Thread: Counselor has message for illegal immigrants

http://www.thesunchronicle.com/articles ... cial96.txt




Byron Ortega works in Attleboro's East Side neighborhood, where he grew up.
BY RICK FOSTER / SUN CHRONICLE STAFF
ATTLEBORO - As a legal Guatemalan immigrant who assists the city’s Spanish-speaking newcomers with health care and other problems, Byron Ortega says he’d like to stay neutral in the current debate over illegal immigration.

But he’s clearly not neutral when it comes to those who abuse the system - whether they be illegal immigrants who steal identification numbers to gain access to jobs and benefits or employers who exploit illegal aliens desperate for work.

Ortega, 28, came to the United States with his parents as a child and currently is a social worker with Catholic Social Services in Attleboro. He’s working towards U.S. citizenship and aids immigrants in finding health insurance, free medical clinics and other sources of assistance.

Identity theft

Recently Ortega discovered that an illegal immigrant had stolen his identity to gain access to employment, running up a $21,000 income tax bill with the IRS.

He says he’s also witnessed abuses of illegal workers in the construction industry and says immigrants are sometimes assigned hazardous jobs without proper safety equipment.

Ortega, who aspires to become a police officer, says he was reared to respect the law and to believe that people should use legal means to achieve their dreams.

At the same time, he can’t help but pity those he says he sees at the mercy of exploiters - first from smugglers they must pay to spirit them across the Mexican border, then later by unscrupulous business owners who pay minimum wage and force immigrants to work long hours with no benefits.

The Attleboro resident says he gets his information from immigrants he meets on and off the job and from personal observations in the community.

"For people to cross the border to get here, it’s very dangerous," Ortega said. "Many who start out don’t make it."

Smuggling operation

In the Tijuana region, Ortega says, all smuggling is controlled by a single organization. Immigrants pay a premium to travel from their country to get to the United States.

With no guarantee of success, immigrants with little more than the clothes on their backs might be led across deserts, carried in trucks or spirited through tunnels to reach this country.

For many - especially women - the price of passage from smugglers can entail much more than money. Rape and sexual exploitation by smugglers is not uncommon, he says.

Immigrants, often without jobs or more than a subsistence income at home, usually come to the United States with the dream of making a new start or earning enough money to buy land or have a better life back home, Ortega said.

Too frequently, the dream turns to dust.

Illegals arrive in America to find that housing costs are high and that good jobs are harder to get than they thought, Ortega said. Many work as temporary laborers with little security and no benefits.

Often they are paid minimum wage and their bosses work them 12 to 14 hours a day, he said. If they get hurt, they’re fired.

Dignity is also at a premium.

Ortega says he sometimes sees men he suspects of being illegal immigrants carrying heavy loads of building materials for white contractors at local stores. At times, he’s witnessed shocking demonstrations of disrespect.

"One time one of these bosses kicked one of his men in the butt," Ortega said. "So I asked this man in Spanish why doesn’t he tell him to stop."

Ortega said the man told him that the boss was "only joking."

But to Ortega, it seemed clear that the worker was in no position to stand up to an employer who could easily fire him or report him to immigration authorities.

Ortega now counsels the city’s Spanish-speaking residents, many of them recent immigrants, on gaining access to health care. Since few are enrolled in health plans at work, many are referred to state-subsidized care or, if they have no documentation that they are in the country legally, to a free clinic in Taunton.

Based on his experience, the Attleboro social worker estimates as many as 80 percent of recent Spanish-speaking immigrants in the area are undocumented.

Ortega grew up on Attleboro’s East Side, where he was often called on to translate for Spanish-speaking adults in the neighborhood. He says his parents taught him respect for authority and a proper way of doing things.

"I don’t think my parents would have walked on the wrong side of the street," he said. "They believed that if you wanted something, you worked for it."

So he was flabbergasted recently when he received a stern letter from the Internal Revenue Service stating that he owed the government $23,000 in unpaid federal income tax. The problem was, it wasn’t Ortega who owed it.

"My identity was stolen," said Ortega, who traced the bill back to the employer of a Rhode Island resident and illegal alien who was using Ortega’s name.

With help from local law enforcement officials, Ortega deduced that someone had stolen personal documents out of his mail box and used them to masquerade under his name.

The local resident is only now managing to erase the damage to his record and reputation.

How to reach Ortega

In the meantime, Ortega is doing his best to see that other Spanish-speaking immigrants get the benefit of his experience.

Catholic Social Services, which has an office in Attleboro, also offers assistance with housing problems and abstinence education for young people. Ortega can be reached at the office at 508-226-4780

So he was flabbergasted recently when he received a stern letter from the Internal Revenue Service stating that he owed the government $23,000 in unpaid federal income tax. The problem was, it wasn’t Ortega who owed it.

"My identity was stolen," said Ortega, who traced the bill back to the employer of a Rhode Island resident and illegal alien who was using Ortega’s name.

With help from local law enforcement officials, Ortega deduced that someone had stolen personal documents out of his mail box and used them to masquerade under his name.

The local resident is only now managing to erase the damage to his record and reputation.

No good deed goes unpunished.

Ortega now counsels the city’s Spanish-speaking residents, many of them recent immigrants, on gaining access to health care. Since few are enrolled in health plans at work, many are referred to state-subsidized care or, if they have no documentation that they are in the country legally, to a free clinic in Taunton.

Maybe I should call him.....I'm sick of paying 500.00 a month for lousy health care.

One of my friends had gone to DES to get her boyfriend signed up for healthcare insurance and he was told that an illegal immigrant was using his social #. That same friend works at a bike/atv shop and she said that an illegal came in with a cash assistance card and used it to put a downpayment on a 4-wheeler. I think the abuse needs to stop!!!!!

Once again we have an article about the abuse of illegals. I think that's very interesting. No one seems to see the abuse of the American taxpayer...that we're the ones who actually bear the brunt of their illegal entry in this country..that it's our health services that suffer...its our safety net they're exploiting.

If people entering illegally get 'exploited'...WTH...they ASKED for it. We didn't.

Stop with the tears and snot for the damned theives and liars. Start thinking about Americans who provided these services for other Americans...not the criminally minded people from other nations who have provided NOTHING to this country and will continue to do just that for OUR benefit. NOTHING.

Grrrrrr

MJ

Azmomof2 WELCOME to Alipac!

Nice to have you

Originally Posted by Darlene

So he was flabbergasted recently when he received a stern letter from the Internal Revenue Service stating that he owed the government $23,000 in unpaid federal income tax. The problem was, it wasn’t Ortega who owed it.

"My identity was stolen," said Ortega, who traced the bill back to the employer of a Rhode Island resident and illegal alien who was using Ortega’s name.

With help from local law enforcement officials, Ortega deduced that someone had stolen personal documents out of his mail box and used them to masquerade under his name.

The local resident is only now managing to erase the damage to his record and reputation.

No good deed goes unpunished.


[quote:1morxvck]Ortega now counsels the city’s Spanish-speaking residents, many of them recent immigrants, on gaining access to health care. Since few are enrolled in health plans at work, many are referred to state-subsidized care or, if they have no documentation that they are in the country legally, to a free clinic in Taunton.

Maybe I should call him.....I'm sick of paying 500.00 a month for lousy health care. [/quote:1morxvck]

I feel your pain, my husband pays $580 a month for a family of 5. And yes, the insurance is lousy