Thread: Aboard deportation flight to Guatemala, vows to return

Published: Oct. 14, 2010
Updated: 1:49 p.m.

Aboard deportation flight to Guatemala, vows to return

BY CINDY CARCAMO
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTERStory Highlights

A reporter and photographer from the Register documented the flight of 117 deportees who were returned by federal immigration officials to Guatemala City.

ABOARD A DEPORTATION FLIGHT - The debate over illegal immigration is often dominated by the loudest voices. But some of the people at the issue's core barely whispered as a plane roared off an Arizona desert tarmac to return them to their lush, jungle-like home country.

Faces drained of emotion. Eyes vacant. Shoulders slumped.

Behind these sober masks, many of the 117 detainees on a recent deportation flight bound for Guatemala City had come to terms with what they considered a failure.

As the 4½-hour flight neared its destination, several imagined their reunions with family long left behind – now older versions of the images on the scruffy photos in their pockets. Some lamented the thousands of dollars still owed to their smugglers. Others planned an eventual return, drawn by the pay and family in the U.S.

These are the circumstances of just some of the thousands deported every year by Immigration and Customs Enforcement removal flights bound for world-wide destinations every day. Click here for graphic that explains the process.
As of Sep. 18 of this fiscal year, 158,964 people have been deported on flight operations bound to cities around the world – from Honduras to Germany. During the same time, ICE officials deported nearly 18 percent of those people – 28,204 – to Guatemala City.

Guatemalans make up the second highest number of those deported from the United States, according to ICE statistics. The largest number of deportees are from Mexico.

Immigrant rights activists paint those in the country illegally as the poorest, most vulnerable in society – the exploited backbone of the American economy.

Anti-illegal immigration activists consider them to be job-stealers, invaders and leeches who are contributing to the eventual downfall of an overly generous U.S. system.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials on the flight escorting the deportees from the Arizona Removal Operations Coordination Center in Mesa simply see them as a manifestation of supply and demand.

"They're economic refugees," said Eduardo L. Preciado, ICE assistant field office director of detention and removal operations in Arizona. Another official nodded in approval

"I think the overwhelming majority of folks apprehended along the border come here for work," Preciado said. "Their countries can't provide jobs for their people and they can come to the U.S. It's economy-driven illegal immigration."

THE DEPORTED

The most typical stories are those similar to that of Juan Sebastian Chavez, who hails from a community made up of a handful of families – mostly indigenous. The 42-year-old resembled most of the plane's deportees – high cheekbones, weathered complexions and small frames.
Chavez, who speaks Mam – one of Guatemala's 23 officially recognized Amerindian languages – told his story in Spanish.

He said he left his wife and children in Colcoquitz – an area in the southwest of Guatemala, close to Mexico -- that was devastated by Hurricane Stan five years ago. The storm washed the topsoil from the land in his community, making it difficult for residents to plant corn, a staple of the Guatemalan diet. The area still hasn't recovered, Chavez explained.
"There are no fields to work," he said.

Desperate to feed his family, Chavez borrowed what is equivalent to $1,250 at 15 percent interest to make his way to a job in Tennessee. He was caught on his way north about a month ago.

"When you leave your home for this journey... you either lose or win," he said.

While excited to see his family members, who hadn't heard from him since he'd left, he said he was worried about how to pay back the debt.
He tries to remain optimistic because he believes it's not good to wallow.

He may consider traveling to Chiapas, Mexico, just north of Guatemala, to cultivate coffee.

"We'll see what I'll do," he said. "I'm just glad I still have my life."

Chavez is one in a majority – 104 deportees – on the flight without a prior criminal conviction. The act of being in the country illegally is a chargeable misdemeanor offense when someone first overstays their visa or crosses into the country illegally. However, federal officials do not prosecute the overwhelming majority of cases because the system is already severely impacted, ICE officials said. The majority of deportations are treated as civil administrative offenses the first time.

Instead, resources during this presidential administration have refocused on going after the "worst of the worst" in the country illegally. Those in the country illegally who are also convicted of a crime—from petty theft, DUI to homicide -- are classified by ICE officials as "criminal aliens."

On deportation flights they're marked by shackled knees and hands until about 20 minutes before the plane arrives at their country of origin.

About 31 percent of Guatemalan deportees had a criminal background in fiscal year 2010, according to ICE statistics. On this particular flight bound for Guatemala, 13 deportees had some sort of criminal background.

Delmo Gonzalez, 23, lived in Citrus Heights, near Sacramento, for five years. He said he got into a scuffle with his wife, assaulting her during a fight. Some of his gold-capped teeth glistened as he smiled and shyly told his story in Spanish.

