By Katherine Ayers
The Daily Reflector
Saturday, June 15,
2013
The face of Latino immigration into North Carolina is changing with more Latina women
entering the state at a higher rate than ever before. Census data released on Thursday showed
Latinas make up 46.8 percent of the total Latino population in the state as of July 2012, up from
40.1 percent in 2000. In total, Latinos make up 8.7 percent of the total state population. In Pitt County,
they are 5.5 percent of the population, up from 3.2 percent 10 years ago.
According to Carolina Ramirez-Suárez, an employee with the Association of Mexicans in North Carolina
(AMEXCAN), the increase in Latinas is a natural extension of the Latino male immigration that happened
previously “Maybe because they wanted to follow their brothers or husbands but nowadays what is
happening is that the woman is migrating alone,” she said. Ramirez-Suárez, who has worked with
AMEXCAN’s office in Mexico since 2001 and is visiting the local office until June 26, said that when the
men left the towns and villages, the women still had to take care of their homes and families.
“They found out they were able to manage all things alone with no men,” she said. “I think this is one of
the points that makes the (women) start migrating by themselves.”While Suárez said the power the women
gain over their own lives is a positive, immigration also can put a strain on the families they leave behind.
“Some of them have little children they left with (the children’s) grandmother who has no tools to take care of
these new responsibilities,” she said.Many times the grandmothers are uneducated, out of work and
do not have the means to take care of the new children they have been given.
Ramirez-Suárez said another push for a woman to migrate and follow her husbands is that other men in the
village may try to take advantage of the fact that she’s now alone.“It’s fighting with the old ideas of patriarchy,
macho culture,” she said. “She (becomes) kind of like an object for the men” even though she’s married. Once
women get to America, either as documented or undocumented immigrants to look for work in the service
sector in factories, restaurants and hotels, the strength they learned in their home country becomes even
more important, Ramirez-Suárez said.
“The women for the first time have to do things they’re not used to like driving,” she said. “Back home there
was no need to drive, the villages are all too little, so they can walk or if they want to get to the city they can
take a bus.” They must also learn to work without the support network of grandmothers, aunts and
sisters they had in their home countries.The issues with family dynamics do not end when a woman leaves
Mexico, Ramirez-Suárez said. Many times a Mexican man in America is still searching for the “traditional”
woman willing to stay home, cook and iron.
The difference now is that women understand that staying home is a choice, rather than something
they must do. “Women are aware they’re working, they’re earning money, so why can’t they
share the other (domestic) work with the man,” Ramirez-Suárez said. “This is the opportunity to
get this consciousness, I’m excited to hear this from them.” That consciousness is not transferring to
the daughters of the Latina immigrants, many of whom were born in America. The rate of teen pregnancy
in the Latino community is high, according to Suárez.
Even if the wife knows a different life, the daughters still have their fathers, grandmothers and other
extended family trying to pull them back into the traditional way of living. “The family says ‘no, she has
to stay at home, she has to not go out,’ even though she’s (working) and earning money,” Ramirez-Suárez
said. Education for both teenage boys and girls is the most important piece of the puzzle, she
said. “We have to give them tools and give them guidance,”Ramirez- Suárez said.
Ramirez-Suárez predicted the rate of Latina immigration is going to accelerate in the coming years, especially
for those with advanced education degrees. “We have to fix a lot of things in Mexico,” she said, referring to
the increase in violence. “My town used to be extremely calm, my children used to walk to school and come
back with no problem at all. Now they’re kidnapping kids and women and killing journalists. It’s shocking.”
Ramirez-Suárez said the goal of AMEXCAN is to give people options.“What (AMEXCAN) is trying to
do in Mexico is to make people conscious to know that it’s a right to migrate, but it’s a decision,” Ramirez-Suárez
said. “They have a right to say no, too, and find other ways to stop this massive migration” to America.
