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Where are you really from? Arzeta asked. This time, Chávez told
the truth. Guatemala.
The couple now have a 1-month-old son, Leo. Their union
represents an emerging demographic trend taking shape throughout
the Southwest: Growing numbers of Guatemalan and Mexican
immigrants are marrying and having U.S.-born children, creating
mixed Latino families with ties to three countries at once.
These new inter-Latin American families are also less likely to
return to their home countries, their children tend to integrate
into U.S. society faster and more are converting from
Catholicism to evangelical Christianity, immigration experts and
community leaders say.
The mixture has become so common in Phoenix, for example, that
some community members have even coined a name “GuateMéxicoestadounidenses,”
or Guatemexiamericans, to describe the families.
The trend is being driven by an influx of immigrants from
Central America, mainly Guatemala, who are settling in
communities long dominated by Mexican immigrants, experts say.
Although no specific data exists about the number of mixed
Latino marriages, the trend is undeniable. As more Central
Americans arrive, the more they meet and marry Mexicans.
``There is a great mixing taking place,'' said Nestor Rodríguez,
a sociologist at the University of Houston who studies
immigration trends. Latinos, he said, are becoming like other
Americans with European ancestry, with ties not to a single
nationality but many.
``If you ask an Anglo, where is your family from, they'll say
something like, my mother is Irish, my father is German and my
grandfather was Norwegian. The same thing is happening to
Latinos. One parent may be Mexican, the other Guatemalan, or
Salvadoran or Honduran,'' Rodríguez added.
Newly arrived Guatemalan immigrants tend to settle in the same
neighborhoods as Mexican immigrants. They also share the same
language and similar cultures, so it's not surprising that more
Guatemalans and Mexicans are marrying, said James Loucky, an
anthropologist at Western Washington University, who studies
Guatemalan migration.
Guatemalans, however, often pass themselves off as Mexicans in
order to blend in, Loucky said.
``Guatemalans know that often times Mexicans look down on
them,'' Loucky said.
Mam
Chávez, 24, said he fibbed about being Mexican when he met
Arzeta because he thought it would make it easier to ask her
out. Chávez speaks Spanish, but his first language is Mam,
a language spoken by Mayan people from the highlands of western
Guatemala, where he is from.
Chávez came to the United States in 2000 and works in the
housing-construction industry building roof tresses.
Arzeta, 20, is from Acapulco. She has lived in the U.S. since
she was 5 and grew up in a Mexican neighborhood in south
Phoenix. After she became pregnant, Arzeta moved in with Chávez
in a Phoenix neighborhood known for its high concentration of
Guatemalan immigrants. Now, Arzeta is learning to say words like
“ear” in Mam and cook Guatemalan food.
In Arizona, a surge of Guatemalan immigrants have made them the
second-largest Latino immigrant group behind Mexicans, according
to the Census Bureau. In 2006, there were about 14,100
Guatemalan immigrants living in Arizona, the bureau estimated.
Guatemalan government officials, however, believe the number is
at least double that.
There are 30,000 to 35,000 Guatemalan immigrants in Arizona, and
about two-thirds live in the Phoenix area, said Oscar Padilla
Lam, who runs the Guatemalan consulate in Phoenix. In
contrast, there are more than 608,000 Mexican immigrants living
in Arizona, according to 2006 estimates by the bureau.
Many of the Guatemalans coming to the U.S. are young single men
looking for work. Many end up marrying Mexicans because there
aren't as many Guatemalans, Padilla Lam said.
Many Latino immigrants come to the U.S. for work with the
intention of returning someday to their home countries. But
mixed Latino immigrant families are less likely to return home
because it becomes difficult to pick one country over another,
said Cecilia Menjivar, a sociologist at Arizona State University
and an expert on Central American migration. She pointed out
that little research has been done about mixed Latino families.
But she said it's possible that children of mixed Latino
families may adopt American culture faster. Children from
families where both parents share the same nationality tend to
develop a ``hyphenated'' identity, for example, Mexican-American
or Guatemalan-American, she said. But children of mixed Latino
families have a harder time choosing, so they become more
oriented toward American culture, making them more likely to be
involved politically and civically down the road.
A
higher proportion of Guatemalans also have converted from
Catholicism to Evangelical Christianity than Mexicans. As more
Guatemalan and Mexican immigrants intermarry, the number of
Mexican evangelicals could go up, she said.
Joel Lugo coined the term GuateMéxicoestadounidenses
about five years ago when he started meeting more families like
his. Lugo, 44, a native of México, and his wife, Mayra, 38, a
native of Guatemala, have been married for 20 years. They met
when there were relatively few Guatemalans living in metro
Phoenix. The couple now have four children ranging in age from 6
to 20.
Lugo, who owns a landscaping business, said he is raising his
children to be American, but they maintain ties to both México
and Guatemala.
Both Joel and Mayra were raised Catholic. They now attend an
Evangelical Christian church with a mixture of Mexican and
Guatemalan families.
``I see this mixture of Guatemalans and Mexicans more and
more,'' Lugo said. ``It's a nice mixture.''
Information from: The Arizona Republic,
http://www.azcentral.com
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