Latino neighborhood slowly disappearing in central Mesa
273 commentsby Angelique Soenarie - Jul. 29, 2008 08:03 AM
The Arizona Republic
Family by family, business by business, a central Mesa neighborhood is vanishing.
Already struggling with blight, the Reed Park area near Gilbert and Broadway roads is taking another hit as undocumented immigrants leave the neighborhood, pressured by the state's employer-sanctions law, stricter immigration enforcement and a sagging economy.
There is no reliable data on just how many immigrants have left Mesa in the past year, but there are other indicators: vacant houses and apartments, a sharp drop in business at stores that cater to Latinos, and a decline in attendance at churches and schools.
"From what you hear in the neighborhood, people have packed up and left and have gone to other states, or have gone back home to their country," said Cynthia Garza, a city Neighborhood Outreach coordinator.
"We have seen more and more vacant homes."
Homes for rent
"For Rent" signs advertise vacant apartments throughout central Mesa. Some signs in the largely Latino neighborhood near Gilbert and Broadway read "Gratis Renta," free rent. Boarded up duplexes and apartment buildings suggest some owners have given up.
"Here, it's a family community. If somebody leaves, they (all) follow," said Janeth Lira, who manages the 97-unit Palm Gardens apartments on Broadway. Since fall, Lira has had as many as 20 units vacant. Today, there are eight.
"I did have a lot of people say it was getting difficult to find work," said Lira, who believes many of the residents are undocumented.
To help lure new tenants Lira has dropped rent to $499 a month on a unit that once went for $667.
"It used to be a mostly Hispanic community. Now I have all kinds of different families," she said.
The Reed Park area, already known for its high crime rate, now must contend with a growing number of abandoned residences, which often leads to more crime.
Patricia Tracey, a city prosecutor who works on Mesa's anti-blight ACTION Team, said the area could have a vacancy rate as high as 40 percent.
"The Reed Park area has a high number of rental units and many of them are vacant because of the economy and people leaving," she said.
Juan Carlos, 35, an undocumented immigrant who lives in the area, is considering moving. The Republic is not disclosing his last name.
His eyes welled with tears as he thought about all he'd been through the past six months.
"It has affected me at work because the hours have been reduced," he said, noting there are weeks when he gets less than eight hours of work painting.
Juan Carlos has a wife and three kids, with another on the way. Eleven years ago, he and his wife settled in Mesa and bought a home.
Family outings used to include hanging out near the Salt River. Now he must decide whether to move his family or leave them behind in Mesa to find work in another state.
"I have house payments. And at times I can't pay for the house," he said. "At work they give you the harder work and will tell you, 'You can like it or not.' "
"This is the worst year."
Businesses hurting
Dollars and customers have been scarce the past few months at businesses catering to Latinos along Broadway Road between Stapley and Gilbert.
Benny Juaréz manages Jalisco Mexican Food tucked in a strip mall that houses other Latino-flavored shops. He looks out at the dining room at a recent lunch-hour crowd and calls it dismal.
"Last year was busy, but now it's slow," he said.
"People are leaving" because there is no work, Juaréz said. Those who stayed can't afford to dine out.
Annabel Wright is feeling the same pinch. Less than a mile from the restaurant, she runs Eagle Immigration, where she prepares legal documents for immigrants. Wright said she has lost 70 percent of her business since last winter because of random sweeps by the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office.
"People are very scared," she said. "They think (Sheriff Joe) Arpaio is coming."
Wright said she will close her office before next year if business doesn't pick up.
"What I make now just pays the rent (at the business)," Wright said.
Several doors down, Luis Campos owns Campos Music, where he sells Norteño-style accordions, bass guitars, saxophones, mixers, DJ equipment and cumbias-style music. He is worried.
"It's been slower than ever," said Campos, who has seen a 60 percent drop in business compared to last year. Campos' primary customers include DJs and local bands that buy parts and equipment. Even before the sweeps - Arpaio came into Mesa twice in November - Campos saw a decline in business.
"If every undocumented resident was removed in Mesa, it would take about 50 percent of my business," he said.
Harry Kirakosian's Mi Amigos Food Mart has served the Reed Park neighborhood for 12 years. He owns a small shopping strip near Gilbert and Broadway roads that includes a laundry mat and a now-closed ice and water store.
"I already closed one store," Kirakosian said. "I am about to close the laundry mat. I owe a big mortgage on the shopping center. I'm giving it till December. I've never been impacted like this before."
