For some of the Tristate's newest residents, the terrorist attacks and their aftermath have been particularly unsettling.

        Some have concerns about potential anti-immigrant backlash — not only against Muslims — or about their personal safety. For others, the attacks have triggered bad memories of their homelands.

Florence has become home to Jose and Iversy Velez, with children Luis, 13, and Claudia, 11. Brunilda Bouyett (left, background) is Iversy Velez' mother. (Steven M. Herppich photo) | ZOOM |

        “We feel like we're living the same situation all over again,” said Leonel Pelaez, who fled Colombia in 2000 to escape the epidemic of kidnappings there.

        Members of immigrant communities in the Tristate are, like many Americans, reacting to the Sept. 11 attacks with shows of patriotism and by seeking solace in prayer and worship.

        At El Rancho Grande restaurant in Middletown, workers drape black bands over their nametags and flowers decorate an American flag displayed side-by-side with a Mexican flag outside the building.

        Masses have drawn increased numbers of Hispanics in churches from Covington to Hamilton.

        Recent Hispanic immigrants are filing into Sister Margarita Brewer's office in Carthage seeking reassurance about the secure, stable country of freedom that drew them here.

        “They feel that they came here to be safe. They're afraid. Some haven't been able to sleep too well,” said Sister Brewer, director of Su Casa Hispanic Ministry. “A woman who left Colombia because of the terrorism there was in tears.”

        Mr. Pelaez and Martha Benjumea left Colombia after Mr. Pelaez was kidnapped by guerrillas and held for six days before escaping. Soon afterward, Mr. Pelaez and his teen-age son emigrated to the United States, and they were later joined by his wife and teen-age daughter in Columbus, Ohio.

        They live in Fairfield now and are seeking citizenship.

        That that hasn't stopped relatives from asking in recent days for them to return to Colombia. Mr. Pelaez says that's not an option, even though the terrorist acts reopened old wounds.

        “With the problems, we worry,” Ms. Benjumea said. “We have lived these things, so we know how horrifying it can be.”

        Luis Valencia, president of the Pan American Society of Greater Cincinnati, said he was saddened to hear family and friends in his homeland of Colombia say that it's more dangerous in America than it is there.

        “It tells me that the image of the United States has changed,” he said. ““Now to have other people, who used to think essentially that it was perfect, now think it's no better than anyplace else, that's sad.”

        But Concepcion Reyna, who is Mexican-American, doubts that the terrorist acts will stop Hispanics from coming.

        “No matter how bad the situation is for them here, they still feel that it's so much better than at home,” said Ms. Reyna, who is outreach coordinator for Butler County's Department of Job and Family Services.

        Puerto Rican native Iversy Velez said her family emigrated in 1994 for personal reasons. But she knows that many Hispanics come here because of the strife in South and Central American counties.

        “They feel that this government has the stability that nobody else in this world can offer to any individual,” said Mrs. Velez, an attorney, whose family moved to Florence in 1998.

        The last decade has seen the Tristate's Hispanic population more than double, to 22,000, Census 2000 figures show. Along with Indians, Hispanics are one of the area's fastest-growing ethnic groups. About 3,000 Indian families live in the Tristate.

        Laxmi Srivastava, a board member of the Hindu Temple of Greater Cincinnati, said the terrorism has not shaken the confidence of the newer immigrants.

        “If the people lose the confidence in the United States, where else will they have the confidence? This is our home, and any attack on our home is going to hurt us,” he said.

        Muslims and Arab-Americans are another fast-growing segment of Tristate and the country. But since the United States named Osama bin Laden the prime suspect, residents from Middle Eastern countries have been threatened, and, in one case, a Muslim woman was attacked inside her car in Covington. She was unharmed.

        The treatment has not stopped Muslims, as well as Indian and Hispanic residents, from organizing blood drives and fund-raisers to help the terrorism victims and families.

        Last week, federal officials announced new rules that double to 48 hours, and possibly more, the time an immigrant can be held without being charged.

        Mr. Valencia expects immigration laws to become even tighter.

        The Bush administration said last week that Colombians, Mexicans, Indians and other foreign nationals were among the dead and missing at the World Trade Center.

        Local Hispanics say some undocumented Hispanics worked in restaurant and cleaning jobs at the buildings.

        They fear that those who were here illegally will never be identified.

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