"The neighbors called the police," he explained.

Aside from his wife, Gonzalez left behind a 5-year-old daughter.

"I'm going to return. I need to see my wife, get back to my family," he said. "Maybe I'll go back next year. I'm going to take a few months of vacation first."

SOME RETURN

It's quite common to see a person on a deportation flight and then on another a few months later, Preciado said.

"You'd be surprised," he said. "Some smile and say, 'see you in a month.' Or 'See you in two weeks.'"
Preciado said he doesn't mind the comments so much.

"Keep in mind, any re-entry is a felony. Every time folks come back and are removed again they'll get prosecuted and their time in prison keeps growing," he explained.

Once a person is deported, they face 2 to 20 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000 for a federal violation.

ICE works with the U.S. Attorney's office to prosecute such cases, but priority is given to cases for those with an immigration and criminal record.

This is the third time Melvin Eliceo Súchite Hernandez has been on a deportation flight back to his country on the American taxpayer's dime, ICE officials said.

The federal government spends $560 per deportee per voyage on these chartered flights to Latin America, according to 2010 ICE data. Most planes are chartered by the agency in an effort to keep costs down, ICE officials said.

According to ICE records, it doesn't appear that Súchite was charged or served prison time for his multiple reentries.

The 25-year-old, the youngest boy of 13 siblings, crossed illegally into the U.S. in 2005 after his third attempt. He had been deported by Mexican authorities on his first try and then U.S. Border Patrol the second time around. After making at least $1,300 a week working on gas lines in the Wyoming desert, he soon paid the $5,000 he borrowed from his brother and saved enough to buy several plots of land back home and send money to his elderly mother and father.

The Wyoming desert was a departure from the lush, tropical landscape where his family spends leisure time on two hammocks strewn across their front porch. He grew homesick after a little more than two years and returned to his tropical village of San Juan Buena Vista.

"Sometimes money isn't everything," he said and smiled.
However, he soon grew weary of the ever-worsening job prospects in the town of 300 and opted to make the journey north once more.
This time, he said, he'd try on his own.

Súchite made sure to take notes the first time he was guided by a smuggler. He simply followed the route but was soon caught by Border Patrol agents, three-and-a-half hours into the Sonoran desert.

Súchite who is considered a Ladino -- a mix of Spanish and indigenous blood -- is savvier and more educated than a typical deportee. Many who are in the country illegally barely have a primary education.

He completed high school -- an achievement compared to Guatemalan standards where 30 percent of the population is illiterate and the average person only makes it to 10th grade, according to government statistics.

"God knows why things don't work out," Súchite said about his deportation.

He doesn't plan a return to the U.S. He said his life is in Guatemala.
He'll miss the pay, but he's not as torn as those who've built their lives in the U.S., he said.

It's not unusual to see people deported after having spent decades in the country illegally, Preciado said. Most in that category are fugitives who were caught in the country years ago but released and ordered to appear in court at a future date.

Preciado, who says he believes in some sort of comprehensive immigration reform that includes a strong guest worker program, says he's a realist.

"It's never going to end," he said of the visa overstays and unlawful entries. "Personally, I don't think I'll see illegal immigration stopping in my lifetime."

'BAGS FLY FOR FREE'

The process of repatriating a deportee back to their country begins as soon as a person is captured in the U.S. illegally, Preciado said. Some deportees choose to fight their case with the federal courts while others are voluntarily removed.

Before this particular flight, the Guatemalans were processed overnight. Hours later, something of an orchestrated event began.

Contract security agents approached the deportees, patting down each of their small figures for about half a minute, searching for anything that could be used as a weapon. The smell of jet fuel wafted as they directed the deportees toward the rear of the plane for boarding.
Few looked back.

Some had never been inside a commercial airplane; their eyes darted about with curiosity.

Just outside, an agent finished loading the last of the luggage into the bowels of the plane.

Preciado pointed to the mess of mostly brown paper bags and dark-colored backpacks still on the tarmac.

Those with the ICE-issued brown bags were likely caught crossing the border with just a few things in their possession, he explained.

"We like to say bags fly for free," Preciado joked later.

At least one security agent is assigned to every 10 deportees for security reasons, Preciado said.

On a normal flight -- without media onboard -- only one official on the plane is an ICE agent. Everyone else is contracted out, from the nurse on board to the pilots and flight attendants who wore something akin to Southwest Airlines outfits.

It could have been like any other commercial domestic flight.

After the flight ascended, reaching its plateau, agents stood up and affixed themselves along the aisle, eyeing the deportees carefully.

Many of the deportees wore the same grimy clothes they had on while caught crossing, so the plane had the smell of a locker room.

