BY STUDENT
America’s metropolitan areas have been transformed. More than half of all Americans now live in suburbia, urban areas outside of what the U.S. census defines as “central cities”. The generally white suburbs have been altered with the growing suburbanization number of minorities (the Black and Latinx population). Washington D.C. being the 7th largest metropolitan concentration of immigrants in the U.S. has contributed to the ‘transformation’ of suburbs. Washington was not always a concentration for immigrants, however, in the latter decades of the twentieth century, the Washington region grew, in part due to the economic stability offered by the expansion of the federal government, international organizations and universities, all of which attracted both native and foreign-born population. One of the reasons many apart of the Black and Latino population were moving into suburbs were due to job opportunities and lower rent prices.
In areas such as Prince William County, VA the increase in suburbanization by the black and latinx population was in a way a changing point within the County themselves. William County experienced rapid population growth “the county’s total population more than doubled between 1980 and 2006, while its immigrant population swelled to more than 14 times its 1980 size. Between 2000 and 2006, Prince William’s Hispanic population tripled in size, making it one of the nation’s top counties for Latino growth”. Home prices in the Washington region soared from 2000 to 2005; job growth and decentralization made suburbs like Prince William County more affordable than those in the inner core. Thanks to its real estate market, “the median home price in Washington, D.C. is half a million, compared to $374,800 in Prince William County”. Further emphasizing that a huge factor in the migration to the suburbs by the Latinx population was more affordable housing with possible job opportunity.
Due to the increase number of immigrants coming into the U.S. and the start of immigration into the suburbs the United States began a national debate over the role of immigrants in the economy and society. Resulting in a few outcomes, one of those being that Latin American immigrants are increasingly becoming targets of local legislation designed to restrict access to services or make them feel unwelcome. This has become a growing issue for people of color including Latinos within suburban communities. Which brings me to the book, Magical Urbanism by Davis Mike, he gives a few examples of Latin American immigrants being targeted and the rise of the concept “the third border”. In addition to the primary border and the secondary border (INS checkpoints) Davis describes a third border which polices daily intercourse between two citizen communities. So, while the Latino population continues to assimilate into their environment and strive in their community they are being targeted by their neighboring town/city solely on ethnic and class tensions. In a way they are being gated within their community by their surrounding neighbors. You would feel that after the Latinx population has moved into the suburbs they would be more diverse, geographic wise and not be compacted into a barrio. In many cases due to the surrounding areas, the migrating population is shifted into one suburb changing it into a barrio. Not only expressing the fact that this ‘new’ migration did not truly change their style of living and surrounding borders but did help ease certain life expenses.
Singer, Audrey. “Immigrants, Politics, and Local Response in Suburban Washington.” brookings.edu. Brookings, February 2009. https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/0225_immigration_singer.pdf
Singer, Audrey. “Latin American Immigrants in the Washington, DC Metropolitan Area.” Wilsoncenter.org. The Brookings Instituation, November 1, 2007. https://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/SingerFINALbackgroundpaper.pdf.
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