Estimates of the local Ecuadorian population range from U.S. Census Bureau data putting the number at 169,622 in the five boroughs, while a 2006 European Union Commission report on Ecuador suggests an accounting that fully included the undocumented could double or triple the official numbers. Ecuadorians also account for a sizable fraction of the more than half-million undocumented immigrants the Department of City Planning estimates live in New York City.
Will this small South American country continue to have an outsize presence here? A CUNY Graduate Center report in 2007 rated Ecuadorians as the second-fastest growing Latin American group in New York City. But since the economy has sunk around the globe, migration has slowed, and many immigrants both skilled and unskilled, either with papers or undocumented, have either returned to their home countries – or at least given the possibility serious consideration, perhaps for the first time. That's because their earnings have taken a dive. Although the amount immigrants send back to their families in the form of remittances is second only to oil revenue as a source of income for Ecuador, in 2008 remittances fell by more than 20 percent, according to the Center for Economic and Policy Research.
The Ecuadoran immigration agency, Senami, sees the shifting tides of fortune as an opening to reel in more human capital. Senami's Casa Ecuatoriana in Corona, Queens – where the greatest number of Ecuadorians live – is even running a program encouraging immigrants to return to their native land. Bienvenidos a Casa, it's called: Welcome Home.
Senami is hoping for a mass return. With fewer remittances and lowered oil prices, it has become clear that Ecuador’s reliance on oil and citizens abroad is unsustainable. According to Pablo Calle, Senami’s U.S. representative, part of the country's new economic plan is the return of migrants. His agency sees it as “an opportunity to use their new skills and resources to support the development of Ecuador.” The year-old program promotes the return of immigrants by waiving duties for belongings brought back and offering subsidies for new businesses in Ecuador.
The offers might appeal to someone like Queens resident Manuel M. He stopped sending money home when he lost his construction job a year and a half ago. Undocumented, Manuel does not qualify for government benefits and rarely gets work. Now 53, he recalls with bittersweet pride his life in Quito. “There I was a professional," he said. "Now when I don’t work, I go out on the streets to recycle bottle and cans.”
Manuel's life in New York is different than he envisioned it would be 14 years ago when he paid smugglers $4,100 to bring him to New York. Recycling, he earns only $10 to $15 per day. Manuel used to support his family, but now they support him. He lives with his son, who supplies room and board.
