Posted on 07/20/2005 10:56:08 PM PDT by Happy2BMe
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.
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"In Mexico, who will pay me $500 a week?" he asked.
ping
So, can the money gained as the result of a crime now be kept by the criminal?
You'd think the libs would at least want to tax this guy before they let him go
(Wonder just how much of the $31,700 Chavez actually got to keep after everyone got their hands in it?)
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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.
" . . and the cooperation of immigration officials."
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With "cooperation" like that - who needs the Border Patrol?
President Bush faces a major rebellion within his own party if he follows through on a promise to push legislation that would offer millions of illegal immigrants a path to U.S. citizenship. Almost no issue divides Republicans as deeply.
" You in a heap a trouble boy."
If he were a citizen, he would not have made enough to have any tax liability. We might owe him money via earned income tax credit.
I say the county thugs got at least $5 grand before Chavez even got out the front door of the jail.
Working hard and saving is not a crime which is how he accumulated his money. Illegally crossing the border is a crime, but illegally crossing does not get you 31,000 dollars.
Send him back to Mexico! We already have too many hard working and money saving citizens.
"So, can the money gained as the result of a crime now be kept by the criminal?"
Sure, if you're a U.S. citizen.
"We might owe him money via earned income tax credit."
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You're bustin' me up here -
This is the kind of immigrant we need. Hard working and saving. Why the hell have the native born stopped doing this ?
I agree with most of the posters here.
Send him back to Mexico! We already have too many hard working and money saving citizens.
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Very good and very sly.
Not in some cases. I think charles manson wrote a book and made some money from it while he was in jail. People did not like this and they passed the charles manson law where if you are in prison, any money you get from books, movies, music etc. is taken from you and used to compensate the victims.
I am pretty sure charles manson is not an illegal alien. He was doing a job even illegals refused to do.
Uh, robbery?
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