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Chattanooga: Jobs attracting Hispanics to the South

By: Perla Trevizo
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Doug Bachtel

PDF: U.S. Hispanic Population Surpasses 45 Million

After five years of unstable employment in other states, Chattanooga job opportunities attracted Sabrina Sales to the Scenic City.

“I lived in California for several months, then I moved to Michigan because of employment, but there were no jobs,” the Guatemalan native said in Spanish. “I worked in a greenhouse, but it was temporary. I would work five months, then be unemployed.”

She decided to make a third move and come to Chattanooga, where she has worked at a chicken-processing plant for five years.

Ms. Sales is among the 215,439 Hispanics living in Tennessee and 45.5 million in the United States, according to 2007 U.S. Census figures released earlier this week.

The Hispanic population in Tennessee and Georgia is growing more than twice as fast as the national average, the census shows. Between July 1, 2006, and July 1, 2007, the Hispanic population grew by about 8 percent in Tennessee and 7 percent in Georgia, compared to a 3.3 percent nationwide increase.

In 2007, there were 740,843 Hispanics living in Georgia, according to the census.

“The Hispanic population has traditionally been in the American Southwest — Texas, California, New Mexico, Colorado — (because of their) proximity to Mexico,” said Dr. Douglas Bachtel, demographer at the University of Georgia.

“Then we’ve had a large Cuban population in Florida and a growing Hispanic population in the Southeast that has meant a lot of new people moving in and a lot of job opportunities,” he added.

In a seven-year period, from 2000 to 2007, the Hispanic population growth in Tennessee and Georgia has even been more dramatic. From April 1, 2000, to July 1, 2007, it increased 74 percent in Tennessee and 70 percent in Georgia.

“People have to move to states where there are jobs,” Dr. Helms said. “I think what’s happened, though, is that a lot of people have come to the area and really liked it.”

Jobs that attract Hispanic immigrants to the South include agriculture, construction, landscaping and the retail and service industries, Dr. Bachtel said.

“These jobs have been historically low-wage, low-skill jobs, hard physical labor, and in some cases — not all — Americans have shied away from those jobs,” he explained. “As a result, those employers have hired a willing Hispanic population who is ready to do the work.”

It’s not just illegal immigrants coming this way, Dr. Bachtel said.

“We need to not forget there ... is also a large Hispanic population in the U.S. that are citizens and they are moving to the South (for the jobs) just as other Anglos and African-Americans,” he said. “We have to be careful (not to assume) every Hispanic in the U.S. is an illegal immigrant.”

In Dalton, Ga., Dr. Marilyn Helms, business instructor at Dalton State College, said the carpet industry is one of the main drives behind the expanding Hispanic population. Others, though, are looking more into self-employment, she said.

“We also have a fast-rising growth rate of entrepreneurship in the area; Latinos starting small businesses to serve that population and others as well,” she added.

But the total share of Hispanics in 2007 still remained relatively low, at 3.5 percent and 7.8 percent, respectively, compared to the total population in the two states.

During past legislative sessions, Tennessee and Georgia have introduced and passed several immigrant-related bills, including not being able to hold a state driver’s license if the person is undocumented.

Ms. Sales said she knows several people who have recently moved to Colorado and California from this area after 100 people suspected of being in the country illegally were arrested at Pilgrim’s Pride in early April.

Since immigration occurs in streams, with people attracting friends and relatives from back home, there is the possibility that the opposite can happen, with people here discouraging migration to this region, Dr. Bachtel said

“Somebody will move somewhere, write, fax, e-mail back home to say, ‘You can stay in my place, I got a job.’ Once a stream starts, it picks up steam,” he said. “But also people will call back home and say, ‘This place is not what it used to be, we are thinking about leaving.’”

Despite harsher immigrant-related state laws, a slowdown in the economy and recent raids, Dr. Bachtel and Dr. Helms predict a continuing growth of Hispanics in the area.

“In the past, we’ve had one of the strongest manufacturing bases in many parts of the U.S.,” Dr., Helms said. “We hope that when the economy rebounds, that will come back strong as well, and people might just stay and ride it out. Situations are not better elsewhere.”

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