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March 7, 2011 in City
Census shows growing Latino population in Eastern Washington
EWU senior Cristina Acosta volunteers on Sunday mornings to teach an informal English class before the Spanish-language Mass at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Spokane. The Yakima Valley native is a Spanish major with a double minor in Chicano Studies and ESL.
(Full-size photo)
When Ana Zaragoza Mandziara moved to the Spokane area last summer, her first impression of her new home was, “Where are all the Mexicans?”
Latino population in Washington does not come close to that of her native California, but her adopted state has seen a 71 percent increase in residents of Hispanic origin since 2000, according to newly released U.S. Census Bureau figures.
Nearly 756,000 Latinos now live in Washington, more than 21,000 of them in Spokane County, accounting for 4.5 percent of the county’s population.
Though most Latinos living in Washington are in King, Snohomish and Pierce counties on the West Side, the most recent census numbers show Hispanic densities by county are becoming more equally distributed between east and west. Two East Side counties, Franklin and Adams, are now majority Hispanic.
Zaragoza Mandziara, 35, who settled in Greenacres with her three children, said she came to the Inland Northwest to be near her parents, who moved to North Idaho 10 years earlier to escape Southern California’s higher cost of living.
Her plan was to have her mom and dad’s love and support while she went through a divorce, then return to California. But she came to embrace Spokane.
“I want to plant my new roots here,” said Zaragoza Mandziara, who works in the office of a plastic surgeon. “I am pleasantly surprised with the diversity, opportunity and growth Spokane has to offer.”
Mike Gonzalez, a television news reporter and president of the Hispanic Business Professional Association of Spokane, said more Hispanics are coming to the Inland Northwest from California, Seattle and central Washington. They are looking for jobs in the service, construction and professional sectors.
Some, he said, were stationed at Fairchild Air Force Base and decided to make Spokane their home.
“I know a Puerto Rican guy who decided to stay after retiring from the Air Force,” Gonzalez said. “He liked what Spokane had to offer. He met his wife here and had no reason to leave.”
Others came to the Spokane area via Eastern Washington University, attracted by its Latino president, Rodolfo Arevalo, and supported by its Chicano education program.
A new generation of Latinos, often the first of their families to go to college, is taking advantage of “opportunities here that are not available where they come from,” said Martin Meraz-Garcia, EWU assistant professor of government.
Meraz-Garcia came to the United States from Mexico at age 12. His mother worked harvesting grapes in the Tri-Cities.
At St. Joseph Catholic Church in north Spokane, the number of people attending Spanish-language Mass on Sunday has increased from a handful 10 years ago to more than 200, said deacon Chalo Martinez.
However, the integration of Hispanics into Inland Northwest culture has not been without bumps along the way, said Dan Valencia, a Hayden businessman and president of the Inland Northwest Latino Chamber of Commerce.
The 40-member organization raises funds for Latino students and is involved in the EWU Hispanic Legacy Fund drive.
Valencia cited recent picketing by white supremacists at North Idaho taco stands, and said his chamber is cooperating with the Human Rights Education Institute to promote ethnic harmony.
Greg Cunningham, director of refugee and immigration services for Catholic Charities of Spokane, said the Hispanic migration to the Inland Northwest is a relatively recent phenomenon mirroring the rest of the nation.
It is driven by socioeconomic and political forces.
Immigration reform in 1986 provided legal residency and a path to citizenship for nearly 3 million undocumented immigrants, including agricultural workers in Washington state. Their children and grandchildren are now seeking better job opportunities in urban areas.
After further reform in 1996 tightened border enforcement, many Mexican nationals who once traveled back and forth chose to stay in the U.S. and send money back to their families in Mexico. They needed year-round jobs, and it was no longer necessary to confine their search for employment to the American Southwest, Cunningham said.
Hispanic growth in Spokane may be limited by the region’s economy, said Annabel Kirschner, a professor in the Washington State University Department of Community and Rural Sociology. Other urban areas, such as Seattle and the Tri-Cities, have weathered the recession much better than Spokane and are more likely to attract immigrants or their children from central Washington, she said.
Still, Kirschner said three factors are contributing to the increasing diversity in the Spokane area: immigration, age and birth rate.
According to 2000 data collected by the Washington Office of Financial Management, more than 45 percent of the state’s Latinos were foreign-born.
“Most immigrants are young adults, and young adults are the ones most likely to have children,” Kirschner said.
The average number of children a Hispanic woman will have in her lifetime, known as the total fertility rate, is 2.8, higher than that of any other ethnic group.
