Posted on 12/22/2007 6:41:58 AM PST by AuntB
Martin Coyotecatl-Aca, his younger brother Jesus and a friend, Ricardo Gonzales-Gutierez worked for 10 hours as day laborers ripping shingles off a roof. At the end of the two days, they said, their boss refused to pay them for one of the days.
What happened next is in dispute. The three now are sitting in the Passaic County Jail, charged with robbery and facing possible deportation, according to Detective Capt. Robert Rowan of the Clifton Police Department.
A lawyer for the three Mexican nationals, whose names were supplied by police and who all live in Passaic, say the men are innocent. Edward Sapone, who was hired by the Mexican Consulate, said the men were engaged in a wage dispute with a drunken contractor who harmed himself and who falsely implicated them. He acknowledged that the three are in the country illegally.
Diana Mejia, president of Wind of the Spirit, a Morristown-based immigrant rights group, has worked with the Passaic day laborers and said their story demonstrates how the lack of regulation over immigrant laborers can prove disastrous.
Rowan gave this account of the incident.
A little after 9 p.m. Saturday in Clifton, a plainclothes officer cruising along Main Avenue near Harding Avenue observed a man who appeared to be in distress. He was in a doorway, leaning over on his knees up against a wall. The three men allegedly were standing in front of him. The officer turned his car around and saw that the three men had gone to a nearby parking lot and stood in front of a white van that police said was the contractor's vehicle.
The three men boarded a jitney bus. The officer stopped the bus and forced the men to get off.
The officer said the 29-year-old man who had been in the doorway had a large amount of blood on his mouth and wrist. The man, who spoke only Polish, told police through an interpreter that the men had beaten him up and robbed him of his tools. The police report said the man appeared to have been drinking. Police did not test him for alcohol because he was not driving, Rowan said.
The three men, who spoke only Spanish, told police through an interpreter that they had been working all day in Jersey City and that the Polish man, whom they were working for, said that he had to drive to a bank in order to get money to pay them, Rowan said.
The man said he had never met the three Mexican nationals before.
According to the police report, Martin Coyotecatl-Aca was carrying a large black bag filled with nail guns, Rowan said. The men told police that when the man refused to pay them, they took his nail guns, Rowan said.
The two brothers, Martin Coyotecatl-Aca, 26, and Jesus Coyotecatl-Aca, 30, were being held Thursday at the Passaic County Jail on bail of $75,000 while Gonzales-Gutierez, 27, was being held there on $100,000 bail, Rowan said.
Rowan said that police, suspecting the three are in the country illegally, notified immigration authorities of the arrest, in accordance with an attorney general's directive. They face deportation.
"Even if it was true that these men worked for the victim all day, and he didn't pay them, it would not allow them to assault him or take his nail guns," Rowan said in a telephone interview Thursday.
Rowan said that when the men were arrested they never mentioned any agreement that the tools were to be given as collateral.
On Thursday, Sapone, the lawyer, sat in at the day laborers center in Passaic on Parker Avenue, behind The Home Depot. Fabian Gallindo, the center's de facto leader, was present along with Martin Coyotecatl-Aca's wife, Eugenia Ricoy, and her son Kevin, 4 .
Sapone said that the day laborers had a verbal agreement with the contractor, who picked them up at the center. Ricoy said that her husband speaks a little bit of English and that the Polish contractor spoke a little bit too. Gallindo, who visited the men in jail, said the men understood that they would keep the tools as collateral for payment -- $180 a day per person. The day laborers said they did not touch the man, but that he showed up at the bank drunk and unwilling to pay them, Gallindo said.
"It would be a very sad ending if these three men who were here to work hard and put food on the table, who put in honest work and weren't paid and were then arrested, would be forced to separate from their children," Sapone said.
Gallindo said that day laborers often face this type of abuse, with long hours in extreme heat and cold, and contractors who leave them with nothing.
"They bring us to places like Atlantic City and other places we don't know," Gallindo said in Spanish. "After eight hours they say, 'Just 20 minutes more,' and that becomes three hours. If we protest, they won't pay us, or they'll leave us there to find our way home."
Immigrant advocates have been pushing for legislation to regulate the shady arrangements between day laborers and contractors. Rep. Luis Gutierrez , D-Ill., introduced a bill in 2003 called the Day Labor Fairness and Protection Act, to give day laborers certain rights. It was never voted on.
