On a sunny day in early spring, Nassau Hall stands perched atop Witherspoon Street like a shining citadel. Boutiques and bakeries do a brisk trade with well-to-do, mainly white Princeton residents. Farther down the street, past the cemetery where granite headstones loll, there are signs of a more diverse existence: the graceful spire of the Presbyterian Church, Mexican grocery stores, wooden houses with broken screens and young Hispanic men hanging out on the stoop.
Witherspoon Street serves as Princeton's barometer of changing social fortunes, revealing the pressures of immigration and renewal in this bustling university town.
"People here inhabit a different world, a different planet than the rest of the population. Immigrants live an underground life and are very alienated from the rest of the community," said Maria Juega, whose Latin American Legal Defense and Education Fund (LALDEF) helps new arrivals learn to deal with a host of problems — from filing asylum claims to negotiating stop signs.
The Hispanic population in Princeton has surged in the last two decades, as refugees fled civil war in Guatemala in the 1990s and economic migrants left Mexico in search of a better life in the United States. They've gravitated to the Witherspoon neighborhood because it is the least expensive real estate, pushing out the working-class African Americans who have gathered in this area for centuries.
"Immigrants benefit us in many ways," Princeton Borough councilman Roger Martindell said. "The community as a whole depends on them."
Residents can now dine on fajitas, beans and rice accompanied by salsa tunes in the Witherspoon area's Mexican and Guatemalan restaurants. Immigrant workers wash dishes at the restaurants farther up Witherspoon Street and at the University's eating clubs. They mind the children of Princeton commuters, pump gas, mow lawns and do other low-paying jobs.
But Hispanic immigration into a traditionally working-class black neighborhood has brought its own problems. "There is a racial divide, and there has been a strain between the immigrant community and African Americans," Martindell said. "There are also issues of law enforcement, housing and health."
Poverty and overcrowding, stricter enforcement of immigration laws and a culture clash between rural migrants and urbanized neighbors are all creating pressures in the community, pressure with which Witherspoon residents sometimes struggle to cope.
Running scared
Luz, 29, sits behind the cash register at one of the Witherspoon area's many Hispanic businesses. She asked that her real name be protected for fear of reprisals because she is currently in the United States illegally and is trying to acquire papers.
"I walk here across the border from Mexico," she said in accented English. "It was really hard. You walk for three, four days and nights, you just got water with you. You have to remember why you are doing this."
Luz, who is divorced and has two children, came to America in search of work. She paid $3,000 to a trafficker who arranges for groups of immigrants to cross the border illegally. She says she borrowed the money from friends in order to pay for the trip.
Since arriving in the United States five years ago, Luz has learned English while working in a nursing home and as domestic help. "This country has treated me in a good way and has a lot of opportunities," she said.
But, she added, "Most of the people are afraid. If you are illegal, you are scared the police will take you."
Luz's fear is very real. During January and February, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) apprehended 363 illegal immigrants in New Jersey. Many had overstayed when their asylum applications were rejected. Most are now being held in detention centers while ICE prepares to deport them to their home countries.
"People who choose to disobey a judge's order are fugitives and ICE is mandated by Congress to enforce final orders of removal," Bartolome Rodriguez, acting director of ICE's office of detention and removal in Newark, wrote in an email.
But immigration experts say the U.S. economy needs migrant workers, who take low-wage jobs in construction, food preparation and other services that many Americans will not accept.
"We have a total reliance on the immigrant population, yet no visas for them to come to the country legally. There are 13 million undocumented workers in the U.S. Deporting them all is insane," local immigration lawyer Ryan Lilienthal said.
Juega recounted the story of a Guatemalan family who had lived in Princeton for 10 years before their asylum application was rejected. The father was detained in a tent prison in Texas desert before being forcibly removed in December 2006. He left behind his wife and two children, who had gained visas through an employer.
"This is totally inhumane and against every principle this country stands for," she said.
But Princeton Borough police chief Anthony Federico explained that his department resists uprooting illegal immigrants. "We don't want to enforce the immigration laws," he said, "[but] if someone is served with an ICE warrant, we're obliged to enforce it."
Martindell said that the Borough follows a "don't ask, don't tell" policy on residence status unless there is a serious crime involved for good reason.
Enforced removals can lead to immigrants feeling besieged, meaning they are unwilling to go to the police if they are victims of crime. Last September, 10 robberies took place on the same night in the Witherspoon area, all targeting Hispanics, yet only three of the victims came forward. The perpetrators were young African-American men.
"The fact is people realize [the victims] won't go to the police as they are illegal immigrants," Federico said. "We want to know if people have been victims and help them if we can."
Culture clash
The Craigs are longtime residents of Witherspoon Street, community activists and eyewitnesses to the area's transformation.
Minnie, who grew up on Witherspoon, plies her visitors with coffee and croissants and likes to bake apple cobbler for her grandchildren. Minnie's husband, Eric, worked as a carpenter at the University for 31 years.