As fast as the Hispanic population is increasing statewide, it is growing even faster in the state’s schools. About 15 percent of students in kindergarten through 12th grade are Hispanic.
In Spokane Public Schools, Latino students have increased 91 percent since the 1993-’94 school year, said Phil Koestner, English language development coordinator.
Yet the number of students who list Spanish as their primary language has not skyrocketed.
Studies have shown that more than 95 percent of first-generation Mexican-Americans are proficient in English. By the second generation, more than half do not speak Spanish.
In fact, Spanish trails Russian and Marshallese in languages other than English spoken in the homes of Spokane public school students, Koestner said.
But despite demonstrating English-language proficiency, fewer than half of Latino students enroll in college, according to the state Higher Education Coordinating Board. Hispanic students received only about 5 percent of bachelor’s degrees earned in Washington in 2009.
Such numbers concern Uriel Iniguez, executive director of the Washington Commission on Hispanic Affairs.
“We can turn into a Third World nation very quickly if we don’t start educating our ethnic youth,” Iniguez said.
If Latino children are to move out of the agricultural sector and into other jobs, the state must ensure they have equal access to education, he said.
“After all, they are going to be the major work force in the future,” Iniguez said. “We have to pay attention to them.”
| 11.2 percent | 71.2 percent | ||
| 4.5 percent | 83.9 percent | ||
| 5 percent | 78.7 percent | ||
| 4.9 percent | 76.8 percent |
Coming Tuesday: Racial diversity among Spokane County’s population of children and teens is twice that of adults.
Rights panel poorly understood 
tinybobidaho on March 07 at 8:27 a.m.
As usual, these types of articles don’t tell you the whole story. Like how many of these Latinos are here illegally? After the 1986 amnesty, the enforcement of our immigration laws in that bill never happened, that’s why there are upwards of 20 million illegal aliens in this country. It’s not a secret that Washington is a sanctuary state, welcoming lawbreaking illegal aliens with open arms. They are one of the few states left to still give driver’s licenses and other benefits to illegal aliens.
“Where are all the Mexicans?” asked Ana. She expected to see more because just in LA county, CA alone the population is 80% Latino, with half of those here in this country illegally. And that’s what it will be right here if we don’t get tougher on our immigration laws.
We need a big change in Washington D.C. As long as there are Democrats looking for more voters and Republicans advocating for cheap foreign labor and Presidents who kiss up to Mexico and refuse to enforce our laws, we will continue on this path until we have ruined the greatest country on earth. I don’t have a problem with legal immigration, but I do have a problem with it not being fairly divided amongst other countries. And right now almost half of our LEGAL entrants and most of our foreign guest workers are from Latin America, not to mention that the biggest influx of illegal aliens is coming from those southern countries.
We need to stop glorifying the out of proportioned diversity in this country. Otherwise, you can sit back and watch the illiteracy rate rise steadily until we are nothing more than a third world country with the majority not speaking the language of our land, and America is no longer.
greyhound2 on March 07 at 8:59 a.m.
It is the property owners in the counties and state who get stuck with the costs of welfare, healthcare and education for illegal aliens.
DickAdams on March 07 at 10:53 a.m.
For English, please press, 1
jen28 on March 07 at 12:07 p.m.
Hispanics are by far the fastest growing population in our country and it is probably already too late to do anything about it. Before the middle of this century, we will be nothing more than North Mexico. Sad.
Thoreau on March 07 at 12:39 p.m.
Wow, Jen. Are you part of the Aryan Nation?
greenlibertarian on March 07 at 12:41 p.m.
-tinybobidaho
Bzzzt, WRONG, Los Angeles County is approximately 50% Latino.
If you want to have a shred of credibility in your utterances, I recommend against blatant lying.
Patanjali on March 07 at 1:33 p.m.
Many of these comments sound racist to me. Why is it that an increase of Latinos in this country will “ruin the greatest country on earth”. What makes diversity “out of proportion”? Is it when whites are no longer in the majority, as is expected within the next few years. Tinybob, you write about “how many of these Latinos are illegal when those featured in the story are most certainly all legal, including the one that came from part of our own country, Puerto Rica. Maybe we should just offer statehood to all South American and Central American countries so that the immigration question could be immediately solved. Since that is not likely let’s offer citizenship to all 20 million that you claim are illegal. Instead of persecuting people let’s do what we can to help them.
