FLORIDA TODAY (Melbourne, Florida)

August 15, 2010

Fellsmere caught in the crosshairs

Crackdown on illegals could hit immigrant city hard

BY JOHN A. TORRES • FLORIDA TODAY

The city manager says nothing will change. But some people have already packed up and left.

The sleepy city of Fellsmere, nestled between famous bass-fishing waters and orange groves in Indian River County south of Palm Bay, finds itself at a crossroads and potentially in the crosshairs at the same time.

Known for a large Mexican population that includes many undocumented immigrants, Fellsmere could become a focus for law enforcement if Florida legislators make good on promises to introduce immigration measures similar to the controversial crackdown attempted in Arizona.

"We don't view it as a local level enforcement issue," Fellsmere City Manager Jason Nunemaker said. "While we're not a sanctuary city, we're also not a city that's inhospitable about it. We kind of walk a fine line, and frankly, in this economic climate, we're not looking to take on additional responsibilities. We just don't have the resources."

Not everyone is as confident that things will remain the same if Florida cranked up efforts to catch and send home illegal immigrants.

"If that happens, then I think Fellsmere would become a ghost town," said Moses Santos, director of community outreach at the Treasure Coast Community Health Clinic, a position he has held for 15 years. "During our harvesting season, when many of our undocumented residents usually return to work in the fields, I would assume that most of them would fear coming back and would probably stay back home in Mexico."

Santos, who helps patients with food, housing, counseling and other needs, said fear of being deported and difficulty finding work in this tough economic climate already has caused many immigrant families to leave the area.

"There's been a lot of restrictions placed on companies, preventing them from hiring individuals who are undocumented. They are being screened and fined by the government," he said. "A lot of our families are even concerned about leaving their homes. They live in constant fear of being deported."

Maria Lopez, a United States citizen of Mexican descent who has lived in Fellsmere for 25 years, said "a lot of them are scared to even go out."

However, she said, "Some are afraid to go back. They stay because it's bad here and it's bad there. So they can't catch a break either way."

The community is no longer a "migrant town," Nunemaker said. About 75 percent of residents are Hispanic, mostly hailing from Mexico. Most are not temporary migrant workers, he said.

"That's kind of a misnomer that its migratory," Nunemaker said. "The folks here have set down roots."

Nevertheless, the concern is whether those roots are deep enough to withstand increasing backlash over immigration enforcement issues or the possible deportation of family members and friends if law enforcement agencies get more aggressive.

"We don't want to penalize people who are pursuing their work," Nunemaker said.

No turning back

Angel Martinez takes his cowboy hat off and fans himself in the shade of a small palm tree.

The 24-year old Palm Bay man has been in Florida for 10 years, working construction jobs with his father. He's witnessed and experienced the economic slowdown, rising anti-Mexican sentiment sweeping the country, and some of his compatriots sneaking back across the border to go home.

"I don't have papers, but I am not afraid," Martinez said, using a mixture of English and Spanish words. "All of my family is here so I have no plans to go back. I am going to stay here for as long as I can. Even without papers, I feel free in this country."

Martinez said the American recession is driving anti-migrant fervor, something he said is based on racism and social segregation.

"There are many injustices in this world, especially against the poor people," he said. "Instead of helping people they try and keep them down."

Nunemaker acknowledges the economy, particularly the difficulty people are having finding work, is behind some of the talk of tougher enforcement.

"When there's a smaller pie, having to divide that pie up among more individuals is going to be more difficult and it's going to be received negatively," he said. "I don't think it was as big of an issue when things were booming, but now it's going to be complicated."

At the same time, migrants say the lack of available jobs is causing many to return to Mexico anyway.

"There are fewer Mexicans living in Fellsmere now than in years past," said 58-year-old Jesus Castro, who has worked picking crops in the U.S. legally since 1987. "Many people have moved to other states and many have gone back to Mexico. A lot of people are afraid of the changes in the law and of being deported. Others are leaving the country because there is no work, no money. They can not pay their bills. They don't see hope here like they have in the past."

Changing landscape

Jesse Zermeno, president of Operation Hope, a nonprofit that provides assistance to migrant families and the poor, has seen the transformation of Fellsmere, a place where caravans of 18-wheelers haul sod down dusty dirt roads and storefronts bear names like the Garcia Plaza Bakery, El Canelo Restaurant, La Fiesta Market and El Ranchero Mexican Store. Even the Catholic Church is named for the patron saint of Mexico: Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe.

"Here in Fellsmere, families are going back to Mexico," he said. "A husband and wife I know had been working at a hotel for five years, but they were let go when it was discovered they had fake papers. Now they are just trying to rent a truck to get back home. Many people are moving back to Mexico because the jobs are so scarce and because the employers want to see papers now."

Manuel Escobar worked for years at Sun-Ag Farms picking fruit, but when the company asked him for documentation, he was forced to leave and go home. He used his savings to buy a small piece of land in Mexico and enough sheep and goats to make a living.

