Our Chicago: Mexicans In Chicago

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Mexicans make up 21.5% of Chicago residents, according to new Census data. They also make up nearly 74% of the city's Latino residents.



A new report called "Fuerza Mexicana: the Past, Present and Power of Mexicans in Chicagoland" took a look at their lives and their impact on the city.

Mexicans began settling in Chicago in large numbers around 1916.

"It's very much tied to not only the politics of what was happening in Mexico but especially the economic activities that were happening here in Chicago," Director of the Great Cities Institute at the University of Illinois Chicago Teresa Córdova said.



Córdova produced the report. Research showed that Mexicans were actively recruited work in industries such as railroad, steel and meatpacking.



Luis Gutierrez is the founder and CEO of Latinos Progresando. He added that more than 100 years later, Mexicans are still overrepresented in low-paying jobs.

"We make over 70% of landscapers in the city," he said. "Construction is a huge industry for us. Over 50% of the construction done in the city of Chicago is by Mexican labor. And so, these are lower paying jobs where I think we're overrepresented right now and we are looking towards how do we build pathways of leadership so that we can start to get in more leadership positions throughout the city."

Córdova noted that when manufacturing left the city in large numbers it also left a lot of communities with disinvested neighborhoods.



"While the area was rebuilding, while Chicago was rebuilding, it built around the finance industry, finance, banking. Some of the higher-level service sector jobs. One of the things that was critical for those industries to be able to thrive was the low-wage service sector jobs that went with it. And those were jobs that Mexicans filled in the city. So, at a critical time that the economy was growing, Mexicans filled a very important niche."

The report makes a number of recommendations on issues such as housing, business ownership and education. But during this election year, Gutierrez has one more he would add.

"One of the recommendations that I have that is not in the report, is also that we start to really speak to the Mexican community about the importance of voting," he said.

He said that translating material is not enough.



"We really have to speak to the population that you want to work with and I think there needs to be messaging that's directed at the Mexican community about the importance of voting."



To read the full report, click here.