How Bad is the Illegal Immigrant Problem in the Johnson City Area? (Morristown: live, legally)

[Kirt]

We are considering a move to the Johnson City, TN area in the near future. Having lived previously in an area that had many illegal immigrants, we do not wish to end up in the same type of area. Any information would be very helpful.
Thanks!

[bound2TN]

Kirt:
I shared your concern when I looked into moving to the Bristol area. Some of the nearby towns have significant numbers of Hispanics. According to the info on City-data there is 1.9 percent of the population in Johnson city that is of Hispanic origin. I would suggest that you make a trip to the area before making any decision.

[marmac]

Check any city's website to check who the major employers are in that city you are considering.

Illegals don't move to an area based on scenery.

-------meat packing plant---------poulry processing plant-------textile mills-------

check for them if you are concerned about illegals.

[jabogitlu]

Not a problem. The only town with large amounts of Latinos is Morristown.

[rccrain]

The only place that I encounter large numbers of Mexicans is if I have to go to Walmart late at night (they must share rides?). I haven't carded them, but I suspect many are illegal. I don't think the area has a huge problem with illegals though. Further, the one's that are here don't seem to cause much trouble.

[marmac]

Originally Posted by jabogitlu

Not a problem. The only town with large amounts of Latinos is Morristown.

Yup, and the website of Morristown lists the largest industrial employer as a----poultry processing plant--- employing 880.

[mbmouse]

We do have quite a large Spanish speaking population, enough that several local churches have services in Spanish every week, mine being one of them. However I would say 90%-95% of those are here legally. I have also noticed within that group that they try very hard to learn and speak English, which I personally appreciate.

[jabogitlu]

That might be a liberal estimate, but our overall Latino population is small enough to avoid problems.

Northeast Tennessee makes a lot of effort to its Latino population, spurred mostly by ETSU's Language and Cultural Resource Center and like MB said, area churches. We all get along very nicely here.

[Ripshin]

It's not as large as W. NC., due to the farming opportunities over there. I've worked in Texas with a lot of Mexicans from Mexico City and Guadalajara, and I will say that most of the immigrants we see around here are border Mexicans, where the poverty is most intense. Until about ten years ago, you would rarely see Hispanic people out and about in JC, but that has changed. I certainly have no problem with that, as the majority of my friends are Hispanic. But compared to cities with a large population of immigrants, the Tri-Cities will certainly appear very non-Hispanic.

[Count David]

Originally Posted by Kirt

We are considering a move to the Johnson City, TN area in the near future. Having lived previously in an area that had many illegal immigrants, we do not wish to end up in the same type of area. Any information would be very helpful.
Thanks!

Above, the OP is asking if Johnson City has an illegal immigrant problem.

Originally Posted by bound2TN

Kirt:
I shared your concern when I looked into moving to the Bristol area. Some of the nearby towns have significant numbers of Hispanics. According to the info on City-data there is 1.9 percent of the population in Johnson city that is of Hispanic origin. I would suggest that you make a trip to the area before making any decision.

Good advice in the last sentence there, but what do Hispanics have to do with illegal immigrants? Last I checked, they weren't one and the same.

Originally Posted by jabogitlu

Not a problem. The only town with large amounts of Latinos is Morristown.

The conversation degenerates.

Originally Posted by rccrain

The only place that I encounter large numbers of Mexicans is if I have to go to Walmart late at night (they must share rides?). I haven't carded them, but I suspect many are illegal. I don't think the area has a huge problem with illegals though. Further, the one's that are here don't seem to cause much trouble.

Originally Posted by mbmouse

We do have quite a large Spanish speaking population, enough that several local churches have services in Spanish every week, mine being one of them. However I would say 90%-95% of those are here legally. I have also noticed within that group that they try very hard to learn and speak English, which I personally appreciate.

Originally Posted by Ripshin

It's not as large as W. NC., due to the farming opportunities over there. I've worked in Texas with a lot of Mexicans from Mexico City and Guadalajara, and I will say that most of the immigrants we see around here are border Mexicans, where the poverty is most intense. Until about ten years ago, you would rarely see Hispanic people out and about in JC, but that has changed. I certainly have no problem with that, as the majority of my friends are Hispanic. But compared to cities with a large population of immigrants, the Tri-Cities will certainly appear very non-Hispanic.

Well, some of you touched on the OP's question, but seemingly many of you answered the not-asked "Are there Hispanics, Latinos, or Mexicans in Johnson City?" question.