IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD : Jamul: A Community Trying to Resolve Its Conflicts with Migrants

Unlike the neighboring town of Alpine, where ethnic tension led to the alleged beatings of three Latino migrant workers by several Anglo men, Jamul (pronounced Ha-mool), a tiny exurban community with a large number of retirees, is approaching its small migrant population with calls for discussion and cooperation. Many in this back-country town southeast of San Diego felt that migrant workers were a nuisance, even a threat, congregating near busy roads and businesses and littering private property.

As an unincorporated town with no elected officials to turn to, several citizens organized the Town Center Group, an informal committee open to anyone. Two Town Center meetings in September and October with migrants, sheriffs deputies and immigration officials have fostered peaceful if wary relations between migrants and residents.

A compromise, albeit fragile, has been reached. Migrants have agreed to wait for work several hundred feet down the road from businesses and, on their own accord, purchased a couple of trash cans to collect their litter. Some business owners are talking about installing portable toilet facilities where migrants gather.

DEMOGRAPHICS:

Jamul population: 2,160

Jamul percentages:--Anglo: 82%, Latino: 14%, Black: 1%, Asian: 2%, Other: 1%

San Diego County--Anglo: 65%, Latino: 20%, Black: 6%, Asian: 8%, Other: 1%

Jamul median age: 36.

San Diego County median age: 31

Jamul per capita income: $21,963.

San Diego County: $16,220

Source: U.S. Census data programming by Times analyst Maureen Lyons

“We are trying to reslove things in a right manner so it doesn’t get out of hand, so what happened in Alpine doesn’t happen here.”--From a statement by Scott Stewart, owner and editor of the Jamul Shopper, and organizer of the Jamul Town Center Group.

The Jamul Shopper *

A Community Consumer Guide

September 1992

Much concern has developed over the illegal population congregating on or near all of our local business properties in what we are now calling our Jamul Town Center. We all know that Jamul has had its growing pains, we are organizing a strong body of people consisting of business owners, managers, residents, school district representatives to come together and solve the problem developing.

Some of the current problems are men sleeping and living in the surrounding brush areas, defecating and urinating in public view, littering trash all over the area and abusing alcohol and drugs. Our women and children are no longer safe in the area. They are subjected to demeaning eye contact and lewd behavior by these transients. Several of these offenders have recently been arrested by the Sheriff’s Dept. for crimes.

November 1992

The Town Center Group has been busy but no action has been taken yet. We interviewed the migrant workers waiting for work and found them to be young men, mostly married, who were waiting to be hired. They are nice, honest people who just want a chance to earn a living, even in adverse conditions. The ones we saw have legal papers. The second meeting at Filippi’s Restaurant that followed on Saturday was small but it produced a lot of good.

(*From the Jamul Shopper, a monthly community newspaper, September and November issues)

Community Activist

SCOTT STEWART

Owner and Editor of the Jamul Shopper, organizer of Jamul Town Center Group

We’d like to see what we can do to work together. We’re trying to resolve things in a right manner so it doesn’t get out of hand, so what happened in Alpine doesn’t happen here. Young married men (the migrants) are willing to work for $5 an hour so we’re trying to do for them what we can, but we have a small criminal element we’re going to have to deal with.

You can’t expect government to handle all of your problems. Local people have to help out, too.

Migrant Worker Organizer

ROBERTO MARTINEZ

American Friends Service Committee

It’s a small community dealing with a relatively complex issue. You have a large border patrol presence, you have a large sheriff’s presence, so from time to time you’re going to run into tense situations.

Rather than take the negative approach to it, take the more compassionate, more humanitarian approach towards the presence of these day laborers and migrants. Don’t condemn the whole group because of the one or two bad apples.

The way Jamul has begun . . . if it succeeds, it could serve as a model for other parts of the county because it’s a partnership between workers and the community and both benefit.

Retiree

BOB TARON

Retired airline captain, Jamul resident for 20 years

Most of us that got the idea to try to do something about it--first we were up in arms and we were going to try to make them leave. Well, that’s not practical. You really can’t make them leave. And the sheriff keeps telling you, be careful, they have rights. You violate their rights, and you’re wrong.

It is so, so difficult because you call out the sheriff and the sheriff says, I can’t do a thing. Then you call out the INS, and the INS says, I checked them for papers, and they got the papers, so I can’t do a thing.

Business owner

Ida Maemi

Liquor store manager

Scott Stewart just popped in one day and said let’s get together and talk about this. We figured since we’re going to get together we’re not going to solve anything if we don’t have the migrant workers with us. That way they’ll know what’s going on. They won’t be left to hear rumors. So we just invited them, too, and whatever there was, they’d know about it, instead of talking behind their backs and not accomplishing anything.

And since, thank God, there has been no anger in Jamul, everybody was more than willing to come out and speak their opinions.