Latino Advisory Council plans to deal with issues stemming from racial profiling, transportation deficiencies, and relations with Hightstown Borough officials.
By: Marisa Maldonado
HIGHTSTOWN In response to concerns about immigration raids and other issues, a group of Latinos has formed a committee to work with the mayor and borough officials.
The 14 members of the Latino Advisory Council, as Mayor Robert Patten calls it, mostly live in Hightstown and represent a variety of nationalities.
The committee plans to deal with issues stemming from racial profiling, transportation deficiencies, and relations with borough officials.
Raids from the federal Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement are a particular concern, Seton Hall professor David Abalos said, partially because they cause mistrust of the police in the Latino community.
At one ICE raid on Feb. 3 on Mercer Street, a Hightstown police officer was present but reportedly not a participant. Following this incident, Borough Council passed a resolution encouraging ICE to "engage in conduct that does not create needless mistrust and fear of the Hightstown Police Department and other municipal agencies."
"Whenever that happens, it undermines the confidence of the community," said Dr. Abalos, a member of the committee who lives in East Windsor. "The great fear is, they won’t report crime, which then of course endangers the whole community."
Subsequently, at least two more ICE raids have occurred in the area.
The Latino population comprises a quarter of all Hightstown residents, and Dr. Abalos said the actual population is higher because of people who do not want to be reported.
The immigration issues facing Latinos stem from a broader culture of mistrust of illegal immigrants, Dr. Abalos said, greatly fueled by the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
But the Hightstown community benefits from having Latinos in the area as well, Dr. Abalos said. Latinos are attracted to Hightstown because of its business community, Dr. Abalos said, and many Latinos hold jobs in the borough.
"If you took all the small businesses in the area, which is where you get your ratables," Dr. Abalos said, "if they were to send back all the Latinos, those small businesses would drop out."
But many of those jobs do not create enough wages to afford suitable housing, Dr. Abalos said. Most apartments in the borough cost between $800 and $1,000 per month to rent.
"That’s almost as much money as they make in a month," Dr. Abalos said.
But even though many Latinos can’t make affordable housing, they still earn far more in U.S. jobs than they would working in their native countries. This causes an influx of immigrants, for which Dr. Abalos blames both the U.S. government for pushing capitalism and the native governments for not caring enough about their citizens’ quality of life.
Although the issues causing problems for Latinos are national, Dr. Abalos and the mayor both hope to create some local solutions, such as finding cheap transportation and helping citizens find legal driver’s licenses and other documents.
"This would be the sounding board," Mayor Patten said. "We can have dialogue, and I’ll take that to whomever I have to."
The committee first met with Mayor Patten on March 19, and plans to meet again on April 16. The April meeting might be open to the public, Dr. Abalos said.
The committee also will meet informally and be available in the Latino community (such as at St. Anthony of Padua on Franklin Street) if anyone has questions, such as where to get proper documentation.
Ivan Cavieses, an East Windsor resident and committee member, prioritizesrelations with the Hightstown Police as a key issue on which the committeeshould work. He said he has no "major issues" with the police but hasexperienced some differential treatment based on his looks.
He said he once got pulled over while coming home from work as a computerconsultant and was treated well by police, but another incident wasdifferent.
"Another time I was coming from a hockey game, looking all messy, and thetreatment was all different," said Mr. Cavieses, a 43-year-old native ofChile. "You go from "Mr. Something" to a first-name basis."
Recent immigrants have a much harder time with the authorities, partiallybecause of raids from the ICE. While newcomers should learn English, thepolice department would benefit from having several Spanish-speakingofficers, he said.
The committee plans to create a Web site with information for the Latino community, Dr. Abalos said, and it hopes to print borough materials in Spanish.
The borough considers Spanish skills when hiring new employees, Mayor Patten said, and encourages police officers to become trained in Spanish.
"Any borough official who’s working has to be bilingual as best possible," said the mayor, who added that he has bought a Spanish tape to help him when officiating weddings. "You’ve got to learn to communicate."

