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Posted: April 22nd, 2010 Greg Lacour

One by one, the members of the English as a Second Language class at Newell Elementary School ticked off the things they’d like to see in their community: good schools, job opportunities, safe neighborhoods, tolerance of diversity.

Essentially, what just about everyone wants. Imagine that.

But the people enrolled in Central Piedmont Community College’s ESL program face obstacles unique to immigrants. In addition to the hardships of assimilation and prejudice, they have to struggle against a system that makes it increasingly hard for them to earn citizenship – and a culture that’s increasingly hostile to their presence.

At the program’s request, Crossroads arranged for the 50 or so people who take an ESL class at Newell – the vast majority of them Latino – to hear and view the basic Crossroads presentation, an overview of the four scenarios for 2015 and group discussions afterward. But this was different. It was the first time an ESL class of recent immigrants had taken part in a Crossroads presentation.

The discussions uncovered difficulties most of us never have to think about.

Yes, Latinos are subject to racism, said one Mexican woman who declined to be identified for fear of deportation. But prejudice comes not just from white, black and Asian but other Latinos: Mexicans looking down on Central Americans, Salvadorans segregating themselves from Hondurans.

Earning American citizenship isn’t just a matter of going down to the post office and picking up your papers, said another. The process can take years and thousands of dollars, and in the meantime, it’s next to impossible to get work or education without a Social Security number.

Then there’s the constant threat of deportation, which can separate parents from their American-born, and therefore American citizen, children. It’s a particular concern in Mecklenburg County, where the sheriff’s office aggressively embraces the federal 287(g) program allowing deputies to act as immigration officers.

Many poorer immigrants, especially from Central America, have trouble reading and writing in Spanish, much less English, said Molly Bonnett, one of the ESL program instructors.

But the session was far from a gripe fest. Several speakers, with children who attend Newell, stressed the responsibility immigrants have to learn the language and new skills, work hard and discipline their children, prime recruits for gangs. “We have to force ourselves to learn more English,” one woman said, in English, “and take advantage of the opportunities we have.”

But it’s up to the community’s leaders, they said, to provide the opportunities.

“We promise we will be good, law-abiding citizens of this community,” said Anaba Ugboaja, a Nigerian immigrant, in halting English. “If the leaders of this community can create jobs, I know it can go a long way.”

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