Articles

Immigrants transform Gwinnett

By Brian Feagans
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
August 15, 2006

Some call it "Korean Uptown." Others have nicknamed it "GwiMexico." But new figures released today make one thing clear: Gwinnett County has emerged as Georgia's largest immigrant hub.

Roughly one out of every four of the county's 719,398 residents is foreign-born, according to the latest estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau.

"The thing about Gwinnett is the speed at which this has occurred," said Douglas Bachtel, a demographer at the University of Georgia. "To use a demographic term, 'it ain't gonna stop.'"

Georgia ranks fourth nationally in immigrant growth so far this decade (38 percent), trailing only South Carolina (47 percent), Tennessee (40 percent) and Delaware (40 percent). The numbers are more evidence that immigrants aren't just moving to traditional melting pots such as Chicago, Los Angeles and New York. The South, in particular, is full of new settlement areas. And in Georgia, metro Atlanta is the leading magnet.

Cobb County's immigrant population has shot up 45 percent since 2000 to 102,037. The number of foreign-born residents in Fulton has grown 31 percent to 103,360. The number of immigrants in Gwinnett, meanwhile, has soared 72 percent to 171,477.

Affordable housing, plentiful jobs and a welcoming business environment have made Gwinnett a top U.S. destination for immigrants, Bachtel said. And the trend is likely to continue as the reputation of the county straddling I-85 northeast of Atlanta whirls through word-out-mouth networks in other U.S. cities, Latin America, Asia and Africa, he said.

"They say 'Come on down,'" Bachtel said. "'You can sleep on my floor and I'll get you a job.'"

Schools, too, are a driving force, said Myung Bok Park, editor-in-chief of the Donga Daily News. In fact, the Korean-language daily is following readers who moved to Gwinnett seeking a good education for their kids. The 8,000-circulation daily jumped from Doraville to Duluth last month. And Monday, the paper's new press roared to life for the first time.

"This is the center of the Korean community now," Park said from the newspaper offices off North Berkeley Lake Road.

Roberto Vargas moved from Mexico City to Gwinnett seven years ago to work in construction. "They're more jobs here," he said. "And they pay more [than in California]. Hispanics will work in 100 degrees for $10 per hour."

The growing population of Latin American immigrants has allowed Vargas to convert what was once a hobby - a soccer league - into a full-time job. His Liga de Lawrenceville (Lawrenceville League) has swelled to 175 teams, believed to be the largest adult league in Georgia.

The 2005 figures come from the American Community Survey, an ongoing effort to provide a moving picture of how communities are changing rather than a snapshot every 10 years. Some 3 million households were surveyed in 2005. The data don't, however, include "group housing" units such as hospitals, college dormitories, military barracks and prisons.

The census attempts to reach all residents, regardless of immigration status, but demographers suspect that people in the country illegally are undercounted in the government surveys.

Few people need official numbers to tell them a dramatic demographic shift is under way from Lilburn to Lawrenceville and Duluth to Dacula. Gwinnett is now 19 percent black, 16 percent Hispanic and 10 percent Asian.

Non-Hispanic whites, 90 percent of the population in 1990, accounted for 54 percent in 2005. Their raw numbers dropped for the second straight year, even as the county's overall population jumped by more than 25,000.

Now Gwinnett officials are struggling to adjust to the newcomers taking their place.

The county 911 center, unable to find bilingual operators, uses a foreign-language interpretation service 40 times a day on average. Rockbridge Elementary in Norcross doesn't prepare any meals with pork. And at nearby Meadowcreek High, officials last year began offering informational videos in Bosnian, English, Korean, Spanish and Vietnamese languages.

"We want to make sure all our parents, even if they don't speak English, know what's going on at school," said school system spokesman Sloan Roach. "We want them to know who to call."

The Gwinnett Civic Center in Duluth is now a hot spot for ethnic weddings and cultural events. Last weekend it hosted a Pakistan Independence Day celebration. This weekend's main event: a festival to mark India's Independence Day.

Copyright 2006 The Atlanta Journal Constitution. More information: www.ajc.com

Click here to make a Faith And The City weblog comment.

Fair Use Notice

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.

For more information, visit: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.