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Aliens vow to keep working
News and Observer ^ | October 28, 2003 | MICHAEL EASTERBROOK

Posted on 10/28/2003 8:01:38 PM PST by mykdsmom

The arrest of 250 illegal workers at Wal-Mart
worries them. But if deported, they say, they
will come back

Days after federal agents arrested more than 250 illegal workers at Wal-Mart stores across the country, Efrain Ramirez had a simple plan for avoiding capture.

If immigration agents show up at the intersection in Carrboro where he often waits for work as a day laborer, Ramirez said, he won't stick around.

"If they come, I'll run," Ramirez, 47, vowed Monday as he reclined in a lawn chair among a group of about 40 men waiting at the corner in hopes of finding work.

His mouth full of sunflower seeds and the brim of his hat pulled over his forehead, Ramirez said he has eked out an enjoyable life working illegally in the United States. The wages he earns in six or seven months here allow him to spend the rest of the year relaxing at his home on Mexico's Pacific Coast.

Nearly 200,000 illegal immigrants are believed to be residing in North Carolina, and news of the arrests on Thursday didn't take long to get around. In North Carolina, the sweep began at 5 a.m. when authorities burst into four Wal-Mart stores and arrested 14 men and one women who were working on cleaning crews.

Those detained included five people from Mexico, four from Russia, four from Mongolia, one from Slovakia and one from El Salvador. They ranged in age from 20 to 35. Agents released them later that day with a notice to appear in front of an immigration judge in Atlanta in April 2004.

Undocumented ILLEGAL workers interviewed Monday in Carrboro said the arrests made them more apprehensive than ever. But most said they were resolved to continue working -- even if it means being deported.

"It's sad to think that you can go through all this trouble to get here only to have something like this happen," said Freddy Isunza, 33, who traveled from his home in San Pedro, Honduras, about a year ago to look for work in North Carolina. "But what can you do? Nothing."

Armando Ortiz-Rocha, the Mexican consul in Raleigh, said undocumented immigrants learn to live with the risk of deportation. The money Mexican workers in the United States send back to their home country is one of Mexico's largest sources of income.

"They know the worry is part of the cost of coming here," Ortiz-Rocha said.

But most think that if they don't commit crimes and live a quiet life, the risks are minimal. "They also know that if they work hard and comply with the laws, it's very likely that they can stay here as long as they want," Ortiz-Rocha said.

The men who gather at the intersection in Carrboro typically find work mixing cement, laying bricks, cutting grass, trimming trees or painting houses. They are hired by contractors and sometimes residents who need help with yard work and other chores.

The jobs usually last a day to a week and pay $5 to $10 an hour. The wait for work can be long: By 10 a.m. Monday, four of the men had found jobs.

"It's like this every day," said Mauricio Hernandez, sipping coffee at a service station across the street from the group of men.

Hernandez, from Mexico City, said he used to wait for work at the intersection when he first came to the United States eight months ago. But now, he finds odd jobs through churches in the area that pay even better.

Federal officials caught Hernandez twice trying to enter the United States; he made it across the border earlier this year and said he would not be deterred by deportation.

"This kind of thing happens all the time," said Hernandez, 30. "They deport us, but we come back."


TOPICS: News/Current Events; US: North Carolina
KEYWORDS: illegalaliens; immigrantlist; northcarolina; oldnorthstate
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1 posted on 10/28/2003 8:01:38 PM PST by mykdsmom
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To: HiJinx
ping
2 posted on 10/28/2003 8:03:20 PM PST by Libertarianize the GOP (Ideas have consequences)
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To: *Old_North_State; **North_Carolina; Constitution Day; 100%FEDUP; 2ndMostConservativeBrdMember; ...
NC Ping!
3 posted on 10/28/2003 8:03:33 PM PST by mykdsmom
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To: mykdsmom
I read this today when I was waiting in the doctor's office.

Want to know what my blood pressure was when I got in the room?
4 posted on 10/28/2003 8:05:57 PM PST by Howlin (A Democratic president is MUCH better than being a RINO!)
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To: mykdsmom
What do Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, and the first candidate of ANY party for President who addresses the ILLEGAL invasion have in common?
5 posted on 10/28/2003 8:07:58 PM PST by ysoitanly
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To: mykdsmom
Does this mean we can garnish his wages to pay for his deportation Plus the expendatures of Law enforcement. One more thing. Punish the employer as well. These actions are in violation of numerous USC's. Hence a felony. Send them to jail.( Tyson's people should not be the only ones looking at the world through "bars".)
6 posted on 10/28/2003 8:09:05 PM PST by Madcelt (Wanted! A single politician with backbone enough to do whats right!!)
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To: mykdsmom
Maybe we can deport them to Afghanistan or Iraq instead. Would take much longer than a few days to get back into the USA that way.

If I am not mistaken, an illegal alien does not have to be deport to his/her country of origin.

7 posted on 10/28/2003 8:09:58 PM PST by Frohickey
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To: 2sheep; 2Trievers; 3AngelaD; 4.1O dana super trac pak; 4Freedom; 4ourprogeny; A CA Guy; ...
They're all make-believe?

Bump-Ping!!!
The Border List TM

Freepmail me if you wish to be removed from or added to this list!

