Earlier this year, President George W. Bush talked of granting amnesty to illegal Mexican immigrants--a prospect upon which many members of the large and steadily growing Latino population looked fondly. But the events of Sept. 11 created a shift in national priorities that has worried some Mexican immigrants in Durham.
"There's two sides of the coin," said Ivan Parra, director of El Centro Hispano in Durham. "[There is] concern and solidarity with the U.S. community for what has happened on Sept. 11 and after that, but also there's a sense of worry and preoccupation that those conversations [about amnesty] have stopped."
Parra said he has heard that many local Mexicans are considering moving back home, though the suspension of amnesty talks is not their primary motivation.
"They're coming here usually to escape from those very same situations of violence in their communities," Parra said. "For some people, it's not worth it to be here if there's going to be a threat of more violence, more terrorism."
North Carolina's Mexican immigrant population numbered a quarter million people last year, roughly half of whom are illegal immigrants, according to The News & Observer of Raleigh.
In addition to the suspension of amnesty talks and the threat of terrorism, some local Mexicans expressed fear of increased prejudice.
"The worst thing is that some people, even here in the United States, can take advantage of these things in order to exacerbate the racism against minorities," said an illegal immigrant from Mexico, who works for a local housekeeping service and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Many Mexicans come to Durham in order to find work in construction, at restaurants and other businesses, but now, these jobs may not be enough to keep them here.
"It is not worth it here in this time of war," the housekeeping service worker continued.
Some of the women at the housekeeping service expressed concern and said they have heard of people wanting to return to Mexico. One woman, an illegal immigrant, specifically pointed to bioterrorism as a reason for her fear. She also said it is now going to be harder to get a job, a house or a driver's license.
Prior to Nov. 1, North Carolina was considered one of the easiest places for illegal immigrants to get driver's licenses, but a new law, which originally was not supposed to go into effect until Jan. 1, has put in place stricter guidelines for proving residency.
In addition to requiring two forms of identification, every customer applying for a driver's license must now provide one document showing proof of residency in North Carolina, unless one of the required identification documents has the applicant's residence address on it. As of Jan. 1, anybody applying for a driver's license must have either a Social Security number or an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number.
Some local residents said stricter licensing laws are a step in the right direction toward tighter immigration control.
Ron Woodward, president of North Carolinians for Lowering Immigration to Save the Environment Now, cited the need to restrict immigration, which he said currently accounts for 70 percent of all population growth in the United States. He said the population is currently growing too rapidly, creating stress on the environment and government services.
"People who support mass immigration are more concerned with what's good for the immigrant rather than what's good for Americans," he said.
Woodward also opposes amnesty for illegal immigrants, which he sees as a reward for bad behavior. He added that after Sept. 11, an amnesty policy for Mexican immigrants might amount to racial profiling, as it would apply to only one ethnicity.
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