Princeton has been home to an African-American community since the earliest days of the railroad. When the University cleared Palmer Square for commercial development in the 1920s, the black population moved to the Witherspoon Street area.
Skyrocketing house prices and high taxes are creating pressures on working-class African Americans to move out, netting profits by selling to landlords or developers. "If you sold your house, where else would you go?" Minnie said. "But some of the younger people, they can't afford to stay."
The Craigs bought their house in 1963 for $13,000. It is now worth about $475,000.
The result is "a contradiction," sociology professor Patricia Fernandez-Kelly said. Some of the most expensive real estate in town and in the entire state of New Jersey is "occupied by populations who are not highly valued –– working-class African Americans," she explained. At the same time, wealthy landlords are buying up houses and renting them out to immigrants, creating "a space which is both shared and divided" and a peculiar set of tensions.
Hispanic immigrants who move to the Witherspoon area have problems other than getting social security numbers, driving licenses and jobs: The main difficulty, quite literally, can be simply fitting in.
Unscrupulous landlords rent homes to a single individual, who then sublets to as many as 20 or 30 people.
Many of the houses are old and dilapidated, and Hispanic immigrants from rural areas may have not absorbed the civic pride of their neighbors. According to Lilienthal, much of the friction is due to aesthetics, including garbage on front lawns, dirty diapers discarded in alleyways, people urinating in public and abandoned vehicles. This leads to frustration in the African-American community.
Minnie — who sits on the board of several community organizations, including the Witherspoon-Jackson Neighborhood Association and the Princeton Alcohol and Drug Alliance –– said she has enjoyed good relations with the area's new arrivals.
"They are doing the best they can," she said. "We have a lot of immigrant kids and younger blacks who get along super."
But, she added, overcrowding and lack of affordable housing "leads to a dangerous situation."
Building bridges
Federico said that some of these problems are being tackled through community policing. The Borough's Safe Neighborhoods Unit was disbanded in 2005 due to financial cuts, but Federico hopes to reestablish it this year. Community police officers are based in a neighborhood, where they can get to know local residents and deal with concerns about graffiti or drug abuse directly.
Domestic violence has been a particular problem in the Hispanic community, according to Federico. "In some countries, domestic violence is accepted as a way of life — it isn't here," he said.
Juega said the solution is education. "We need to realize that these are people who come from different cultures, in most cases rural environments where the norms are different," she said. "We are trying to educate the immigrant community as to their rights and responsibilities."
Martindell believes that the Witherspoon neighborhood has to take a more active role in calming tensions. "I don't have much faith in the ability of government to build bridges between different communities," he said. "People do that."
Fernandez-Kelly said she is worried about local teenagers, especially after Trenton gangs began recruiting black Princeton teenagers last year. She and members of the Witherspoon Presbyterian Church congregation have been raising money to purchase a house in the area, "as a place to anchor the neighborhood and as a place for reconciliation between communities," she said.
In the meantime, Luz and others like her on Witherspoon Street will continue in pursuit of a better life. Luz would like to train to be a nurse eventually. "I came here to work," she said, smiling, "and now everything is on God."
Read More
Joseph ’25 next Young Alumni Trustee in 21 percent turnout election
Vitus LarrieuGil Joseph ’25 won the Young Alumni Trustee election, which saw 21 percent turnout. Joseph, Stephen Padlo ’25 and Ben Wachspress ’25 competed in the final round of elections after advancing from a notably large primary in April.
Gil Joseph ’25 won the Young Alumni Trustee election, which saw 21 percent turnout. Joseph, Stephen Padlo ’25 and Ben Wachspress ’25 competed in the final round of elections after advancing from a notably large primary in April.
‘A brilliant young contemporary writer and a beautiful human being’: Remembering Lauren Blackburn ’26
Victoria Davies and Caitlyn TabladaBlackburn was found deceased by authorities on April 25, several days after he was reported missing. He was 23 years old at the time of his death and is remembered by friends and mentors as a brilliant writer, voracious learner, and loving friend. A family obituary said he passed away after a “courageous battle with bipolar disorder.”
Blackburn was found deceased by authorities on April 25, several days after he was reported missing. He was 23 years old at the time of his death and is remembered by friends and mentors as a brilliant writer, voracious learner, and loving friend. A family obituary said he passed away after a “courageous battle with bipolar disorder.”
GSG approves audit, delays budget approval after ‘insufferable’ meeting
Nikki HanThe final Graduate Student Government (GSG) meeting for the semester lasted more than an hour and a half when discussions over the proposed budget for the next year and a proposed Student Life Fee of $100 turned controversial.
The final Graduate Student Government (GSG) meeting for the semester lasted more than an hour and a half when discussions over the proposed budget for the next year and a proposed Student Life Fee of $100 turned controversial.