are seen as the main culprit of employer abuse against Hispanic workers. Eli Ramos, a former member of the Governor’s Advisory Council on Hispanic Affairs and current member of the League of United Latin American Citizens noticed that after E-Verify laws took effect “a lot of Latinos lost their jobs, especially in the poultry industry, and were forced to move to surrounding states like Maryland to find jobs.” According to Carlos De Los Ramos, “much of this job loss occurred because employers assumed that Latino workers were undocumented, an assumption which continues today when Latinos apply for jobs.” It appears likely that this trend will persist and potentially intensify as a result because of Senate Bill (SB 15)—Delaware’s most recent immigration legislation which became effective July 1, 2012. Among several stipulations, SB 15 expands Delaware’s current E-Verify law by requiring state agencies to verify employment authorization status for all new hires.10 Eli Ramos and other advocates describe E-Verify as a “gateway law” in regards to the treatment of immigrants in the state. The record of E-Verify in places where it is already in use makes clear that this law will adversely impact Hispanic workers, who already face barriers to employment in growth industries in Delaware.
Nascent Hispanic Latino Entrepreneurs Lack Support
In the face of the policy issues outlined above, many Hispanics in Delaware have turned to entrepreneurship as a source of income, but many are described as lacking the support necessary to survive and expand. When the construction industry shed jobs during the recession due to increasing costs, Carlos De Los Ramos with Latin American Community Center explained that “unemployed Latino construction workers formed smaller construction companies which have become subcontractors for larger construction companies.” Yet De Los Ramos has observed that among Hispanic small
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businesses “approximately every six out of ten Latino businesses close within six months.” He attributes this problem to the lack of business support services to learn fundamental skills like financial literacy and marketing. While there are some local entrepreneurs who have been able to weather the Great Recession—like Gerson Guox, whose story follows—many appear to require additional assistance in fortifying their businesses. The Building Delaware’s Future Fund is a part of Governor Markell’s jobs plan, which could be used to help invest in new businesses, particularly Hispanic small businesses. The state also runs the Delaware Access Program, which provides start-up support for small, minority, and women-owned traditional businesses. Better outreach to Hispanic small businesses to take advantage of these resources and technical assistance would increase their long-term growth potential and strengthen employers and their employees.