In 2006, the first national study on the life of day laborers, "Day Labor in the United States," found that of the approximately 117,600 working in this country, the median salary is $10 an hour and it is unlikely they earn more than $15,000 a year.
The report found that day laborers regularly suffer employer abuse with almost half of all day laborers experiencing at least one instance of wage theft and 44 percent being denied food and water breaks on the job. The study found that merchants and police often unfairly target day laborers while they seek work, with 9 percent having been arrested and 11 percent ticketed by police while they search for employment.
Marcela Ospina, a spokeswoman with the New Jersey Department of Labor, said the men could file a wage-collection complaint.
"If you are a worker, we don't inquire about your status; we are just concerned about getting your wages," she said, adding that workers can call 609-292-2305 to file a complaint.
Mejia, of Wind of the Spirit, said that day laborers need to organize so that if there are instances of abuse, they have someone to back them up.
"The idea is that people who organize in some sort of center, this can help them more," Mejia said in Spanish. "Workers can learn their rights through a center and evade these abuses."
Ya gotta love the part about NONE of them speaking English, even the Polish contractor!
Screw ‘em. Send ‘em back where they came from if they aren’t here legally...and keep their money!
Is it the model of Mexican transportation she got pregnant in?
And what is a Jitney bus? I live in the United States, and I've never seen nor heard of a Jitney bus before.
The problem of illegal immigration should be handled first and foremost at the border.
As a second line of defense, employers who knowingly hire illegals should be heavily fined and the employees deported.
As for those who try to rip any laborer off, legal or illegal, and run, in effect, a slave-labor operation, they should be heavily fined and spend some time in jail.
There are no good actors here, from the US government on down.
Wow... getting your butt kicked by Jesus... who is going to believe that?
They are two "wrongs" here. If we fixed the immigration problem, they both would go away.
“And what is a Jitney bus? I live in the United States, and I’ve never seen nor heard of a Jitney bus before.”
It’s not your Daddy’s USA anymore....
A ‘Jitney’ is an illegal, unlicensed ... uh UNDOCUMENTED’ (sarc) vehicle that drives people for a fee. In big city ghettos they have ‘Jitney Cabs’.
The 'Jitney Bus' musat be a new 'immigrant' thing :-)
Well, then don't come here to work illegally. Problem solved!
~~~~~~~~~
Gallindo, who visited the men in jail, said the men understood that they would keep the tools as collateral for payment -- $180 a day per person.
$180 a day per person? For illegal alien day laborers? That's $18 per hour for their "10 hour day". Not likely!
~~~~~~~~~
"It would be a very sad ending if these three men who were here to work hard and put food on the table, who put in honest work and weren't paid who beat the crap out of their boss and stole his tools and were then arrested, would be forced to separate from their children," Sapone said.
There, fixed it.
_______________________________________________
Why are their children here instead of back home? Who pays for their day care or schooling? What do they do when they get sick?
Do you know how many Europreans, Asians, Africans and South Americans come here and work hard to send money home to their families? I personally know many. Why is it that the mexicans are the only ones who get to bring the whole village with them at our expense?
Oh yes it would! What are these guys gonna do? Take him to court? If you hire illegal immigrants you get what you deserve.
The US courts are not available to them. Deport them. Case closed.
It’s odd that this “Polish contractor” is never named, almost as odd as “Coyotecatl-Aca” for a Mexican surname.
But, as far as I’m concerned, these three scammers got scammed themselves. All parties involved broke the law, and should be hauled before a judge. Assault and battery, theft, immigration violations and probably identity theft for the three. Tax evasion at a minimum for the unnamed Polish contractor.
It is because they can just walk over the border!
Why are they not facing Certain Deportation?
I knew that....my question is why do we allow/encourage it.
I can’t take anyone’s side on this one. The immigrants are breaking the law by being here, and the guy who got beat up is a bum looking for cheap labor, and then cheating them out of their money.
________________________________________
I guess it depends on where in the US you live. Jitneys are well known around NYC/LI. The most famous is the 'Hamptons Jitney' that delivers folks from NYC to the East End.
Sections of Queens and Brooklyn run unlicensed "gypsy" 15 passenger vans along City Bus routes. They charge charge less and are more flexible about where they will stop to take on or drop off passengers. They are also called jitneys.
We need Judge Judy or Judge Mathis to sort this all out.
There is a silver lining here. If more illegals beat up their employers, maybe fewer would find employment.
Any politician whether they are local or national who supports and won’t do anything about illegals should be charged with treason!
