N.C. illegal immigrant allowed to retrieve buried savings

MyrtleBeachOnline ^

[Happy2BMe]

N.C. illegal immigrant allowed to retrieve buried savings

Associated Press

GOLDSBORO, N.C. - One of the 48 illegal workers arrested this month at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base will return to Mexico richer by $31,700, thanks to his hard work and the cooperation of immigration officials.

That's the amount of money that Cristobal Chavez Torres saved in $100 bills from seven years of bone-crunching labor and buried in a well-sealed glass jar the yard of the rundown trailer he rented in Goldsboro.

Chavez, who began the bus ride home to Mexico on Wednesday, was allowed to return to the trailer to retrieve both his money and his 16-year-old son, Arturo, before he was deported.

"I didn't want to lose it," he said. "It was sweat from my brow."

Chavez, 66, has lived in the United States off and on since 1970, when he crossed the Rio Grande River in search of work. He came to North Carolina seven years ago and got a job with a private construction company after doing farm work and construction in California, Texas, Florida and Kentucky.

His son came to live with him six years ago after Arturo's mother died in Mexico.

Chavez never earned more than $7.25 an hour but was able to save, thanks to his thriftiness and stamina for long work weeks. When he had accumulated about $10,000, he decided it would be best to find a hiding spot other than the pockets of his pants. And he wanted somewhere outside his trailer.

"If there were an electrical short and my home caught on fire, I'd lose everything," said Chavez, who never tried to open a bank account because most of his documents were fake.

Randy Chambers, treasurer of the Latino Community Credit Union in Durham, said the credit union's surveys indicate that up to 80 percent of Latin American immigrants in North Carolina have never had a bank account, either in the United States or in their home countries.

Many say that they don't trust financial institutions or that bank employees don't speak their language, Chambers said. Others don't have the proper documents.

On July 6, Chavez was among 48 illegal immigrants working for private construction contractors at the Air Force base who were rounded up after a two-month investigation. He told his secret to a staff member from the Mexican Consulate in Raleigh, who had come to the jail July 8 to make sure Chavez and the other detained Mexicans were being treated fairly.

The staff member relayed the story of Chavez's treasure to Mexican Consul Armando Ortiz Rocha, who called Tom O'Connell, head of the local office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Ortiz asked whether O'Connell would consider releasing Chavez if the consulate ensured that Chavez returned to Mexico after retrieving the money. O'Connell agreed and turned Chavez over to the consulate July 11.

O'Connell said he was swayed more by the plight of Chavez's son than the money.

"The main reason was the 16-year-old kid," O'Connell said. "I don't like to leave minors unattended."

After digging up his money, Chavez turned it over to consulate authorities, who placed it in a bank account. They'll transfer the money to Chavez once he returns to Mexico.

The first thing Chavez plans to do is build a concrete house on the small plot of land he bought years ago in El Mante, his hometown in northern Mexico.

Then he'll build a cart from which to sell fresh fruit juice in the town square. He doubts that he'll add to his savings as he did in the United States.

"In Mexico, who will pay me $500 a week?" he asked.

[judgeandjury]

I was MOCKING the racist, statist attitudes of many of the anti immigrant howlers on FR, although might consider expanding the target to include those too stupid to realize their own ideas are being parodied, if you asked sweetly.

How about mocking the 47% of Hispanic voters who voted in favor of the anti-illegal alien measure Prop 200 in Arizona. I guess all of those "anti-Hispanic" Hispanics in Arizona are just a bunch of racists, right?

[flashbunny]

Sorry, looks like you missed the actual clue train, and took the rationalization express to 'no logic' town.

[Sam Hill]

"The only way to stop it is to violently repress it, and like most Americans, I could never support such action as to harm people who want nothing more than to work to support themselves and their families."

