Against the tide : immigrants, day-laborers, and community in Jupiter, Florida / Sandra Lazo de la Vega and Timothy J. Steigenga.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Lazo de la Vega, Sandra.

Contributor:

Steigenga, Timothy J., 1965-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Immigrants--Florida--Jupiter--Social conditions.

Immigrants.

Immigrants--Services for--Florida--Jupiter.

Day laborers--Services for--Florida--Jupiter.

Day laborers.

Community centers--Florida--Jupiter.

Community centers.

Jupiter (Fla.)--Emigration and immigration--Social aspects.

Jupiter (Fla.).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (200 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Madison : University of Wisconsin Press, c2013.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Across the United States, the issue of immigration has generated rancorous debate and divided communities. Many states and municipalities have passed restrictive legislation that erodes any sense of community. Against the Tide tells the story of Jupiter, Florida, a coastal town of approximately 50, 000 that has taken a different path. At the beginning of the twenty-first century, Jupiter was in the throes of immigration debates. A decade earlier, this small town had experienced an influx of migrants from Mexico and Guatemala. Immigrants seeking work gathered daily on one of the city's main streets, creating an ad-hoc, open-air labor market that generated complaints and health and human safety concerns. What began as a local debate rapidly escalated as Jupiter's situation was thrust into the media spotlight and attracted the attention of state and national anti-immigrant groups. But then something unexpected happened: immigrants, neighborhood residents, university faculty and students, and town representatives joined together to mediate community tensions and successfully moved the informal labor market to the new El Sol Neighborhood Resource Center. Timothy J. Steigenga, who helped found the center, and Lazo de la Vega, who organized students in support of its mission, describe how El Sol engaged the residents of Jupiter in a two-way process of immigrant integration and helped build trust on both sides. By examining one city's search for a positive public policy solution, Against the Tide offers valuable practical lessons for other communities confronting similar challenges.

Contents:

Intro

Contents

List of Illustrations

List of Abbreviations

Introduction

1. From Back Burner to Center Stage: How Jupiter's Melting Pot Boiled Over

2. The Immigrant Community in Jupiter: From Migrants to Mobilized

3. Debating a Community Resource Center

4. El Sol in the Sunshine State

5. The El Sol Family

6. Local Solutions and Implications for the National Immigration Debate

Acknowledgments

Notes

Suggested Readings

Index.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781299384538

1299384536

9780299291037

0299291030

OCLC:

833301928