I’m sick of the whole lot of them from the WH on down.
We were told quite clearly at Appamottox, 1865.
This is the ROOT of the problem: criminal invaders have NO rights in our home, they illegally broke in, and expect to be treated as part of the "American family", which is B.S. to the nth degree. They are entitled to NOTHING, and should be deported immediately upon capture for their illegal entry.
Er. ‘Appomattox,’ too.
Let's face it - people are immoral and theft and greed are at the heart of all human transactions.
On the other hand - more rationally :), $18/hr to illegal immigrants for ripping shingles off roofs? I don't believe it.
I agree. I truly, truly, deeply love this country but more and more I’m beginning to hate it as well.
No. This is not very sad. It's very sad when we hear people like Sapone saying this everyday with complete impunity.
We hear nothing about breaking the law by entering the US illegally, committing crime after crime after crime, with no punishment meted.
Do we have to hear about how bad it is to legally breaking up the families of lawbreakers to enforce the law?
I say, start breaking the criminals' heads –same as they are raping, murdering, robbing, DUI-driving- and/or throw them out with their illegal families and anchor babies.
Let's get done with it! Apply Mexican Law to Mexican illegals in the US, which will take care of them quite humanely!
In Arkansas this could easily happen with the one dollar given to Senor Huckabee that time.
A Jitney is a small bus, like a trolly. We have several here as public transport.
The first was put into service by an exmayor named Jitney who was dredged up to have the ceremony for the bus having the same name.
Possible deportation? Have them make restitution or serve time and then kick their sorry behinds back across the Rio Grande. Of course Jorge has that open invitation for them to cross over as many times as they wish.
ping
Oh, so that’s what all those big buses are with Mexican writing all over them clogging up I35. They even have a taco vendor who pulls onto the frontage road near south of Austin near Bud. The bus parks dangerously on the edge of the highway while the passengers jump out causing accidents of US citizens trying to avoid hitting them.
And there’s another bus that stops regularly at a convenience store in Temple, TX. That’s just two of the dozens around here. And ICE is nowhere to be found.
Just keep heading south. You'll get home.
I'm speechless.
Whatever happened to prosecuting "aiding and abetting criminal behavior"? I see a lot of targets here.
The three men boarded a jitney bus. The officer forced the men to get off.
One officer doing his job. Took something of a risk to some extent. I put the name of the lawyer for the men- Edward Sapone, on Google. Not to disrespect the man and his profession, but he is one sharp lawyer.
The problem is that it is likely that he does not see what his actions engender. That of massive sums of public monies going down the drain. Who suffers? Fellow called Doakes.
This incident really highlights what it’s all about- modern slavery.
It doesn’t just happen to illegals from Mexico either, many Chinese illegals are hidden away in NY City, to slave for pennies they may not get paid, and live in squalor provided usually by the employer.
Those that condone and support illegal labor in this country are promoting slavery- whether they admit it or not.
Now I know why you're a liberal.
Right. Don't hire them, but if you do, pay them as agreed. Keep your word, even to those who might be considered unworthy. Keep it or don't give it.
By this arch-conservative's math, a median (mid-point) $10 an hour (which is wages, not salary, BTW) times 40 hours a week, times 50 weeks a year (we'll give this hard-working immigrant 2 weeks vacation because we're so "progressive") comes out to $20,000 a year.
Don't ever accuse a reporter of being stupid or economically illiterate, because by the evidence above, you're clearly wrong.
/sarc
At one time illegal aliens primarily served as cheap labor in this country, but that has now changed. Now, you have entire sectors of the economy operating underground -- involving illegal aliens working as laborers . . . for illegal aliens running contracting business . . . who buy their supplies from illegal aliens running building supply businesses.
There is an enormous volume of "black market" commercial activity taking place in this country, and almost none of it is subject to taxation of any kind.
On a positive note, this also explains how the U.S. residential construction market could completely collapse in 2006-07, yet the unemployment numbers have hardly changed at all.
The illegals illegal activity is “honest” work.
It is also interesting that there is a call for regulating illegal activity.
The sentiments I expressed were those of a very jaded cynic, not a typical liberal.
“Coyotecatl-Aca” is an aztec name. The native mexicans are at the bottom of the social ladder there.
Read John 10:1. It has some nice words for illegal aliens. :0)
Thank you. I learn something every day.
And screw the investors and homeowners who lost their shirts in the latest mortgage scam!.... I sincerely doubt anyone who had any brains and credit lost anything.
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