Top Ten Most Powerful Economies 
Real GDP -- GDP not divided by number of people

1.	United States,  $11.75 trillion -- 295.7 million people and $41,000 per capita GDP.
2.	European Union,  $11.65 trillion  -- includes economic powers such as Ireland, Germany, Britain, France.
3.	China,  $7,26 trillion -- 1.3 billion people, with a per capita GDP 13% that of the United States.
4.	Japan,  $3.7 trillion -- a per capita GDP 5.25 times that of China.
5.	India,  $3.3 trillion -- one billion people, with a per capita GDP 10.5% that of Japan.
6.	Brazil,  $1.5 trillion --  186 million people and $8,100 per capita GDP.
7.	Russia,  $1.4 trillion -- 143 million people and $9,800 per capita GDP.
8.	Canada,  $1.02 trillion -- 32.8 million people and $31,500 per capita GDP.
9.	Mexico,  $1.0 trillion --  106.2 million people and $9,600 per capita GDP.
10.	South Korea, $925 billion -- powerful for its size, its per capita GDP twice that of Mexico.

The above figures are estimates for the year 2004

SOURCE: CIA World Factbook

[judgeandjury]

I hope he makes it back to the USA. He can come and work for me.

I hope you mean that if he does make it back to the USA, he does so legally.

[chronic_loser]

Sorry, looks like you missed the actual clue train, and took the rationalization express to 'no logic' town.

thanks for the response.
should we start a new thread and call it "substantive responses" or are you just happy to stay there and call names?
In case you want to break from tradition and do something new, the logic here ran thusly: 1) You advocated seizing the guy's money 2) Someone said they thought he was hard working and thrifty 3) You responded by saying that you knew he "paid no taxes" 4) I responded by saying
a) illegals pay taxes when they are hourly
b) contractors pay none or very little taxes whether they are us citizens or illegal immigrants, and I assume you don't want to seize THEIR money

I further stated that illegals who work hourly actually subsidize our social programs and have no ability to benefit from many of them.

So, I am just sitting here at the train station in NO LOGIC TOWN, sipping under my "GREEDY EXPLOITATITIVE CORPORATIST" sign, letting Rodrigo fan me and bring me mah mint julip. Weather is beautiful. Wish you were here.

[chronic_loser]

I am in favor of the 47% of hispanics who voted FOR it, as I am in favor of Prop 200.

I am also in favor of the 51 per cent of the population who voted against John Kerry in the last presidential election.

My only wish about prop 200 is that we could vote on denying ALL federal goodies to ALL persons, citizens or no. However, since we have determined we are going to have some socialist elements to our society, it only makes sense to grant those only to citizens. Makes sense to me, and to 47 per cent of the hispanic population of Arizona. I have no problem with denying federal grab bags.

Anyone who posits that Hispanics come here to ride some benefit gravy train is either stupid, dishonest, or both. They come to work. They may get corrupted by a socialist system once they get here, but why should we expect them to resist lazy entitlements that native born Americans won't resist?

[chronic_loser]

Outstanding post!!!! I truly wish we would limit our questions to potential immigrants to three: 1) Can you produce a certificate from a legitimate medical facility guaranteeing you are free from tuberculosis, AIDS, Hepatitis, etc. etc?
2) Do you have a signed statement from a business owner in America stating that you have employment waiting, and a means to contact this person to verify?
3) Do you have a government certified statement that you have no criminal activity in your past?

If so, we should issue the visa on the spot.

Countries must and should have borders, and we should CONTROL ours. Many anti immigrants think that if you argue against the "CLOSE THE BORDERS" loons that you are some refugee from MECHA or something. It is not anti american to insist that this country of immigrants not turn its back on its heritage of being the last and best hope for any who wish to be the best they can be.

[bitt]

"The main reason was the 16-year-old kid," O'Connell said. "I don't like to leave minors unattended." (Tom O'Connell, head of the local office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.)

Seems like this prosecutor FORGOT that this KID was an illegal, too...

kick out the illegals AND all their kids and their grandmas and their dog and their cars, too. Let them interview to come back in.

