“What we want to do is attract immigrants who call home and say: ‘Maybe you should think about coming to Baltimore. I’m having a great time here,’ ” said Ian Brennan, a mayoral spokesman.
Widespread support
Support for the policy appears to be broad.
“I agree with her policy in terms of trying to increase the city’s numbers,” said Del. Curtis S. Anderson (D), chairman of the city’s House delegation in Annapolis. “Her idea now to reach out to the non-documented population is one way. But I don’t think it’s the most important thing she’s doing.”
More important, he said, is reducing the property tax rate and creating jobs.
Ryan O’Doherty, another mayoral spokesman, said the city has several pillars of economic strength offering jobs at all skill levels: Johns Hopkins University, the port and tourism.
As if to underscore the urgency of stemming the city’s population dive, new census estimates show that Baltimore lost an additional 1,500 residents in the 15 months after the census, bringing it below 620,000. The figures, which are being contested by the city, show a continued exodus of black residents, while the numbers of Hispanics, Asians and non-Hispanic whites were on the upswing.
Only Cleveland and Detroit lost more residents than Baltimore. During the same period, the District gained 16,000 residents and is closing in on its northern neighbor in the rankings of big cities. Baltimore is now the nation’s 24th largest city. In 1980, it ranked 10th.
Hispanics in particular have helped slow the decline in the city’s population, which peaked at 950,000 in 1950. Their numbers more than doubled over the past decade, from 11,000 in 2000 to 26,000 in 2010. They now make up 4 percent of Baltimore residents, a fraction of their share of the state and national population.
Hispanics born in Mexico, Central America and South America make up more than a third of all foreign-born residents of Baltimore, according to census figures. The city also draws many immigrants from Africa, China and the Middle East.
Reviving Highlandtown
One place where the influx of immigrants is most evident is Highlandtown, a neighborhood of narrow rowhouses, corner bars and grocery stores on Baltimore’s east side. It was settled by European immigrants, mostly Greeks, Italians and Poles who never moved to the suburbs and left their homes to their children. Merchants say that by the early 1990s, the neighborhood was dying.
But today, it is a bustling crossroads. Convenience stores advertise Corona and Modelo beers. Restaurants featuring Mexican and Honduran fare stand beside diners serving up Coney dogs. A storefront church, Jesus de Vida, occupies a building next to the Madina Grocery and Halal Meats, which is run by a Chinese couple. A refugee resettlement center guides newcomers from Nepal and French-speaking Africa on orientation tours, including a stop at the Southeast Anchor Library.
“One of the first things they do is get a library card,” said branch manager Cindy Kleback. “Then they can use the computers for free to communicate with people back home. I walk past the computers and see people watching TV from Eritrea.”
Every Thursday, the library hosts a children’s storytelling hour in Spanish. Non-Hispanic parents also bring their children to expose them to another language and culture, fostering friendships that have led to baby showers in the library and a potluck Thanksgiving dinner.
The spreading Latin influence has been a welcome change to Fidelita Portillo, who found few familiar products at the corner grocery when she moved to Baltimore eight years ago to join her sister. Today, several grocers carry the chiles, sweet breads and Goya products that remind her of her native El Salvador.
This year, Portillo enrolled her 4-year-old in preschool and readily found information in Spanish. The school has an interpreter available as well.
When the mayor held a small town hall meeting at the library this spring to explain her new, immigrant-friendly policy, Portillo attended. She acknowledges not having the proper documents to be in the country.
“I feel better knowing the mayor has assured us that the police are not going to be going after the immigrants,” she said, adding that she wants her children to grow up without worrying that their parents will be deported. “People feel free. We don’t have to live in hiding and in fear.”
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