Thread: The Diaz family, split by deportation, finds it difficult

A family torn apart struggles to survive

The Diaz family, split by deportation, finds it difficult

Tuesday, December 26, 2006

ESMERALDA BERMUDEZ

The Oregonian

Irma Diaz lives with the consequences of a 13-year-old decision to join her husband in the United States by illegally crossing the border with her two young children.

Two months ago, the 40-year-old and those children -- now young adults -- were deported to their native Guatemala. They left Irma's husband, Luis Diaz, and 12-year-old daughter, Jennifer, at their long-time home in Beaverton, where strong community support has all but faded along with their hopes for a pardon.

With 22-year-old Luis Jr. and 20-year-old Monica, Irma arrived Oct. 11 in Escuintla, a grimy world of poverty and danger. Children in saggy diapers toddle where mangy dogs traipse. Within the course of three nights soon after their return, the family came within yards of three killings and one hit-and-run.

They quickly found work at Hannah's Hope, an orphanage run by an Oregonian in Guatemala City. But they quit after two weeks because the area where they were living, the city's notorious Zone 1, was too dangerous.

"At night when we'd come home from work, and in the early morning, we'd walk past drunks, drug dealers and transvestites, and on the buses men would stick to us," Irma says. "I couldn't continue to expose Monica to those things."

Accustomed to having her husband make all decisions, Irma has become the head of the household in Guatemala.

She now helps her father at his bike repair shop, where most days only one or two customers drop by. Eventually, she would like to open a small diner where she can set up two or three tables and sell a few meals a day.

Luis Jr., who used to spend his time in Oregon working, attending community college classes and being with friends, has taken on the responsibilities of both father and husband in rural Guatemala. Today, he looks for work in Escuintla and nearby cities. Once, with contacts he found through the orphanage, he was paid to translate for U.S. couples looking to adopt Guatemalan children.

And Monica, whose charisma carried her as the Diazes' public voice in Oregon -- organizing rallies, delivering speeches, contacting legislators, writing to President Bush -- has all but given up.

She spends most days in the small brick house without running water that the family is buying in Escuintla -- some days in pajamas, mostly watching television -- afraid of going outside. Her aunt gave her a dog as a companion.

"I don't want to work. I don't want to go to school," she said, adding that she wants to return to Beaverton. "I know I have to move on, but I don't know how." Hoping for a policy change

The Diazes returned to Guatemala after losing a decadelong battle for political asylum, and overnight, their suburban Beaverton life ended and their family split.

Luis Diaz, 45, remains in the United States awaiting an appeal of his political asylum petition, which was rejected in May. His case is expected to be addressed next year and it's unlikely he will be allowed to stay, said Tilman Hasche, the family's attorney. If Luis also is returned to Guatemala, Jennifer, a U.S.-born citizen, will accompany him.

Luis hopes Congress will change federal immigration policy next year and allow the return of his wife and two older children.

Immigration is expected to be a hot topic on Capitol Hill with Democrats in the Senate and House majorities, but debates are bound to delay any agreement. And even if changes benefit the 12 million illegal immigrants living in the United States, it's questionable whether anything would allow the Diazes back in the country. "No joy in this house"

In their Beaverton mobile home, the soft-spoken landscaper who traveled illegally from Guatemala in 1990 leads a quiet existence with his daughter.

"She has me and I have her, but it still doesn't feel good," Luis said. "There's no joy in this house. Only silence."

Nightly, they use calling cards to talk with family in Escuintla.

In early November, there was an outpouring of community support for the family after The Oregonian told their story. The Jenny Diaz Reunite My Family Foundation was formed with a mission of bringing the family back together in Oregon. A Web Site -- www.reunitejenny.com -- was launched, and after several weekend meetings, two small rallies were held in downtown Portland.

But donations were never collected, and efforts have faded with the holiday season. Hasche said he hopes supporters will come together again early next year.

For now, Luis is helping his wife and kids by using the $12,000 he collected from selling their double-wide mobile home. The two have moved into a smaller mobile home, which may be donated by the park where they live.

Irma said losing the house was painful. It took many years to pay it off, and now the money from the sale could be spent in a year or two covering living expenses in Guatemala.

"There are days when I don't want to think about the future," Irma said. "I can only live by the day. (Back in Beaverton) we were almost done seeing Monica and Luis fly out on their own, but now that's all in the past."

