Baltimore, "The City That Reads" and the birthplace of the Star-Spangled Banner, is home to America's first Catholic cathedral, countless attractions and a developing Hispanic and Latino market.

Maryland Blue Crabs seasoned with Old Bay; the captivating Sports Legends Museum; the world-famous National Aquarium; the city's historic Federal Hill neighborhood; the collection of art spanning 55 centuries at the Walters Art Museum; the "retro revival" Oriole Park stadium at Camden Yards; the interactive and colorful sculptures at the American Visionary Art Museum; the numerous shopping options available at the Inner Harbor and the dense collection of eateries available at Fell's Point are just some of the many things that lure people to Baltimore.

Baltimore is the largest city in the state of Maryland, and the 26th-most populous city in the nation. According to the Census, Latinos represent 4.6 percent of Latino's population, increasing from 1. 7 percent since 2000. The growing Hispanic community benefit from the many business expansions and opportunities that Baltimore has to offer, and the Maryland Transit Administration, one of the largest multi-modal transit systems in the U.S., helps Latino workers get to where they need to be.

"The public transportation is great, and the police department here in the city don't ask for immigration papers for legal status. The mayor always says that the police department is here to protect all residents in the city," Erick Oribio, president of Baltimore Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the founder of the bilingual publication Latin Opinion Baltimore News, told Latin Post.

"If we compare it to other counties and regions in the area, even some in Virginia, Baltimore is like a paradise for people that do not have legal status yet. Also, we are a very wealthy state, and in the city of Baltimore, we have different job opportunities that make the city very attractive for Latinos."

The Social Security Administration, Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Greater Baltimore Medical Center, Towson University, T. Rowe Price, Franklin Square Hospital, St. Joseph Medical Center, the University of Maryland, McCormick and Company, Inc., Sheppard Pratt Health System and Carefirst are Baltimore County's largest employers. However, there are countless other firms providing opportunities to Latinos.

"Latinos are definitely in construction and landscaping, but in Baltimore, we also have the Social Security Administration headquarters and the Medicaid headquarters. You have to be a citizen to apply to those jobs, but they have a lot of bilingual positions, and they are doing outreach to Puerto Rico. The police, the Social Security Administration and Medicaid here in Baltimore City hold job fairs in Puerto Rico," Oribio said.

"Some segments of Latino citizens, like Puerto Ricans, work in the army, in the Social Security Administration and in different credit or government agencies. To work with a federal government agency, you have to be a citizen, but people with a job permit can work there, also. Baltimore has a diverse diverse job market. All kinds of organizations are hiring for all positions. Traditionally, the major places to work were construction and landscaping, but it's changing."

Oribio explained that wealth and home ownership is on the rise. In fact, it's "booming," alongside Latino population growth. Baltimore is receiving lots of Latinos who come from other cities like New York, and they open businesses. Business people move to Baltimore for a number of reasons, including lower costs for doing business. For this reason, there's been a great deal of Latino business growth in recent few years, like never before.

Baltimore's Hispanic population is comprised of a wide mix of national origins, including Mexican Puerto Rican, Cuban, Dominican, Central American, Costa Rican, Guatemalan, Honduran, Nicaraguan, Panamanian and Salvadoran residents. According to Oribio, "Salvadorans arrived to Baltimore after the war. In the last few years, Salvadorans have been the largest group, followed by other Latin American countries and Central American countries. The Census from 2000 to 2010 shows a big difference. In the last few years, we've seen the Mexican population increasing. We also have people from Honduras, Guatemala, Columbia, Peru and Ecuador, but in the last few months, we've seen a lot of Venezuelan people in Baltimore."

The Baltimore Hispanic Chamber president said that Latino businesses have continued to grow, even after the riots. The riots refer the uprising that was sparked following the death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old African-American man who alleged was in possession of an illegal switchblade, who died while in police custody during April 2015.

While being transported in a police van, Gray suffered injuries to his spinal cord. His death provoked protests and riots throughout the city and nation, and outcries for justice were heard around the world. The six arresting officers face a plethora of charges: involuntary manslaughter charges, second-degree depraved-heart murder, second-degree assault, criminal negligence, false imprisonment, misconduct in office, manslaughter by vehicle (gross negligence) and reckless endangerment. All have pleaded not guilty. The unemployment and economic devastation in Baltimore, particularly Sandtown-Winchester, helped to fuel the angry and wrathful reaction to Gray's death.

"We expect that Latino business growth will continue. The economic situation is not the best, and most of businesses are struggling because their sales decreased, but we're very positive, we have many resources here," Oribio said. "We also expect to see working class Latinos with good skills coming to Baltimore to fill positions in different organizations."

Oribio mentioned that he's glad that the American public is finally paying more attention to the Hispanic community and learning about the buying power of the Latino population. Americans are "learning about the value of Latino families, and Latinos have more participation in improving the quality of life in the city. We support many good causes as a population, and Hispanic are hard workers with great values. This indicates that we'll continue to see increases in the next few years."

Related