WASHINGTON — At The Community Space in Whitewater, Wis., people can get books, clothes and food for free. Spanish-speakers can also take English classes. Kristine Zaballos co-founded The Community Space five years ago to help those in need.
“The idea is if we share the resources that we have, we are able to strengthen the community and make it more resilient,” Zaballos said.
Zaballos said that two years ago, she began seeing an increase in the number of Spanish-speaking people seeking help. Many were migrants from Nicaragua and Venezuela.
At first, Zaballos said, some would come to The Community Space and sweep the tables, not knowing they could return for more help.
“There was a little bit of a growing pain, I'm not going to lie,” Zaballos said. “We did close for about two weeks for that and other reasons that have nothing to do with this population.”
Zaballos said The Community Space is 100% volunteer and donation driven, and it serves anyone who needs it. She said the volunteers are making every effort to help one another and added the migrant population has strengthened Whitewater.
“That population is probably making our community more resilient,” she said. “That means that our schools are – I don't know if they're at capacity – but they're robust. Whereas I would say, as recently as five years ago, we were talking about possibly closing one of our elementary schools.”
Whitewater has become a flashpoint in the battle on Capitol Hill over border security. Last month, Whitewater’s police chief wrote to the Biden administration, saying 800-1,000 migrants have settled in the community of about 15,000.
He said Whitewater has a “dire need” for more money to deal with the influx, including assistance to hire more police officers and an immigrant liaison.
Zaballos said she would like to see more Spanish-speaking resources and personnel as well.
“It hasn't been a crisis,” Zaballos said. “There have been some growing pains. And I think the growing pains are things that can, should properly be, addressed with additional resources, whether they're local, state or federal.”
Republicans are using the city as an example of what they call President Joe Biden’s failure to secure the border, including Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Janesville, who represents Whitewater.
“It's impacting every state in the country,” he said during a trip to the southern border in January.
Democrats cited Whitewater as an example of local communities needing more resources to help migrants.
Last week, Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisconsin, wrote to President Joe Biden to seek help for Whitewater and other Wisconsin cities and towns, saying the impact of “unprecedented migration” from Central America “is not contained to communities at our Southwestern border.”
She urged that the Federal Emergency Management Agency broaden eligibility under the Shelter and Services Program to help cities like Whitewater.
One immigration expert said it’s not surprising that a city like Whitewater, more than a thousand miles from the southern border, is dealing with a problem more associated with border communities in Texas and major cities such as New York to Los Angeles.
“It's almost an expected change in what's happening in the United States, because the U.S. is connected to Central America geographically, economically, culturally. And as I tell my students, it is natural that people move,” said Claudena Skran, a professor of government at Lawrence University.
Negotiators in the Senate have been trying to hammer out a sweeping border security package that would include more than a billion dollars to help local communities deal with the surge of migrants. Although negotiators are voicing optimism they can reach a bipartisan deal, hardline House Republicans are threatening to block its passage.