When Maria Eugenia Carrasco came to Tucson from Nogales, Sonora, in 1981, she was content to stay home to raise her three children while her husband supported the family financially.
And she did it for 20 years.
But after the 2001 attack on the World Trade Center and other sites, something changed in Carrasco's life.
America had changed.
Anti-immigrant sentiment became louder and angrier.
"I was frustrated," said Carrasco, 49.
Terrorists and immigrants were incorrectly linked, she said. Immigrants were increasingly blamed for social ills and at worse were viewed as direct physical threats to the well-being of her adopted country.
Although she is a naturalized citizen, she felt the increasing ostracism.
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"If I didn't do anything I was going to get sick," she said.
So she did something. She earned a GED, equivalent to a high school diploma, and became an activist in the Mexican immigrant community.
Carrasco is a promotora who helps immigrants struggling to learn a new language, find employment and to care for their families. She works for Luz Social Services, a nonprofit social-service agency that provides intervention services to Latino and Yaqui communities.
Like Carrasco, Guillermina Torres didn't intend to be an activist in the immigrant community when she arrived in this country in 1989. She, her husband, and two children moved from Mexico to upstate New York.
A trained social worker in Mexico, Torres gravitated toward helping immigrants as a church volunteer in the Rochester area. For 12 years, she volunteered in the growing immigrant neighborhoods providing information about housing, English-language classes, employment.
Two years ago the Torres family moved to Tucson so their son could attend the University of Arizona on a scholarship. Torres also works for Luz Social Services.
The intensity of anti-immigrant sentiment startled Torres. Like Carrasco, she said she could feel the antipathy directed at Latino immigrants by Arizona, which has been a leading state in passing laws aimed at curtailing illegal immigration.
Supporters of the legislation and the sweeps in immigrant neighborhoods by Maricopa Sheriff Joe Arpaio's deputies and volunteers argue that the state resorted to these initiatives because the federal government has failed to stem illegal immigration.
But Carrasco and Torres, also a naturalized citizen, contend that anti-immigrant legislation has created a climate of hostility toward the many thousands of people like them. They fear legislation like SB 1070 will affect them, even though supporters claim otherwise. They believe it has the potential of casting a wider net than intended.
Carrasco and Torres, who are volunteers with Coalición de Derechos Humanos, live and work in the immigrant neighborhoods. They work in the schools, at immigrant centers and people's homes.
They hear a common refrain.
"People are afraid," said Carrasco.
There may be fear in the immigrant community but legislation, specifically, SB 1070 is galvanizing immigrants and their supporters into action, said Torres, 45.
"I believe people are being pushed into participating with community organizations," she added.
At a recent rally, she said, she saw many new faces.
The women said the Mexican immigrant community feels it is being pushed around and that it will push back.
"We have to have our voices heard," Torres said.
Ernesto Portillo Jr. is the editor of La Estrella de Tucsón. He can reached at 573-4187 or netopjr@azstarnet.com