If they speak English, they move up to 'Line B'.

If they would like to join the military, they move up to Line A.

[Pa' fuera]

The only alternative is to accommodate it either legally or by looking the other way to illegality, and unfortunately the U.S. has chosen the second option with all the negative consequences of having laws on the books that we expect many people to violate and which we have no will to enforce.

the status quo is better than legalizing 10-15 million immigrants and allowing them to chain migrate all of their relatives into the country.

[Pa' fuera]

Is there any other country in this world whose borders are such a joke?

Mexico is a lot less vigilant than we are, but they don't have to worry about people arriving and staying.

[television is just wrong]

I guess in the case of the illegal alien, he gets to keep the profits?????

WOW, isn't America the place to illegally immigrate to.

[Pa' fuera]

Half of what he's saying is a lie but he still deserves his money.

It's a pretty good story. I expect the slimy consul employees to file it away and use it to spring future detainees. Is it any wonder that the Mexican consulate wants to talk to every illegal detained by ICE?

[conshack]

If I had to pick who to share my country with between some illegal who works his a-s off and saves thousands of dollars while working at a click above minimum wage some hateful sneering jerk who was born here, I think I will take the illegal. I think I already have.


Guess the screenname is apropopo.

[chronic_loser]

Yeah. Glad you liked the moniker. I considered "FLAME_BAIT_FOR_THE_NEURALLY_VACANT" but it looks like this one does the job just as well.

thanks for playing.

[flashbunny]

Yes, it would have been nice to have a substantive response, but your initial post had jack squat do with the article in the thread. I could post a nice response how the guys with the really cool mullets get all the chicks, but it wouldn't have anything more to do with this guy's situation than your post did.

[chronic_loser]

I just read your "about" page, and I apologize.

While we might have severe and strident differences about immigration, I owe you respect for the service you have given our country.

Thank you, and though we might go at it hammer and tongs about the best way to police our borders, I should never insult someone with your credentials. Apologies again, and hats off to you.

[chronic_loser]

The guy came here, he worked, he saved his money, he got busted and deported and it is beyond the ability of some freepers to think "WHAT ABOUT OUR IMMIGRATION POLICY IS WRONG THAT SOME HARD WORKING GUY WHO SAVES MONEY CAN'T GET LEGAL RESIDENCY?"

Instead, we have gaggles of freepers who post utter crap and plain lies about illegals paying no taxes, greedy corporatists being the reason for the flood of immigrants, and then post the most hateful and barely disguised xenophobic slurs against some of the nicest people I have ever met in my life. I have come to despise the Buchananites (the core of the most virulent anti immigrants here on FR) almost as much as the left.

[chronic_loser]

The guy came here, he worked, he saved his money, he got busted and deported and it is beyond the ability of some freepers to think "WHAT ABOUT OUR IMMIGRATION POLICY IS WRONG THAT SOME HARD WORKING GUY WHO SAVES MONEY CAN'T GET LEGAL RESIDENCY?"

Instead, we have gaggles of freepers who post utter crap and plain lies about illegals paying no taxes, greedy corporatists being the reason for the flood of immigrants, and then post the most hateful and barely disguised xenophobic slurs against some of the nicest people I have ever met in my life. I have come to despise the Buchananites (the core of the most virulent anti immigrants here on FR) almost as much as the left.

[Pa' fuera]

They are hard working, honest, good people as a whole.

You forgot the thousands of illegals who call the state and federal prison systems home, plus the murderers, drug dealers, and human traffickers who are at large among us. Until the government can do a more effective job of sifting the criminals out, we shouldn't be importing any of them

[Cultural Jihad]

One of the 48 illegal workers arrested this month at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base will return to Mexico richer by $31,700, thanks to his hard work and the cooperation of immigration officials.

Happy endings are grand, or in this case 31! Good for Sr. Chavez for being a hard-working man, supporting his family.