Kirakosian said he couldn't afford to pay for his children to attend a private school this year and that he is behind on his mortgage payments.
"The city councilman comes by and asks us what he can do to improve the area," he said, "and we keep telling him he's got to protect us from the sheriff and immigration because those are the people we cater to right now. Nobody listens."
"If the sheriff gets (re-)elected, we're afraid more people are going to leave."
Churches and schools
On a typical Sunday, the 800-seat sanctuary at Queen of Peace Catholic Church north of downtown Mesa is packed. The church, with 3,600 members, has seven Masses on Sunday, three of those in Spanish.
But the days of parishioners spilling out onto walkways from the overcrowded church are dwindling, Father Charles Goraieb said.
In April, Goraieb said he began seeing a decline of about 30 percent in Sunday attendance, and expects that number to rise. He blames stricter immigration enforcement.
The parish's private school also has been hit, and expects to lose 10 to 15 students this year from its enrollment of 200.
"Sheriff Arpaio's sweeps are being moments of peak terror for the community . . . (but) that is not the biggest issue," Goraieb said. "It's the employer-sanctions law that's decimating the community. If people can't find work, they have to leave."
But at Mesa Church of Christ on Dana Avenue, Jesús Rodriguez, who oversees the Spanish ministry, says he is affected, but not nearly as much.
Since January, he has lost 10 to 20 members from his 140-member congregation, which includes families from Puerto Rico, Guatemala and Mexico. The families that left, Rodriguez said, returned to Guatemala and Mexico. He said immigration laws are forcing "many to go back to their country."
"For the economy, it's not a good thing," he said.
But Eduardo Celaya, 55, who is impeccably dressed on a Sunday morning at Queen of Peace, doesn't plan to move anytime soon. A permanent resident, he is in the process of becoming a U.S. citizen. He has lived in Arizona for 13 years, and he and his wife have watched their children graduate from high school and college.
Celaya is proud of his 19-year-old son, who has special needs and recently graduated from high school. He would not have had a similar opportunity in Mexico, he said.
"This is something that I thank this country for," Celaya said. "I still have hope and I am grateful to this country and to God to be here."
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2008/07/29/20080729mr-neighbor0730.html
273 commentsby Angelique Soenarie - Jul. 29, 2008 08:03 AM
The Arizona Republic
Family by family, business by business, a central Mesa neighborhood is vanishing.
Already struggling with blight, the Reed Park area near Gilbert and Broadway roads is taking another hit as undocumented immigrants leave the neighborhood, pressured by the state's employer-sanctions law, stricter immigration enforcement and a sagging economy.
There is no reliable data on just how many immigrants have left Mesa in the past year, but there are other indicators: vacant houses and apartments, a sharp drop in business at stores that cater to Latinos, and a decline in attendance at churches and schools.
"From what you hear in the neighborhood, people have packed up and left and have gone to other states, or have gone back home to their country," said Cynthia Garza, a city Neighborhood Outreach coordinator.
"We have seen more and more vacant homes."
Homes for rent
"For Rent" signs advertise vacant apartments throughout central Mesa. Some signs in the largely Latino neighborhood near Gilbert and Broadway read "Gratis Renta," free rent. Boarded up duplexes and apartment buildings suggest some owners have given up.
"Here, it's a family community. If somebody leaves, they (all) follow," said Janeth Lira, who manages the 97-unit Palm Gardens apartments on Broadway. Since fall, Lira has had as many as 20 units vacant. Today, there are eight.
"I did have a lot of people say it was getting difficult to find work," said Lira, who believes many of the residents are undocumented.
To help lure new tenants Lira has dropped rent to $499 a month on a unit that once went for $667.
"It used to be a mostly Hispanic community. Now I have all kinds of different families," she said.
The Reed Park area, already known for its high crime rate, now must contend with a growing number of abandoned residences, which often leads to more crime.
Patricia Tracey, a city prosecutor who works on Mesa's anti-blight ACTION Team, said the area could have a vacancy rate as high as 40 percent.
"The Reed Park area has a high number of rental units and many of them are vacant because of the economy and people leaving," she said.
Juan Carlos, 35, an undocumented immigrant who lives in the area, is considering moving. The Republic is not disclosing his last name.
His eyes welled with tears as he thought about all he'd been through the past six months.
"It has affected me at work because the hours have been reduced," he said, noting there are weeks when he gets less than eight hours of work painting.
