Land of Opportunity

The Roanoke Times

In increasing numbers, Hispanic immigrants are putting down roots in the Roanoke Valley. They're pouring concrete, opening hair salons and filling classrooms. Some employers, meanwhile, are attributing their success to this new labor pool. In this occasional series, The Roanoke Times explores the local impact of the national debate about immigration.
Recent Roanoke Times stories on Hispanic immigration have included:
gallery-immigrantsDuring a busy Friday night dinner waiter Jesus Malaga serves an armload of food to their Anglo customers. Malaga came to America four years ago from Mexico and, like many Mexican immigrants in Roanoke, first landed a job at El Rodeo.

December 31, 2006

As Congress wrestles with what to do about the estimated 12 million illegal Hispanic immigrants, friends and relatives keep showing up on the Roanoke doorsteps of those already settled here. The Roanoke Times documents the people behind the debate in this series of occasional articles titled “Land of Opportunity.”

Though some subjects were reluctant to have their names used and photographs taken out of fear of being deported, many believed that telling their stories would put a human face on a growing population that is still largely invisible — but which openly co-exists — in our community. In most cases, the newspaper has not pinpointed where the immigrants live or where they are employed.

Beth Macy

Beth Macy has been a features writer at The Roanoke Times since 1989. Macy gravitates toward stories that feature real-life struggles of ordinary people, with profile articles that have garnered national feature-writing awards and Virginia Press Association honors. She has published freelance articles in salon.com, The Christian Science Monitor and The Chronicle of Higher Education, and taught literary journalism at Hollins University.

Josh Meltzer

Josh Meltzer has been a photographer at The Roanoke Times since 1999. Earlier this year, Meltzer was named Photographer of the Year (Under 115,000 Circulation) by the National Press Photographers Association. Meltzer previously was a staff photographer at the Duluth (Minn.) News-Tribune for four years. In addition to his still photography, Meltzer has photographed, recorded, edited and produced more than two dozen video, audio and multimedia online presentations that have received awards from the Virgininia News Photographers Association and the Society for News Design.

In 2005, Macy and Meltzer teamed up to produce "An Unlikely Refuge," a multimedia series documenting the resettlement of Somali Bantu refugees in Roanoke. Their work won several national awards, including the 2006 Digital Edge Award for multimedia storytelling and the Associated Press Managing Editors award for online convergence.

Evelio Contreras

Evelio Contreras has been a reporter at The Roanoke Times since June 2005. He began as an editorial assistant in Metro and is now the community sports writer for the New River Valley Current, Neighbors and Sports. Contreras hopes to write narrative stories with a photographer's eye for detail. Before moving to Roanoke, Contreras was a desk assistant at The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer on PBS and worked as a sports editor of The News Gram in Eagle Pass, Texas. He graduated in June 2004 with journalism and philosophy degrees at Northwestern University.

Reporters: Beth Macy, Evelio Contreras

Photographer/multimedia: Josh Meltzer

Online designer: Amanda Hicks

Online producer: Jordan Fifer

Editor: Carole Tarrant

Multimedia editor: Seth Gitner

Print designer: Terri Macklin

Photo editor: Michael Stowe

Graphics: Grant Jedlinsky, Rob Lunsford

Copy editor: Alison Weaver

July 24, 2006

Postscript

Rocio Ortiz decorates her Roanoke County home with congratulations banners and balloons in preparation for a graduation party for her son, Roberto, who graduated from Hidden Valley High School. Gallery Open Rocio Ortiz decorates her Roanoke County home with congratulations banners and balloons in preparation for a graduation party for her son, Roberto, who graduated from Hidden Valley High School.

June 9 was more than graduation day. It was all the graduations Rocio herself had forgone, the quinceanera, the elaborate wedding, the fancy clothes.

Between her two job shifts, she managed to buy new suits for the sons and husband, decorate the ranch house with balloons and streamers, and cook enough Mexican food to feed 30.

Rocio Ortiz (center) admires her son Roberto's (left) high school graduation diploma after the commencement ceremony for Hidden Valley High School. One of the reasons Rocio brought her family to America was for her children to get a good education, and it was a dream for her to see her son graduate. Rocio's husband, Carlos (right), and younger son, Daniel (second from right), also attend. Gallery Open Rocio Ortiz (center) admires her son Roberto's (left) high school graduation diploma after the commencement ceremony for Hidden Valley High School. One of the reasons Rocio brought her family to America was for her children to get a good education, and it was a dream for her to see her son graduate. Rocio's husband, Carlos (right), and younger son, Daniel (second from right), also attend.

In fact, she was so busy playing drill sergeant beforehand — The snapshot collage goes here, the food table there — that they were late for the ceremony.

During commencement, Roberto walked to the stage with a Mexican flag tacked to his gown. It was the proudest moment of Rocio’s life, she said later, proof that she had “made him to be a nice person and to be a man.”

Outside afterwards, Roberto thanked his parents and hugged them.

“This is mine,” Rocio said of his diploma, in all seriousness, and yanked it from his hands.

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