Hispanic communities in Los Angeles are pushing to self-segregate by designating various neighborhoods in Los Angeles as distinctive ethnic communities representing nations from Central and South America.
Trying to emulate what Armenians and Asians did in years past, Hispanics in Southern California, according to the Los Angeles Times, are teaming up “to promote a common goal: carving out islands for their communities in Los Angeles’ jumbled landscape — Peru Village, Little Venezuela, Paseo Colombia, Guatemalan Mayan Village, Oaxacan Corridor.”
But many of these groups have to convince potential residents to move into the area first. For instance, there are only 14 Venezuelans out of 5,000 in the Los Angeles area who live in the neighborhood that Venezuelan leaders want to designate as their own. The Times notes that “just to get the process started for designating a neighborhood,” applicants “must submit 500 signatures, along with a solid pitch for why the designation is merited.
Los Angeles is already “considering a designation for Peru Village,” and, if approved, “a piece of Hollywood — a high-traffic stretch of Vine Street from De Longpre Avenue south to Melrose Avenue — would officially become Peru Village.”
In Westlake, Guatemalans want to launch Guatemalan Mayan Village. The Times reports that “Colombian doctors, accountants, engineers and other professionals are prepared to invest about $4 million to buy land in the zone.”
“We don’t want people to think we’re coming here to invade or take over,” Colombian community leader Augusto Rojas asserted. He added, “We’re coming here to help and build a bigger identity.”
As Breitbart News has reported, the population of Los Angeles moved past the ten million mark largely because of immigrants, as Los Angeles is one of the top three destinations for immigrants — illegal and legal. And according to the U.S. Census Bureau, the United States has experienced what is being called the “second great wave” of immigration during the last four decades:
Since 1970, the foreign-born population has continuously increased in size and as a percentage of the total U.S. population. The foreign-born population quadrupled after 1970, reaching 40.0 million by 2010, and about 13 percent of the total population – or one in eight – were foreign-born.
Opponents of these ethnic communities believe those neighborhoods will not only end up becoming “sanctuary zones,” but they will also contribute to disuniting California because of their focus on separatism instead of assimilation.