Mexican immigrants to the U.S. who don't speak Spanish (construction, school)

[Mouldy Old Schmo]

Did you know there is a growing number of Mexicans immigrating to the United States who speak "Indian" languages instead of Spanish? Have you ever encountered such an immigrant?

'No habla Espanol' - The Mexicans who don't speak Spanish - International - Catholic Online

A growing number of Mexicans in the US don’t speak Spanish

[Deezus]

I knew people who worked construction who worked with Mexicans from Oaxaca who spoke Zapotec or Mixtec. They usually knew some Spanish though. I've traveled through the region and found it more prevalent in Guatemala, where people would always speak in Mayan languages and then talk to me in Spanish.

[mas23]

I went to school with a couple girls who spoke Spanish and the native indian language.. ..

[BitofEndearment]

There was a large illegal immigrant workers bust in Fall River, Massachusetts a few years ago. Some factory was basically enslaving illegal immigrants from Mexico. What ICE or whoever didn't realize until they bust happened and none of the people could understand the Spanish was that these were impoverished peoples who only spoke Nahua, I think.

[MichiVegas]

Tons of Mexicans in NYC are rural Indios from Southern Mexico, esp. Puebla, Oaxaca, and Chiapas. Many don't know Spanish.

Same is true for the city's rapidly growing Guatemalan population. Again, many are Indios from rural Guatemala.

In both cases, many of the folks we're talking about are basically former Mayans. For whatever reason, I have noticed this type of community is more prevalent in NYC than in the more traditional Mexican immigration centers in the U.S. (say, LA).

I personally know of this because one of my best friends owns a restaurant in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, and most of his employees are Latins from Mexico and Guatemala, and many don't speak Spanish.

It's also quite obvious in some of the Mexican/Guatemalan communities that have sprung up in the last 5-10 years (say Bath Ave. in deep Southern Brooklyn, if you are familiar with the borough). Walk around these areas and you will notice the Hispanics aren't speaking Spanish always.

[Count David]

I knew a guy from Huehuetenango, Guatemala (or around there), who spoke Spanish and Quiché. He knew very little English, so we always conversed in Spanish.

His last name was Cox, which I thought was remarkable.

He said he and his Guatemalteco compadres would speak in Quiché while playing soccer, to give themselves an advantage over Spanish speaking Mexicans. I even took him to a WWE event in Los Angeles once.

Very interesting and cool guy.