Contact Katherine Ayers at [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> and 252-329-9567
Juvencio Rocha Peralta
Executive Director
Association of Mexicans in North Carolina, Inc (AMEXCAN)
P.O. Box 2744
Greenville, NC 27836-0744
Office: 252.757.3916
Cell: 252.258.9967
[email protected]mailto:[email protected]
The Daily Reflector
Saturday, June 15,
2013
The face of Latino immigration into North Carolina is changing with more Latina women
entering the state at a higher rate than ever before. Census data released on Thursday showed
Latinas make up 46.8 percent of the total Latino population in the state as of July 2012, up from
40.1 percent in 2000. In total, Latinos make up 8.7 percent of the total state population. In Pitt County,
they are 5.5 percent of the population, up from 3.2 percent 10 years ago.
According to Carolina Ramirez-Suárez, an employee with the Association of Mexicans in North Carolina
(AMEXCAN), the increase in Latinas is a natural extension of the Latino male immigration that happened
previously “Maybe because they wanted to follow their brothers or husbands but nowadays what is
happening is that the woman is migrating alone,” she said. Ramirez-Suárez, who has worked with
AMEXCAN’s office in Mexico since 2001 and is visiting the local office until June 26, said that when the
men left the towns and villages, the women still had to take care of their homes and families.
“They found out they were able to manage all things alone with no men,” she said. “I think this is one of
the points that makes the (women) start migrating by themselves.”While Suárez said the power the women
gain over their own lives is a positive, immigration also can put a strain on the families they leave behind.
“Some of them have little children they left with (the children’s) grandmother who has no tools to take care of
these new responsibilities,” she said.Many times the grandmothers are uneducated, out of work and
do not have the means to take care of the new children they have been given.
Ramirez-Suárez said another push for a woman to migrate and follow her husbands is that other men in the
village may try to take advantage of the fact that she’s now alone.“It’s fighting with the old ideas of patriarchy,
macho culture,” she said. “She (becomes) kind of like an object for the men” even though she’s married. Once
women get to America, either as documented or undocumented immigrants to look for work in the service
sector in factories, restaurants and hotels, the strength they learned in their home country becomes even
more important, Ramirez-Suárez said.
“The women for the first time have to do things they’re not used to like driving,” she said. “Back home there
was no need to drive, the villages are all too little, so they can walk or if they want to get to the city they can
take a bus.” They must also learn to work without the support network of grandmothers, aunts and
sisters they had in their home countries.The issues with family dynamics do not end when a woman leaves
Mexico, Ramirez-Suárez said. Many times a Mexican man in America is still searching for the “traditional”
woman willing to stay home, cook and iron.
The difference now is that women understand that staying home is a choice, rather than something
they must do. “Women are aware they’re working, they’re earning money, so why can’t they
share the other (domestic) work with the man,” Ramirez-Suárez said. “This is the opportunity to
get this consciousness, I’m excited to hear this from them.” That consciousness is not transferring to
the daughters of the Latina immigrants, many of whom were born in America. The rate of teen pregnancy
in the Latino community is high, according to Suárez.
Even if the wife knows a different life, the daughters still have their fathers, grandmothers and other
extended family trying to pull them back into the traditional way of living. “The family says ‘no, she has
to stay at home, she has to not go out,’ even though she’s (working) and earning money,” Ramirez-Suárez
said. Education for both teenage boys and girls is the most important piece of the puzzle, she
said. “We have to give them tools and give them guidance,”Ramirez- Suárez said.
Ramirez-Suárez predicted the rate of Latina immigration is going to accelerate in the coming years, especially
for those with advanced education degrees. “We have to fix a lot of things in Mexico,” she said, referring to
the increase in violence. “My town used to be extremely calm, my children used to walk to school and come
back with no problem at all. Now they’re kidnapping kids and women and killing journalists. It’s shocking.”
Ramirez-Suárez said the goal of AMEXCAN is to give people options.“What (AMEXCAN) is trying to
do in Mexico is to make people conscious to know that it’s a right to migrate, but it’s a decision,” Ramirez-Suárez
said. “They have a right to say no, too, and find other ways to stop this massive migration” to America.
Contact Katherine Ayers at [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> and 252-329-9567
Juvencio Rocha Peralta
Executive Director
Association of Mexicans in North Carolina, Inc (AMEXCAN)
P.O. Box 2744
Greenville, NC 27836-0744
Office: 252.757.3916
Cell: 252.258.9967
[email protected]mailto:[email protected]
