the Reverend Allan Ramírez, now retired, asked Spota for a portion of Levy’s funds.31

  In January 2012, Steve Bellone became the new county executive in Suffolk County. Bellone wasted no time in delineating the differences between him and his predecessor during his inaugural speech. “For those who are willing to work hard and are looking for a better life, regardless of where you came from—we want you in Suffolk County,” he said.

  He told a story about his Irish immigrant grandparents and the tiny apartment in Manhattan’s Washington Heights they once shared with his mother, aunts, and uncles. He said he had gone back there recently with his mother, in her first visit to the old neighborhood in nearly fifty years, and they were welcomed by a Dominican family. “We are stronger together,” he added.

  According to a New York Times editorial, “[A] good share of his [Bellone’s] speech was devoted to the importance of immigration, a tacit attempt to reverse Suffolk’s reputation as a place riven by anti-immigrant sentiments and violence.”32

  In his first few months in office, Bellone appointed Luis Valenzuela, for years an important immigrant rights activist on Long Island and a pillar of strength during the tumultuous months after Lucero’s murder, as a member of Suffolk County’s Human Rights Commission. He was confirmed unanimously by the legislature. Bellone reached out to the community in other ways. He was grand marshal of Brentwood’s Puerto Rican Day Parade, and on November 14, 2012, he signed an executive order requiring county agencies to translate essential public documents and forms into six languages besides English—including Spanish, of course—and to provide translation services for residents who don’t speak English.33

  Undaunted, Levy continues to wave the anti-immigrant flag, even from the sidelines. When asked about Bellone’s appointment of Valenzuela, he said that Valenzuela was an “articulate gentleman. But he is as far left as they come in the illegal immigration lobby. Steve [Bellone] said my opposition to illegal immigration was divisive, but in his quest to be liked by everyone he is capitulating to those who want to surrender on the issue.”34 Bellone declined to comment on Levy’s portrayal of his policies.

  It is impossible to gauge how non-Hispanic residents feel about immigration now. Feelings of racism and discrimination can’t be legislated away, but actions can. People in Patchogue may still despise or fear their Hispanic neighbors; they just don’t talk about it or seem to be acting on it. Other words, other phrases, have been substituted for harsher comments about immigrants. Expressed concerns about public housing, drunkenness, and overcrowded houses continue to be used in not-so-subtle reference to the larger issue of immigration.

  In May 2012, Pontieri held a live online chat with residents, facilitated by Patchogue Patch, a local web publication. Some of the questions reflect a lingering anxiety regarding Hispanics. They are transcribed here as they were written:

  Comment from S & L: Mr. Mayor, regarding overcrowded rentals in the Village of Patchogue, why are they allowed t
o do this?

  Paul Pontieri: They are not allowed. We have very strict housing codes that are enforced, but like most things it is imperative that residents who live near these overcrowded homes advise the Village that they are so. What I will guarantee to you [is] that if you feel there is a home within your neighborhood that you can identify by address that we will investigate it, give out violations as needed, and close if we must.

  Comment from Luke: Why is there a bodega next to an elementary school on Bay Avenue? This is on the Village side. There are MANY vagrants/drug addicts/criminals that linger around there EVERY MORNING! what is being done about this?

  Paul Pontieri: Luke, I appreciate the comments, I will contact the Suffolk County PD and work with them to move them away from the school.

  Comment from Tino: Mr. Mayor, Thank you for this honor of a “live chat” I have a question, about how many of the many rentals in patchogue would you say rent to “section 8?” being someone who rents in the village, i’m not against it, but i’m also not a fan of section 8 living next door and across the street

  Paul Pontieri: Tino, I don’t know the number of it, but Section 8 vouchers have been frozen by the federal government and whatever is in the Village now, it will never get any greater than it is.

  The Patchogue-Medford Library too has received a number of messages from patrons who can’t understand why librarians are reaching out to Hispanic immigrants. One such letter, dated September 7, 2010, calls undocumented immigrants “criminals.” “Over the past several years I have noticed that the Patchogue-Medford Newsletter is partially printed in Spanish. I am wondering why since we live in the United States of America not in Mexico or some place south of the border,” the patron wrote, adding, “Have you looked at Main Street in Patchogue? I don’t know whether I am in America or in some third world Mexican village.”

  Another village resident sent a succinct e-mail: “We live in AMERICA NOT IN MEXICO.” Yet another wrote: “It seems that the only reason the PM Library exists is to assist these ‘hard-working undocumented immigrants.’ I choose to call them what they really are CRIMINALS.” And another: “Step outside the door of your Library. Notice that smell in the air, no not the beans and rice or the beer or the stink of urine, it is the smell of change.”