"It is worse in Mexico, but many have left their homes and families there," Santos said. "Many have told me they would rather be back growing, eating and trying to sell their own food than staying here away from their families and with no prospect for employment at all."

Isabel Martinez-Perez, 50, says he has no fear of living in the Fellsmere area without legal papers.

"I have been here 16 years, and my record is clean, and I just do a lot of hard work," he said one recent morning. "I have never had a problem with the police. I'm a good citizen. People talk negatively about illegals, saying they are bad people, but we are not."

Martinez-Perez said the scarier prospect is the lack of jobs in the area.

"Things are very slow right now," he said. "But in Mexico, it is much worse there than here. There is no work at all there, and they pay very little to work in the fields in Mexico.

"If there was an opportunity to become legal and I could afford it, of course I would do it."

Legislation

Nearly 25 states, including Florida, are considering laws like the one Arizona is now fighting to keep on the books. Arizona's law required police, in the course of investigating a crime or conducting a traffic stop, to look into whether or not someone was legally in the country. Before that, such inquiries were at the discretion of the law enforcement officer, not mandatory.

Opponents worried the law opened the door to racial profiling and other abuses. Last month, a federal judge stopped Arizona from implementing most parts of the law. Arizona is continuing to fight for the law in court.

Opponents and proponents say the court system will ultimately decide the constitutionality of such legislation.

Helping drive the potential Florida legislation is a report by the Federation for American Immigration Reform, or FAIR, saying the cost of incarcerating and providing health care -- among other services -- for illegal immigrants is between $2 billion and $4 billion a year.

The figures were later discredited by the independent watchdog website PolitiFact, which fact checks political statements. PolitiFact said the cost is closer to $380 million. Still, the figures are being cited by elected officials and candidates who support tougher immigration enforcement.

State Rep. Ritch Workman, R-Melbourne, is one of several Brevard County lawmakers who said they would propose tougher anti-immigration legislation in the next legislative session. Workman, a naturalized citizen from Canada, said the influx of illegal aliens is creating a black hole in the economy.

“We are a compassionate nation, but enforcing our laws makes us no less compassionate," Workman said.

“I am a legal immigrant and I find it offensive that some people feel it is OK to illegally cross our border in the middle of the night. It's not justified and it's not right.

"It costs Florida billions of dollars to arrest, educate and medically take care of the illegals," he continued.

Suntree resident Barbara Bronsberg said she would welcome more enforcement locally because the federal government won't do it.

"The people in this country need to band together and every state in the union should pass their own immigration laws since the federal government never enforced their rules," she said.

"It is time for the people to step up and put a stop to this madness."

Brevard's legislators said they would keep a close eye on the legal developments in the Arizona case before putting forth a bill of their own.

According to Nunemaker, the city manager in Fellsmere, local police consider immigration violations on a case-by-case basis. He said little would change if a new, tougher immigration law were passed.

"If someone is stopped by the police, it is up to the discretion of the officer to see if they want to take it to the next level with regard to immigration," he said. "Typically that's with a violent offense, something serious. If it's a low-level traffic stop, an infraction involving a tail light out or minor speeding, then it's not going to rise to that occasion."

Nunemaker and the city council know Fellsmere relies on the large working-class population, made up primarily of Mexicans. City leaders view them as a vital cog -- not a drain -- on the economy.

When he was first hired, he said the city council instructed him to crack down on code enforcement rules.

"So, we implemented what was on the books, things like not allowing commercial vehicles parked at single family dwellings," he said. "That caused quite a stir. We had a lot of feedback from the community. The council responded and basically said, 'You know, these are folks that work and are the backbone of the community, so let's make some allowances.' It worked out well and showed that council is willing to work with the working class community."

Lopez says any legislation intensifying enforcement would unfairly target Hispanics.

“They say they want to stop the illegals and ask for papers, but they're only targeting Hispanics; they're not the only ones who are here illegally," she said. "You have Indians from India, Chinese from China, you have people from Pakistan, and you don't see them targeting their races. You only see them targeting the Hispanics. If you look Hispanic, then you're going to get stopped."

Dreams

Angel Martinez was 14 when he crossed the border illegally, following the Mexican version of the American dream, a dream he still believes in.

"That money is what we count on to live," he said. "When we first came here, many people offered us their hands. Now people only offer us their backs."

Castro, here legally, recently had surgery and is unable to work. His immigration status allows him to collect an unemployment check while he recuperates, but his future is uncertain. There will be no way for him to sustain himself if his health keeps him from working.

"Sometimes I dream of staying here forever, and sometimes I wish I was back home in Mexico," he said after a day of volunteering at Operation Hope. "But right now, things are much better in the U.S. than in Mexico. I wish that my country was peaceful, but there are a lot of problems right now related to the economy, a lot of violence. I love and adore my country, but things are ugly right now. That's what makes people come to the States."

In recent years, Castro said he has experienced racism from Americans, and even jealousy from fellow Mexicans here without documentation.

"Some people get upset because the illegals are taking jobs from those here legally," he said. "I wish people could put aside bad feeling and work together, side by side. I believe that the sun shines in the sky for everyone."