Some looked outside the windows, lost in the clouds and endless sky. Others anxiously rubbed their arms as if trying to console themselves.

Many of the Guatemalans slept, awakened by announcements of two escorted bathroom breaks and a sacked lunch that consisted of a cheese sandwich and juice box.

Soon after, they buckled their seatbelts and braced themselves for what was supposed to be the end of their journey.

For many it was just the beginning

'WELCOME TO YOUR COUNTRY'

Some breathed a sigh of relief. Others nervously smiled, scratching their heads as if just awoken. A few hurriedly covered their faces with their hands and T-shirts, hiding from the local Guatemalan press who were there to document their arrivals with cameras and pens.

Slowly they filed into a gray concrete building that serves as a welcome center for migrants.

Inside, they grabbed a sacked lunch and were asked to sit down – a captive audience to about a half dozen Guatemalan immigration officials in white polo shirts.

Above them a sign read: "Ya estás en tu paÃ*s y con tu gente, It ko chupan ri a tinamit ki kin ri ka winiäg." Written in Spanish and Quiché, the phrase translates into "You are now in your country and with your people."

The men devoured their meals and looked up as an immigration official greeted them with his best pitch.

"Welcome back to your country, young men," he said. "Because there are people who leave and never return."

Contact the writer: 714-796-7924 or ccarcamo@ocregister.com

http://www.ocregister.com/news/-271145--.html

The 25-year-old, the youngest boy of 13 siblings , crossed illegally into the U.S. in 2005 after his third attempt. He had been deported by Mexican authorities on his first try and then U.S. Border Patrol the second time around. After making at least $1,300 a week working on gas lines in the Wyoming desert, he soon paid the $5,000 he borrowed from his brother and saved enough to buy several plots of land back home and send money to his elderly mother and father.

The Wyoming desert was a departure from the lush, tropical landscape where his family spends leisure time on two hammocks strewn across their front porch. He grew homesick after a little more than two years and returned to his tropical village of San Juan Buena Vista.

Can't be that bad if they can afford to have 14 kids and have leisure time to swing on hammocks. With that many people they can grow their own food. WHere did his brother come up with $5k to lend him if they're so poor? Sick of hearing these ridiculous stories. They don't elicit sympathy from me.[/b]

That's if the Zetas don't get you!

Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

Published: Oct. 14, 2010
Updated: 1:49 p.m.

Aboard deportation flight to Guatemala, vows to return

"I'm going to return. I need to see my wife, get back to my family," he said. "Maybe I'll go back next year. I'm going to take a few months of vacation first."

The 25-year-old, the youngest boy of 13 siblings, crossed illegally into the U.S. in 2005 after his third attempt. He had been deported by Mexican authorities on his first try and then U.S. Border Patrol the second time around. After making at least $1,300 a week working on gas lines in the Wyoming desert, he soon paid the $5,000 he borrowed from his brother and saved enough to buy several plots of land back home and send money to his elderly mother and father.

$1300 a week? I guess no American was interested in making this kind of money.....

Originally Posted by NoBueno

$1300 a week? I guess no American was interested in making this kind of money..... :roll: :roll:

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alot of people say negative things about sauadi arabia , but in some ways i think they have it right ...

i bet if this was SA , that they would cut off a finger of every person who crossed their border illegaly and send them on their way ... no need to jail them for 2 to 20 years , you just keep cutting off one finger each time you catch them in the country .. and it wouldn't be hard to spot them if they snuck back in ..

while some might say it's not humane , it WOULD be effective ...

JohnDoe2
One large problem with that is "you can apply but it does not mean that you will be hired" I am finding a lot of things online here that say they are hiring but apply for any of these jobs and you get rejected(if you hear from them at all)

I also found out that there are companies that will hire only visa holders (which is really against the law,since they are suppose to hire American labor first).

These flights are costing US a lot of money. Why the heck do they need flight attendants and a nurse on board?

Finish the fence, huck em' over, and let mexico deport them, pay backs a bitch!

"Maybe I'll go back next year. I'm going to take a few months of vacation first."

"Some smile and say, 'see you in a month.' Or 'See you in two weeks.'"

"Keep in mind, any re-entry is a felony. Every time folks come back and are removed again they'll get prosecuted and their time in prison keeps growing," he explained.

Once a person is deported, they face 2 to 20 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000 for a federal violation.

This is the third time Melvin Eliceo Súchite Hernandez has been on a deportation flight back to his country on the American taxpayer's dime, ICE officials said.

According to ICE records, it doesn't appear that Súchite was charged or served prison time for his multiple reentries.