Juan Carlos has a wife and three kids, with another on the way. Eleven years ago, he and his wife settled in Mesa and bought a home.
Family outings used to include hanging out near the Salt River. Now he must decide whether to move his family or leave them behind in Mesa to find work in another state.
"I have house payments. And at times I can't pay for the house," he said. "At work they give you the harder work and will tell you, 'You can like it or not.' "
"This is the worst year."
Businesses hurting
Dollars and customers have been scarce the past few months at businesses catering to Latinos along Broadway Road between Stapley and Gilbert.
Benny Juaréz manages Jalisco Mexican Food tucked in a strip mall that houses other Latino-flavored shops. He looks out at the dining room at a recent lunch-hour crowd and calls it dismal.
"Last year was busy, but now it's slow," he said.
"People are leaving" because there is no work, Juaréz said. Those who stayed can't afford to dine out.
Annabel Wright is feeling the same pinch. Less than a mile from the restaurant, she runs Eagle Immigration, where she prepares legal documents for immigrants. Wright said she has lost 70 percent of her business since last winter because of random sweeps by the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office.
"People are very scared," she said. "They think (Sheriff Joe) Arpaio is coming."
Wright said she will close her office before next year if business doesn't pick up.
"What I make now just pays the rent (at the business)," Wright said.
Several doors down, Luis Campos owns Campos Music, where he sells Norteño-style accordions, bass guitars, saxophones, mixers, DJ equipment and cumbias-style music. He is worried.
"It's been slower than ever," said Campos, who has seen a 60 percent drop in business compared to last year. Campos' primary customers include DJs and local bands that buy parts and equipment. Even before the sweeps - Arpaio came into Mesa twice in November - Campos saw a decline in business.
"If every undocumented resident was removed in Mesa, it would take about 50 percent of my business," he said.
Harry Kirakosian's Mi Amigos Food Mart has served the Reed Park neighborhood for 12 years. He owns a small shopping strip near Gilbert and Broadway roads that includes a laundry mat and a now-closed ice and water store.
"I already closed one store," Kirakosian said. "I am about to close the laundry mat. I owe a big mortgage on the shopping center. I'm giving it till December. I've never been impacted like this before."
Kirakosian said he couldn't afford to pay for his children to attend a private school this year and that he is behind on his mortgage payments.
"The city councilman comes by and asks us what he can do to improve the area," he said, "and we keep telling him he's got to protect us from the sheriff and immigration because those are the people we cater to right now. Nobody listens."
"If the sheriff gets (re-)elected, we're afraid more people are going to leave."
Churches and schools
On a typical Sunday, the 800-seat sanctuary at Queen of Peace Catholic Church north of downtown Mesa is packed. The church, with 3,600 members, has seven Masses on Sunday, three of those in Spanish.
But the days of parishioners spilling out onto walkways from the overcrowded church are dwindling, Father Charles Goraieb said.
In April, Goraieb said he began seeing a decline of about 30 percent in Sunday attendance, and expects that number to rise. He blames stricter immigration enforcement.
The parish's private school also has been hit, and expects to lose 10 to 15 students this year from its enrollment of 200.
"Sheriff Arpaio's sweeps are being moments of peak terror for the community . . . (but) that is not the biggest issue," Goraieb said. "It's the employer-sanctions law that's decimating the community. If people can't find work, they have to leave."
But at Mesa Church of Christ on Dana Avenue, Jesús Rodriguez, who oversees the Spanish ministry, says he is affected, but not nearly as much.
Since January, he has lost 10 to 20 members from his 140-member congregation, which includes families from Puerto Rico, Guatemala and Mexico. The families that left, Rodriguez said, returned to Guatemala and Mexico. He said immigration laws are forcing "many to go back to their country."
"For the economy, it's not a good thing," he said.
But Eduardo Celaya, 55, who is impeccably dressed on a Sunday morning at Queen of Peace, doesn't plan to move anytime soon. A permanent resident, he is in the process of becoming a U.S. citizen. He has lived in Arizona for 13 years, and he and his wife have watched their children graduate from high school and college.
Celaya is proud of his 19-year-old son, who has special needs and recently graduated from high school. He would not have had a similar opportunity in Mexico, he said.
"This is something that I thank this country for," Celaya said. "I still have hope and I am grateful to this country and to God to be here."
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2008/07/29/20080729mr-neighbor0730.html