I would like to talk about Farmingville, a nationwide controversy that once surrounded a suburban community, and that had an expanding population of illegal immigrants. It happened in the late 1990's, 1,500 Mexican workers moved to the middle-class town of Farmingville the population was 15,000. I will discuss rising tensions, lawlessness, protest marches, and racism. I will also discuss the vicious hate crimes that tore the community apart. There were various groups presented in the documentary Mexican day labors, Chinese business owners, Farmingville residents, county legislators, police dept, contractors, various churches, and activist leaders.
Business owners became interested in hiring day labors; they felt that the day labors would work harder than an average person. The Farmingville residents felt very unsafe and that the Mexicans were taking from their community. Elected officials felt that there were no laws being broken. The county legislators simply wanted to outline a specific procedure for reaching the goal, develop a plan to satisfy the day labors and residents.
English: United States Geological Survey map excer...
Granny Road - Farmingville, New York
English: Bald Hill Vietnam Memorial in Farmingvill...Each group was very angry, scared, everyone had their own perceptions, needs, interest, and expectations as to what should happen within the community.
However all groups felt that contractors and suppliers are willing to profit from the situation, the groups also felt that none of that had to do with what is right for the community, good for the children, and the equality of life.
So the question was why Farmingville? The immigrants moving into the community had a severe impact on the residents. June 1998 the residents had their first civics meeting at the firehouse. Over three hundred people showed up, the people who attended the meeting were everyday citizens of Farmingville. And everyone had the same question why are hundreds of men on our streets? Residents of the community had a...