Article Review: Sola, Jose, “The Origins and Formation of the Latino Community in Northeast Ohio, 1900 to 2009

Cleveland Latino Fest - Tracy Boulian l Plain Dealer file photo

Mexicans have, in the past two decades, emigrated to other parts of the U.S., other than the traditional areas of California and Texas. They are increasingly emigrating to the Midwest. There has, however, been a long history of Mexicans in Ohio. Sola’s article is a good overview of the history of Latinos in Ohio, as well as an overview of immigration from Mexico in general.

During the Depression, when jobs were tight, immigrants from Mexico, and even American citizens of Mexican origin, were “returned” to Mexico. U.S. citizens were denied their rights and families were broken up.

The situation changed during the Second World War, when Mexican and Puerto Rican workers were brought to Ohio to work in the steel mills. The Mexicans were brought in as part of the Bracero Program, while both groups were part of a state-sponsored industrialization work program.  Puerto Ricans were drawn to Ohio as part of a Puerto Rican government antipoverty program. That program, however, chose lighter-skinned, better-educated Puerto Ricans to represent that region. Afro-Puerto Ricans were not given the opportunity to work in Ohio.

There has been a boom in migration of Latinos to Ohio since the mid-1990s.  Instead of moving solely to the northeastern part of the state (the area around Cleveland), recent Latino migrants to Ohio are finding work in other areas. Like elsewhere, these Latinos are working in construction, agriculture, food processing, and the service industries.  Recently, Mayan-speaking Guatemalans have been migrating to Tuscarawas County.

As in many other states, the question of illegal immigration has become a pressing issue in Ohio, with the Ohio General Assembly introducing an Illegal Alien Enforcement Act which would, if passed, have given the state patrol and local police the authority to arrest illegal migrants for no cause. Though this Republican-sponsored plan did not pass, Latino residents, especially in Butler County, have been frightened to call police in cases of emergency.