8 posted on 10/28/2003 8:10:59 PM PST by HiJinx (Go with courage, go with honor, go in God's good Grace. Come home when it's time. We'll be here.)
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To: Howlin
You mean to tell me that you aren't happy that Ramirez spends his winters on the Mexican Riviera? ; )

MKM

9 posted on 10/28/2003 8:11:18 PM PST by mykdsmom
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To: Frohickey
"Maybe we can deport them to Afghanistan or Iraq"

Screw that, just dump 'em over at Crawford Texas
'til W's neighbors put the boot to him.
10 posted on 10/28/2003 8:12:20 PM PST by John Beresford Tipton
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To: ysoitanly
Unfortunately it's sad but true.

I don't understand it either since polling shows 70% of the public support closing our borders and attempting to stop the illegal invasion.

Seems to me if someone did run on this platform they'd be a shoe in.

Unfortunately, no politician has the cajones.

MKM

11 posted on 10/28/2003 8:15:28 PM PST by mykdsmom
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To: mykdsmom
So long, undocumented ILLEGAL workers! Don't let the door hit you on the way out.
12 posted on 10/28/2003 8:17:07 PM PST by TaxRelief (Welcome to the only website dedicated to the preservation of a free republic.)
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To: mykdsmom
LOL......so that's why there's nobody at Wal-Mart during the Holidays!
13 posted on 10/28/2003 8:18:58 PM PST by Howlin (A Democratic president is MUCH better than being a RINO!)
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To: mykdsmom
Damn those aliens!


14 posted on 10/28/2003 8:21:40 PM PST by Revolting cat! (Far out, man!)
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To: mykdsmom
The wages he earns in six or seven months here allow him to spend the rest of the year relaxing at his home on Mexico's Pacific Coast.

True --- and he's not the worst kind of illegal --- just here temporarily, he probably left his family back home where we don't have to give them food stamps and free health care and schooling --- he'll probably go back for good someday ------ it's more important to do something about all those moving their entire families over here even though they --- or we can't begin to afford having them here.

15 posted on 10/28/2003 8:26:06 PM PST by FITZ
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To: mykdsmom
"Those detained included five people from Mexico, four from Russia, four from Mongolia, one from Slovakia and one from El Salvador. They ranged in age from 20 to 35. Agents released them later that day with a notice to appear in front of an immigration judge in Atlanta in April 2004.

I said this was much ado about nothing and that these illegals would be released within an hour. This play acting at enforcing the law is designed to fool angry voters into actually believing that the administration is actually doing something about illegals. We are not fooled.

16 posted on 10/28/2003 8:32:40 PM PST by MissAmericanPie
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To: Howlin
I don't see how you can be upset about it. President Bush has refused to close the borders from all sides. And with the passage of the DREAM Act cosponsored by 29 Democrats and 12 Republicans it's only going to get worse. It appears the Republican Party is trying to catch up to the Democrats in handing away the nation of separate states to anyone except the citizens of the respective states. Although I will admit Senator Dole is suprisingly not on the list of co-sponsors yet ;)

As someone who lived in the far western part of the state, this problem has been an issue for far longer than many want to admit. I remember complaints about it in the local papers 10 years ago, and hardly anyone would listen. Now that we have less than desirable representation in some Congressional offices, I imagine it's just going to get a lot worse

17 posted on 10/28/2003 8:32:52 PM PST by billbears (Deo Vindice)
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To: billbears
I don't see how you can be upset about it

For gawds sake, bill, let ME be upset about ONE THING; everybody knows you hate everything else.

I can be upset about this if I damn well want to. I know you have the market cornered on hating everything in and about North Carolina, but I can be upset about this without having to trash every living thing inside the borders of this state.

You're like a dog with a bone about Senator Dole.

18 posted on 10/28/2003 8:38:51 PM PST by Howlin (A Democratic president is MUCH better than being a RINO!)
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To: mykdsmom
Nearly 200,000 illegal immigrants are believed to be residing in North Carolina, and news of the arrests on Thursday didn't take long to get around. In North Carolina, the sweep began at 5 a.m. when authorities burst into four Wal-Mart stores and arrested 14 men and one women who were working on cleaning crews.

< -snip- >

But most think that if they don't commit crimes and live a quiet life, the risks are minimal. "They also know that if they work hard and comply with the laws, it's very likely that they can stay here as long as they want," Ortiz-Rocha said.

Stories like this would make me want to run right out and vote for President Bush, if I lived in North Carolina.


19 posted on 10/28/2003 8:40:10 PM PST by Sabertooth (No Drivers' Licences for Illegal Aliens. Petition SB60. http://www.saveourlicense.com/n_home.htm)
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To: Howlin
You're like a dog with a bone about Senator Dole.

At least I can say I didn't vote for her now can't I? :) And I don't hate a thing about North Carolina except the direction in which it's gleefully being pushed by the 'conservative' party. I love this state more than life itself some days. I've lived in every part of this state and I can say God willing I will never leave the state of North Carolina except perhaps for a vacation. But then I even love vacationing in this state

I just wish you would see the 'conservative' party isn't doing anything more for us than the d#mn liberals. They're pushing their agenda a different direction sure, but it ends up in the same place.

And for the record we agree on more issues than I admit from time to time (especially on this issue). I just call politicians on both sides of the aisle on it on everything, not just one issue. And I hate to say I do not believe our Senate representation will support either of us on this issue

20 posted on 10/28/2003 8:46:04 PM PST by billbears (Deo Vindice)
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