Posted on 01/28/2009 11:31:13 AM PST by Checkers
They are down and out in the United States and homesick for Guatemala. And El Salvador. And Honduras. And Mexico.
And they would go back without even an American penny in their pocket if only they had enough to get home.
They are the discouraged and disillusioned Central American and Mexican day laborers who, in a sign of how hard times are in this economy, find themselves so broke they can't send much, if any, money back to loved ones they haven't seen for years.
"We have lost our reason for being here," laments Jose Perez, 42, a Guatemalan living in the San Fernando Valley who vows he will be back home by next Christmas - and wishes he could leave sooner.
"I would leave today, with just the clothes on my back, if I had the money. It wasn't that long ago that I used to put money aside to send home. Now I'm saving it in hopes that I can go back home."
Perez, who hasn't seen his wife and family in five years, is among the hundreds of day laborers who gather each morning at the same corners in various parts of the Valley, hoping to find work cleaning yards, hauling furniture, painting houses or doing light construction.
But in an increasingly tight economy, homeowners are now handling many of the tasks they used to hire day laborers to perform.
"The dream I had when I left Guatemala to come to America is now gone," said Perez with a trace of bitterness.
He is not alone.
The economic recession and the crackdown on illegal immigration have forced growing numbers of Central American immigrants to consider giving up their dreams in the United States and returning to their homelands, according to an Inter-American Development Bank survey of 5,000
(Excerpt) Read more at dailynews.com ...
Call ICE, they have dozens of planes, free ride home.
God’s Children Ping
Didn’t the ICE have a program last year for free rides back to their home countries, and no one showed up to take them up on it? When they can look forward to BO making them all eligible for US taxpayer-financed welfare, why in the world should they not “hang on”?
God’s Children ping
They should go home just like they arrived. Broke!
Attrition though enforcement works.
Just keep walking south, until you get home ... or go swimming.
“1-866-DHS-2-ICE. It’s even toll free so you don’t have to pay for the call.”
So easy, even a caveman could do it.
DHS will return them home free. I’m sure they know it. They don’t ‘know’ they’re not supposed to be here, but they know every legal angle around.
If I still had my old beater S15 they could have it and all they would need to do is pay for gas.
But not so intimidating that you could not travel through Mexico to illegally cross our southern border?
Oh, thank God. There is a silver lining to this downturn! Can we cut the crap about how these people love America, only want to be Americans, etc.? They're here to milk the system for what they can and send it home. Good bye.
They can always get a free ride back home by turning themselves into Immigration.
The truth is, they are not any worse off then they were before, this is just another sob story put out by the communist news media of America trying to get sympathy for Bozo's "stimulus" plan.
English please
Someone should set up a non-profit foundation and start collecting donations to buy one-way tickets for illegal immigrants.
We otta round ‘em up and air drop ‘em just inside Mexico’s southern border.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.