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