Trip Advisor, and the politics of immigration in small towns
There’s a universal truth among Ohioans of all political persuasions — we love Mexican restaurants. Let’s unpack this. Let’s talk about the urban-rural divide. On immigration, are we really as divided as we are told?
La Campesina is the number one restaurant in Willard, population 6,000, on Trip Advisor. “My family and I love this place!!! The food was to die for!!!! The service was great. We went twice in one weekend!!!! Highly recommended!!!!” wrote one enthusiastic reviewer.
Pancho’s Tacos in Mount Vernon, population 17,000, is similarly beloved, but temporarily closed. They had an immigration raid last week, but the community is rallying behind the restaurant. ABC 6 interviewed community members who attended a demonstration in support of staff.
“They aren’t going after the gang members, but they'll go after somebody who's cooking tacos in Mount Vernon?” said Carol Contreras of Mount Vernon…. “President Trump loves chaos and the more chaos he creates, the more fear he creates. A populace that's fearful can't think straight, and so they can't reason rationally about what's happening, and I worry about America.”
Despite stereotypes, Ohioans in small and medium-sized towns are not a monolith. Many love the fact that people from all over the world are choosing to make Ohio their home, bringing their families and new foods, traditions, music, and culture to places that were once sleepy, monolithic, and at risk of losing their industries and economies.
When Donald Trump and Ohio’s own J.D. Vance made baseless remarks about Haitian-Ohioans in Springfield, they attracted neo-Nazis and white supremacists who took it as an invitation to violence. People from Springfield and all over came to show the Haitian community, organizations, and businesses, like Rose Goute Creole Restaurant, solidarity and support. Some even rode in on motorcycles.
“I’m just trying to make it easier for them to go through the firestorm that they’re in,” says Sammy, who drove her Yamaha motorbike 176 miles (283km) from Cleveland last Saturday and pulled into the parking lot of the Haitian Community Help and Support Center without knowing a single person in town. Seeing the threats and hate for Springfield’s Haitians online and having served in the army, she wanted to help protect people she saw as innocent victims. “I believe that America does best when it is one community standing up for, protecting and in solidarity with another.”
In Columbus, residents rallied around a Cazuelas Mexican Cantina employee after a customer wrote “I hope Trump deports you!” on her meal receipt, instead of leaving a tip. After the incident came to light the customer, a real estate agent, was dropped from affiliation with CENTURY 21 Real Estate. “Her company deported HER! That was some quick karma!” wrote one commenter on a local news story. Another wrote, “Another example of certain people loving another culture but not the people in it smh.”
In Cleveland Heights, the January immigration raid at Cilantro restaurant sparked a movement that continues to grow, nine months later. Cleveland Heights For Immigrant Rights, a group of volunteers, has trained businesses to protect their spaces and their employees’ rights in the face of aggressive and unaccountable immigration agents. More than eighty local businesses have signed their pledge. Now, the group is advancing a proposal to expand legal representation for residents facing deportation at the Cleveland Heights City Council.
There are people who take from other people and other cultures, who think it’s OK to use people and discard them, and there are people who learn from and respect each other, looking for the things we have in common. There are people who believe we want to live in separate communities, divided by differences. There are others who believe we are all part of one community, where the things we do affect each other and we can all move forward if we all have an opportunity to succeed.
This is true in large cities and small towns, and it’s a myth that one group of people is more open or more ignorant than the other. There are people of both types in both types of places.
We saw this when we were gathering signatures on a petition in Willard to try to stop the deportation of Jesus Lara, a local father. We witnessed the ugly side of Willard when a Trump supporter yelled at our organizer and Jesus' young daughter at a gas station. And we saw the beauty of Willard when the attendant said he would sign our petition, and got everyone in his family to do so, because he didn’t want another kid to grow up without a father, like he did. And when a mom on food stamps said she didn’t have a lot to offer, but bought water bottles for Jesus and his children because they looked like they needed them.
Having ethnic restaurants in small town Ohio might not seem like a big deal, but it is a sign, and a place of connection. A sign that immigrants do not just live in cities. In Ohio, many small and mid-sized towns have large populations of immigrants who are keeping industries alive, but few immigration lawyers or organizations to help newcomers settle into a new place. A place of connection, because food is something we all need, and restaurants are community gathering spaces. We have been slow to realize these points, but it’s not too late to make an investment.
Heather Griffin is another supporter of Pancho's, the restaurant in Mount Vernon. She decried the “violent manner” of the ICE raid, directed at “these men who are coming to work in the community, taking them away, and not really knowing what’s next.” It’s not hard to put yourself in another person’s shoes when you know them, or they are from your community. The fact that an ICE raid took place at a restaurant you know makes an abstract issue personal.
As Griffin and Contreras pointed out, the Trump administration’s implementation of immigration laws is cruel and chaotic and, we would add, confusing. Read the comments section of any news article and you’ll see a lot of misinformation. U.S. Americans think the laws are far more functional than they actually are. The Trump administration thrives off of people’s lack of accurate information, because it allows them to tell lies and make voters angry at immigrants, instead of being angry at politicians who have not done their jobs to create a functioning system.
At the Ohio Immigrant Alliance, we believe greater investment in immigrant-serving institutions and bridge-building in rural and suburban Ohio will change the politics of immigration for the state and country. The seeds have already been planted by the people and institutions who are there — immigrants and U.S. born people who already have these connections, as well as faith-based institutions; livestock, farming, music, and community-building organizations; and other spaces that bring people born in other countries and people born in Ohio together.
The truth is, we are already part of one community. Take a scroll through Trip Advisor, and a stroll through Willard, Mount Vernon, New Philadelphia, or Springfield to see for yourself.
