Mexican day laborer: "I don't want my children here

[jimpasz]

The Big Blog
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/theb ... 121317.asp
Mexican day laborer: "I don't want my children here"
If you want to find work in manual labor in Seattle, you go to Western Avenue near the Alaskan Way viaduct, where I spoke with Luis Son Tuesday.

If you want the best-paying work, though, you go to the sidewalk by the Home Depot on South Utah Street in Sodo.


Ricardo Boiso Franco is saving money for his four kids and the house he's building in Mexico City.There, 30-year-old Ricardo Boiso Franco chatted with some of the dozens waiting with him, sitting on the curb or standing with their hands in their pockets until a truck came by with an offer. About 117,600 day laborers are looking for jobs or working around the U.S., according to a 2006 study. (For more on the study and day laborers' struggles, read this story by the P-I's John Iwasaki).

Two security guards watched them from the Home Depot parking lot across the street. They've been there about two years, making sure nobody causes trouble. Neighborhood tensions over the day laborers' presence there have been on the rise for at least two years. The P-I's Vanessa Ho described the conflicts in a 2005 story.

Franco left his family behind to come to Seattle more than two years ago. Although he's able to find work here on a regular basis, he said, he wouldn't want his children in Seattle. "Here, people just go bad," he said.

Here's what else he had to say, translated from Spanish:

Why are you here?

"I'm here because I want to do something in the future for me, for my children, for my whole family -- to live better. I come three, four times a week. I almost always find work. Of course, every now and then I don't, but you can't take it as a reason to stop. You have to do what you have to do."

How do your employers treat you?

"Like everything, we have good and bad bosses. As long as they pay, it's OK. Sometimes you get some that don't want to pay you, but in any case, it's OK."

What do your kids think of what you're doing?

"They're OK, and I'm OK. They're not in need of anything. That's why we're here, to do well, to send them what they need so they can study and so they don't lack something. The only thing they say is, 'When are you coming home?' But here we are so that they can study, then we'll go back.

Where do you hope to see your children in 20 years?

"I want them to have a house and have everything they need, and that they dedicate themselves to their studies so they won't be suffering and coming here -- since people come here for want of education and money."

Would you like them to come live in Seattle?

"No, I don't want my children here because here people just go bad."

What do you mean?

"I know a woman here who has a daughter, and when she comes back from work, she finds her drugged up, or drunk, or gone away with her friends somewhere. So, she just went bad."

What's your ultimate goal?

"To put together all the money I can to finish building my house in Mexico and start some business."

What's your definition of a good life?

"To work, not be vicious, and go forward in life, praying that God makes everything go well."

Who else in Seattle should the Big Blog speak to? please e-mail me your suggestions.

P.S. -- Thank you to the commenters who suggested questions in yesterday's post. I went a few hours before you posted them, but if I do this again, I'll be sure to keep them in mind.

Posted by Monica Guzman at September 6, 2007 4:54 p.m.
· Return to Mexican day laborer: "I don't want my children here"
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/prin ... yID=121317

[ChicagoEd58]

We do't want your children here either!

[jjmm]

Honestly, would you or could you be proud of yourself if you went to another country and just USED IT for your own gain? You willingly went into it, worked, didn't pay any taxes, and just sent all of the money home? You had no future plans to contribute to the country in any way ...just to take from it?

HOW can these people look at themselves in the mirror everyday. I would be ashamed of myself for being such a taker. Must not be something they are too concerned about.

[NoIllegalsAllowed]

They're getting everything and we're getting nothing.

They're getting huge houses back in mexico, while Americans are being foreclosed on.

They're getting free healthcare while Americans have to struggle to pay for healthcare.

They're getting free food and clothes while Americans have to budget.

They're being told it's ok to irresponsibly reproduce without financial means to pay for the kids while Americans are told to delay having children until they can afford to.

We're being told to speak their language.

They have no problem getting charity and social services while Americans are asked questions and made to feel uncomfortable or denied services. In fact the government and charities are chasing them around to give them stuff.

They can break the law with impunity, while we have to obey it.

Again, They're getting everything and we're getting nothing.

[redlander]

However fortunate or unfortunate, all of these illegal aliens have a way out of this, – yes, a get-out-of-jail-free-card for all of them (who are smart enough to grab it; many are grabbing, too!).

All an illegal alien has to do is turn himself into Immigration or the Border Patrol and say that they are turning themselves in for deportation, and they will be deported with no problem. If they sold off all of their possessions and just have some money to take back with them (as they already wired their cash to themselves, back home, they can keep their money. As of this writing, I can see no reason to stop this, as it gives the illegal alien and his family a safe journey back, with no big losses and, the can still apply for legal entry to the US, as he did not have a court process! For, now that is ok to have a ‘self-amnesty’ way-out.

Otherwise, for those illegal aliens who are caught, the government will revoke all ill-gotten documents and privileges that these illegal invaders gained by open, willful and deliberate fraud. The authorities of the United States are then required to assess the amount of all benefits wrongfully received and collect the sums in full. This also includes back taxes for the State, and Federal Governments, with no deductions (as there are none when there is a failure to file, or it is fraudulent. So back taxes are due immediately, as with Americans (who have their home and everything stripped from them in such cases)

[redlander]

Report & Deport ILLEGAL ALIENS--- National I.C.E Number: 1 (866) 347-2423

Use the number below to get your local Detention and Removal Immigration office number. This might expedite the process of deporting the illegal aliens out of our country.

National Federal information: 1 (800) 333-4636

Detention & Removal Immigration offices numbers:

Los Angeles: (213) 830-7911
San Diego: (619) 557-6117
San Francisco: (415) 844-5512

[LegalUSCitizen]

They should go home and we want them to go home because OUR children DESERVE and have a RIGHT to
have a government which will PROTECT THEM by ENFORCING our country's immigration laws.

YOU HAVE BROKEN OUR LAWS WHICH EXIST TO KEEP OUR CHILDREN SAFE, GET OUT AND GET OUT NOW!!