What makes the life of an illegal Latino less valuable than the life of a white person from Idaho? (Or what made the life of a Vietnamese less valuable than an American….or a Jew less valuable than an Aryan….or an Iraqi less valuable than an American) If not racism than what? Nationalism? Another “ism” that is often just as bad and destructive as racism or any other prejudice.
greyhound2 on March 07 at 2:31 p.m.
According to a Pew report, 60% of the 12 million illegals in this country are from Mexico. Deporting 7.2 million should not be a problem, as all they have to do is walk across the border. C-YA.
Orphan on March 07 at 2:46 p.m.
“Where are all the Mexicans” That statement says a lot. She did not ask where are all the Americans of Mexican decent. I have no problem with any American no matter where they or their ancestors came from. I dislike Mexican-American, Afro-American and similar definintions, we are all Americans the more we point out the diffrences the more differences there will be. I am very proud to be of Welsh and Scottish stock but 1st and formost I am an American I would never dream of refering to my self as anything else.
Bruce (aka thatoneguy) on March 07 at 3:52 p.m.
The comments in this thread remind me that the first generation of an immigrant wave always gets treated like this. The Germans; the Poles; the Irish; the Italians; and on and on.
I’m guessing that most of us had ancestors who came from a country that wasn’t England. The ones who came first were called “Italians” or “Irish” or whatever (or the not-as-nice nicknames that are never in short supply). Most of them were told they should go back where they came from. We, their descendants, can say now that they came here, worked hard, and made something of themselves, but back in the day the people who “belonged” were sure they were only here to take away jobs, commit crimes, and get whatever they could for nothing.
The next generation were “hyphenated Americans;” and the generation after that were “just Americans.”
It’s a little sad that we can’t seem to learn from history and realize that pretty soon this group will be “just Americans” too.
Orphan on March 07 at 4:08 p.m.
Thatoneguy I could and would agree with you except for its been 10 to 15 generations and more in some cases for both Afro and Mexican Americans that is the problem they have not become “just Americans” like has happened to all the other hyphenated Americans in the past including my ancestors and I suspect yours as well. I have relitives that are 3 generation Croatians, even the 1st generation never refered to them selves as Croatian-Americans.
I can agree with you that it is sad that we cant seem to learn from history but for entirely different reasons.
Bruce (aka thatoneguy) on March 07 at 4:27 p.m.
Orphan — I should point out that often, how the “established” population views the minority group is an important ingredient in how that group views itself. I have known a lot of people who are American and want to think of themselves that way, but at some point when they make a remark referring to themselves as an American, someone will casually say “oh, but you’re black” or “yeah, but you’re Mexican.” Doesn’t matter if to them you were born in Wisconsin. It’s happened to me a couple of times and it’s kind of crushing if you’re not ready for it. There’s a definite implication that “you’re not one of us, even if we let you live here” and that you should have the good manners to be embarrassed about not being quite as up-to-snuff as the rest of us. Not everybody wants to completely rid themselves of the culture they came from, so something like that can make them embrace it even more. (My parents couldn’t wait to get the hell out, although they still get kind of excited when the World Cup comes around.)
eagleproducer on March 07 at 4:45 p.m.
Where are all the Mexicans?
In Mexico?
I think that statement from Ana epitomizes much of what natural born citizens find distasteful from the Latino community. They don’t really want to be U.S. citizens, they want to move their culture here. That includes the crime, corruption, lack of respect for public institutions, etc, that plague Mexico.
If Mexico is so great, why did they all want to come here? It would seem if you are leaving behind such an unwanted country one would work their hardest to learn to identify with their new culture and not wonder where all your countrymen went.
I stand by my statement that most of the new Latino owned businesses in this region are fronts for laundering drug profits for Mexican Cartels. I’ve lived in the region of the U.S./Mexico border long enough to know what signals the presence of these cartels and Spokane is filled to the gunwales with them right now. You just need to know what to look for and obviously our gang task force is either ignorant or already on their payroll. I suspect it’s a combination of the two.
Orphan on March 07 at 4:49 p.m.
Thatoneguy I have Scotland the brave as my ringtone, bagpipes and drums. Nothing wrong with celibrating your history that is a good thing no matter who you are.
I think we have a cart and horse thing going here you say it does not matter to some people where you were born. I can agree with you there but then again it does not help to refer to yourself as from somewhere else either. If you insist on calling your self Mexican that is exactly how people will percieve you and think about you. I am not naive enough to think there are not those that have closed minds, there are enough bigots to go around that is for sure. We as a country would certainly be less fractured if we refered to ourselve as Americans assuming we were born here or have become a citizen.
Orphan on March 07 at 4:54 p.m.
