Despite advances, integration of Hispanics remains a work in progress in Elkhart County

If she wanted the food she had been accustomed to in her native Mexico, she had to travel to Chicago, with its larger Latino population and array of grocery stores offering goods from the country. There were few Latinos in Elkhart County and just one Mexican restaurant that she remembers.

“I planned to be here two years and go home to Mexico,” said Zepeda, originally from Mexico City. Then something happened. “Things changed,” she said.

Zepeda, a dentist in Mexico and a social worker here active in the Latino community, started studying English. She established roots, raised a family, stayed put. At the same time, the broader Latino population in Elkhart County boomed. It took off in the mid-1990s, and many newcomers who had been drawn by factory jobs decided to settle in for the long haul.

Twenty years later, what’s the upshot of the shift, which leaders here have long documented, debated and parsed? Zepeda now can easily get tortillas at the many markets in Elkhart County that have opened to cater to the growing Latino population, third largest among Indiana’s 92 counties. Cueramaro Supermarket in south Elkhart, within one of the heaviest pockets of Latinos in the city, has seven distinct tortilla brands in stock.

But it goes deeper. Elkhart and Goshen are left with new identities, increasingly Hispanic identities, and remain cities in transition. The newcomers, who in many ways stick to themselves, remain largely outside the spheres of influence as they integrate into the broader community.

“I’m waiting for community participation,” said Kyle Hannon, president of the Greater Elkhart Chamber of Commerce, who noted efforts, sometimes unreciprocated, to encourage Latino participation in the chamber’s events.

Part of the hesitance in getting involved may stem from the limited English-speaking ability of some Latinos, he said. Maybe outreach efforts need to improve. Whatever the reason, it leaves him mildly exasperated. “The question is, where are the Latinos?” Hannon said.

Complicating things: Many Latinos coming here are undocumented immigrants, which tends to sideline some who are leery of popping up on the radar screen of U.S. immigration officials. Indeed, the inability to get Indiana driver’s licenses because of their undocumented status and fears of being ticketed by police for driving anyway weigh heavily on the minds of many Latinos here, keep some from mixing in the broader community except when necessary.