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 ...
“It would be amusing if there was a conservative version of Michael Moore whod do a documentary of a disillusioned illegal alien trying to get himself deported back to Mexico. Going to the INS and being ignored, then to the police, etc.”
WHO would be brave enough to be called a racist, and attacked by the Nazi-style intimidation tactics the democrats are now using?
Only someone who no longer needs a film-making carreer, is about to die anyway, and is leaving no family behind to be attacked by deranged lefties would even DARE....
Once again, the media sob artists have it all wrong.
Now there is a real solid “economic stimulus” package. (For some other country that is.)
“Sounds like a fantastic opportunity for a tele-thon!”
LMAO!
I find myself wondering why I should care what a foreign country does to repatriated criminals.
Why not have a weekly television series like Extreme Home Makeover only feature another disillusioned illegal immigrant, then have a televised send-off, like on a big bus or follow them back across the river or desert and televise their reception back home...just an idea.
First the Canada geese decided to just hang on here in the US, and now the Mexican wet-backs.
In this case, so does attrition by recession. Combine the two with REAL border enforcement (yeah, right, with this administration) and we might start putting a dent in the problem.
}:-)4
The ones who are OTMs can’t go back unless they fly. Entering Mexico without a passport is illegal.
You may be interested in knowing that I called ICE. After waiting for over an hour--probably closer to two hours with a speaker phone to alert me to a response--a woman asked me to report my case.I first told her my name, etc., then told her the names of the two men the writer featured, their ages, and their home towns.
IMMEDIATELY, the ICE staff woman broke in to tell me that ICE doesn't take names based on news articles. I protested, saying that all ICE had to do was to contact Tony Castro, the author, for verification, and that these men wanted to self-deport if ICE would provide rides.
The woman interrupted me again to tell me she would not take my report; I asked her whether she was kidding me; on that note, she hung up the phone.
Well, now we know how serious ICE is, don't we?
Regards . . . Penny
Hanging on my you know what. This is bs.
Always have an excuse don’t these government agencies. I wonder just how many they say they have arrested and/or deported is true or is it just made up; so the money we taxpayers pay goes in some fat cats pocket.
This fellow San Fernando Valley resident says “bravo” to your spot-on post.
Saddle up shank’s mare, and ride.
IOW, you walked here, so walk back.
If that is too hard, pretend to be a mariachi band, and take a one way gig on a cruise ship. ;-)
Re: “This fellow San Fernando Valley resident says bravo to your spot-on post.”
*************
Thank you!
What did the S-15 ever do to you, that you want to so abuse it? LOL
You have to press ‘1’ for english.
Frankly, I say round them ALL up and let them EARN their way home. We’ve got borders that need securing.
“We have lost our reason for being here,”
The subsidies? Free [fill-in-any-subsidized-public-sector-service-here]?
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