Spoketucky Your 1st 2 sentances and 1st paragraph are spot on.
I cant believe I just said that, LOL
tinybobidaho on March 07 at 5:03 p.m.
greenlibertarian on March 07 at 12:41 p.m.
She expected to see more because just in LA county, CA alone the population is 80% Latino, with half of those here in this country illegally.
-tinybobidaho
Bzzzt, WRONG, Los Angeles County is approximately 50% Latino.
If you want to have a shred of credibility in your utterances, I recommend against blatant lying.
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Your comments tell me that you don’t know squat about this issue. Instead of accusing people of lying, maybe you should do a little research.
As for the others who are trying to insert racism, don’t even go there with me. Those typical liberal jabs bounce right off me, so you’re wasting your time.
Patanjali on March 07 at 1:33 p.m.
Many of these comments sound racist to me. Why is it that an increase of Latinos in this country will “ruin the greatest country on earth”. What makes diversity “out of proportion”? Is it when whites are no longer in the majority, as is expected within the next few years. Tinybob, you write about “how many of these Latinos are illegal when those featured in the story are most certainly all legal, including the one that came from part of our own country, Puerto Rica. Maybe we should just offer statehood to all South American and Central American countries so that the immigration question could be immediately solved. Since that is not likely let’s offer citizenship to all 20 million that you claim are illegal. Instead of persecuting people let’s do what we can to help them.
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Like I said, the article purposely neglected to count the illegal aliens in the growing Latino population because they want people to do just what you suggest, and that’s to give them all amnesty, which the majority of Americans are against. It looks like you don’t know much about this issue, either, or you would know that if an influx of one ethnic group are allowed to come here in high numbers, they feel they do not have to become Americanized and they don’t melt into the pot. It’s not healthy for them or for us. And the high illiteracy rate separates them even more. And why should we give citizenship to people who come here illegally just because this government doesn’t have the guts to enforce our laws? Citizenship in this country is precious and it’s something people earn the legal way, not something we hand out to people who have violated many federal laws to come here. We have laws and limits for a reason. If you know someone who is here illegally and you think they should be given citizenship, give them yours.
Bruce (aka thatoneguy) on March 07 at 5:26 p.m.
OK, I’m out of this one.
Ninch on March 07 at 7:08 p.m.
Just saying…
1.The first non-native explorers in the Northwest were Spanish and that is why some Puget Sound Native Americans have surnames like Delacruz.
2. Many, many Mexican agricultural workers came to Washington State during WWII and were greeted as heros and patriots (Bracero program) to replace the resident farm workers who joined the military or went to work in the shipyards and munition plants. A large number stayed here because too many original farm workers did not return.
3. Regarding the large Hispanic population in California…Duh…California used to be part of Mexico. Please study up on the Mexican-American War.
buffaloroper on March 07 at 7:16 p.m.
“Undocumented immigrant” is a PC term for a criminal that broke into this country. Let’s do the math people. Now we have 756,000 latinos you know 99% of them are mexicans. The article says 45% are foreign born now you know all of the “foreign born” mexicans came here illegally. Did even 10 mexicans fill out the paperwork and immigrate the legal way? So we have got 340,000 criminals here straight out of Mexico. A huge percentage of them are wanted in Mexico. None of them bother to buy auto insurance. The illegals Mexicans in California cost that state over 21 Billion dollars a year. The illegal Mexicans here take food stamps, housing, jobs and medical support that was set up for poor Washington residents and all of YOU are paying for it. All of their kids get free school lunches and free education compliments of YOU. Illegal Mexicans destroyed California and now they are coming here. The real enemy here are the fruit growers of Washington. These guys are getting rich and all of YOU folks are paying vast sums of money to support these illegal mexican workers. Now they are taking over the trade jobs like roofing, framing, drywall, everything but electrical and plumbing. We are in big big trouble people and the democrats are not going to help us. Patty Murray was a founder of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus! They see every single illegal mexican as a brand new democratic voter for life. If we don’t stop this train now we never will. Washington is the last state in the union to give these illegals a driver’s license. It is like a magnet pulling them up here. We must stop issuing driver’s licenses to illegals and stop giving them jobs.
Patanjali on March 08 at 9:55 a.m.
According to my Congresswoman there are 11 million illegals in this country, not 20 million….A person is not illiterate if he or she can read and write Spanish….Our adversion to immigrants from Mexico is rooted in racism….I like my beef stew to have healthy pieces of potatoes and carrots, I don’t want the stew to be blended all together, there is no need for a person of another culture to give up his heritage to “melt” into the pot.