Outlaws in the United States, strangers at home

MSNBC ^ | 7/12/2009 | Steve Hendrix

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

CONCEPCION CHIQUIRICHAPA, Guatemala - Leaving Guatemala 12 years ago was the hardest thing Carlos Sanchez had ever done.

Until he decided to come back.

Sanchez still remembers the day he left home: saying goodbye to his parents; leaving his friends; that last tear-stained glimpse of his sweet mountain village in western Guatemala as the bus carried him over the ridge to an uncertain life in "the north." Painful, anxious times.

But not as hard as the return trip. When Sanchez, 36, arrived back in Central America recently, after living a third of his life as an illegal immigrant in suburban Washington, he stepped off the flight from Dulles International Airport into a cultural no man's land. He had been an outlaw migrant in one country; now he was a native-born stranger in the other.

For years, Sanchez had worked all the overtime hours he could handle as a supervisor for a granite counter contractor in Springfield. Last year, overtime slipped to part time and then almost no time. After months of looking for work, he started looking at airfares.

An expatriate's longing for his native land is often searing. But Sanchez, like thousands of Latino immigrants forced back across the border in recent months by the sinking economy, is learning sooner than he wanted to that going home again can be even more complicated.

Almost at once upon his return, he was felled by a bout of the turistas. His Arlington County-born toddler, Marvin, also took sick, and Sanchez nearly panicked at the difficulty in finding a doctor. His wife, Gladys, was no longer comfortable in the traditional garments of Mayan women, finding them heavy and stiff compared with the Old Navy blouses and jeans she bought at Potomac Mills.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

Well, here's your latest illegal alien sob-story. It's our fault they're having a hard time fitting in at home when they decide to self-deport.

[darkwing104]

My "Give a damn" must be broken..

[hinckley buzzard]

that last tear-stained glimpse of his sweet mountain village in western Guatemala

If it was that "sweet" he never should have left. What crap.

[R. Scott]

I feel so sorry for the poor, poor illegal.

[willgolfforfood]

At long, long last, he’s been reunited with his documents.

[Kieri]

Sanchez still remembers the day he left home: saying goodbye to his parents; leaving his friends; that last tear-stained glimpse of his sweet mountain village in western Guatemala as the bus carried him over the ridge to an uncertain life in "the north."

If his "sweet mountain village" was so lovely, why did he leave?

[Nathan Zachary]

"His wife, Gladys, was no longer comfortable in the traditional garments of Mayan women, finding them heavy and stiff compared with the Old Navy blouses and jeans she bought at Potomac Mills."

Then his wife should go to the Guatemalan sewing factory where those Old navy blouses and jeans are made and buy some new ones. Apply for a job while she's at it.

[Albion Wilde]

At Valdemar Travel in Takoma Park, the proportion of one-way air tickets south has reached unprecedented levels, nearing 60 percent of the firm's business earlier this year, manager Devin Reyes said.

Takoma Park, Maryland has been a huge sanctuary, to the point of extinguishing spoken English in any of the stores in Takoma Park, which in the 50s-60s was a nearly half-Jewish, the rest Protestant/Catholic suburb directly abutting Washington DC. Now, a traveler passing through on 6-lane New Hampshire Avenue or University Boulevard (the largest traffic intersection of Takoma-Langley outdoor mall) can barely drive more than 20 miles per hour, due to the illegals driving 15 mph UNDER the speed limit to avoid an encounter with authorities.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

This is the same kind of garbage that is written about felons in American prisons. Crackhead robs a liquor store, does 10 years in the slammer, and I’m supposed to cry for him because of his troubles after he gets out.

It’s a great life-lesson. Do what’s right and you won’t have to worry about this sort of thing.

[Red Dog #1]

The outrage that is that he managed to live and work in the U.S. for 12 years.

[2banana]

Plenty of illegals have sent so much money home that they are set up for life when they go back. They will suck what they can out of America and leave when it no longer suits them...

[R. Scott]

Really.

[Cheburashka]

Sanchez, I'm so happy that you are back with your family where you belong.

Now stay there. Forever.

[Manly Warrior]

I’d contribute my “stimulus” money to help a few head back home....

[pizamoto]

[raybbr]

He met his wife in Arlington, where he was surprised one day to see a woman walking along dressed in a huipile, a traditional Mayan blouse, embroidered, amazingly, in the colors and patterns particular to his home village.

Or...

His wife, Gladys, was no longer comfortable in the traditional garments of Mayan women, finding them heavy and stiff compared with the Old Navy blouses and jeans she bought at Potomac Mills.

So she was still wearing the traditional garments here in the U.S. but all of a sudden she's "uncomfortable" wearing them in Guatemala.

[Kozy]

Without a SSN how did he fill out his tax return each year? Gee do you think he never did? You came here to suck the life out of the USA and leave when done. Well that time is now. Goodbye, don't come again.

[UCFRoadWarrior]

I hate all these “illegal aliens have more rights than American citizens” crap pieces

No sympathy for someone who took a job from an American...and artificially lowered the wages for many other Americans.

Gee I am sorry Mr Guatemala’s wife has to wear those Mayan clothes....but hey it will only be until 2012....

[dennisw]

At long, long last, he’s been reunited with his documents.

He's being re-united with all the loot he's been sending home. He can live like a king there

[BwanaNdege]

Where do I click to get the violin music to play?