Esmeralda Bermudez: 503-221-4388; ebermudez@news.oregonian.com



©2006 The Oregonian

Within the course of three nights soon after their return, the family came within yards of three killings and one hit-and-run.

Funny, thanks to the masses of illegals now invading my hometown, I have to live with the exact same things here in America.

There are poor people all over the world. Why don't the people that go back to their countries start making their countries better.

We cannot afford the whole world. We have poor people, drug dealers, murders, poverty in this country too. Thumbing your nose at our immigration laws is not the answer. Stand in the visa line. I would like to here about how these South American countries are helping their people. What are some legal ways they plan to help them. All I here is excuses.

Now I'm reading how our laws 'forced' them to fake IDs.

http://www.bluelatinos.org/node/521#comment

The Swift Raids is the new front in the war on immigrants. Instead of creating an immigration system that allows for immigrants to work in dignity, the federal government decided to destroy immigrant families. The Swift raids only left a trail of destruction in communities that want nothing else but to be full members of our society. Make no mistake: immigrant works desperately want to work in the full light of day, but our broken laws forces them to seek fake ids to survive. Immigrant workers can only react to the inane immigration laws that our lawmakers create. The Swift Raids is another shameful stain on us all.


» JQ's blog
Is ANYONE listening to us
JRios; Wednesday, December 20, 2006 - 17:07

Is ANYONE listening to us Mr. Quinonez? I think we are going to have to march again...what say you?
Joel Rios
Disposable Hispanic America

They made their bed and now they can sleep in it. I guess they were never taught if they do something wrong that sooner or later they will be caught.

I see this sort of situation happening too often they should have used the money they sent home to expand the sources of income in Escuintla, Guatemala and instead bought prepared food and a house or brought a relative here.

Originally Posted by BetsyRoss

Now I'm reading how our laws 'forced' them to fake IDs.

http://www.bluelatinos.org/node/521#comment

The Swift Raids is the new front in the war on immigrants. Instead of creating an immigration system that allows for immigrants to work in dignity, the federal government decided to destroy immigrant families. The Swift raids only left a trail of destruction in communities that want nothing else but to be full members of our society. Make no mistake: immigrant works desperately want to work in the full light of day, but our broken laws forces them to seek fake ids to survive. Immigrant workers can only react to the inane immigration laws that our lawmakers create. The Swift Raids is another shameful stain on us all.


» JQ's blog
Is ANYONE listening to us
JRios; Wednesday, December 20, 2006 - 17:07

Is ANYONE listening to us Mr. Quinonez? I think we are going to have to march again...what say you?
Joel Rios
Disposable Hispanic America

BlueLatinos is a real piece of work. "Progressive Latinos" who only care about getting the raza in so they can change the country into a Socialist society--one that favors their ethnic group and the heck with the rest of Americans. They praised the Socialists who attacked the minutemen at Columbia U.

As far as having another march--I think that is an excellent idea! It worked so well for them. It really got my attention. Before the marches I knew there was a problem with illegal immigration, but the marches made me aware of the extent of the problem and galvanized me into action. Yes, I think another march is in order.

How sad. They sneak into a country, get free medical, free education for the kids and then the US born child was like winning the lottery. Now they get food stamps, a monthly stipend and all that goes with it. No wonder they are so sad. They are hoping to return to this "free country" so they can get everything free and carry on their marches and bring their crime. All, at a cost to law abiding citizens. It's discraceful. Hopefully, Washington has done it's homework and sees the destruction illegal immigration brings to the citizens of this country.

This post is from Tom Brokaws blog. Does anybody have sympathy for this man's family??



I am the father of a five boys. I am a fifty-nine year old Vietnam veteran. My father is an eighty-five year old veteran of the Pacific war. We are both diagnosed with PTSD. You could say that we sacrificed a significant part of our lives for this nation.

I am a single father and have a twenty year old son. He graduated from high school, but has had a hard time finding appropriate employment. He did have a good job with the forest service this summer and his supervisor related to me that he was a good worker.

About a year ago, we had an immigration scare in central Oregon. Immediately, people who were not legal stopped coming to work. During this time my son got a job doing construction clean up. He was not making fourteen dollars an hour. He did have a job and he was proud of going to work each day and performing his work duties. He was also very happy with getting a paycheck.

After a few weeks, the immigration scare calmed down. One day my son went to work and his boss had hired a man to work with him. This man was Mexican and spoke no english. This man was obviously in our country outside of the law. After a few days of training his new assistant my son’s boss told him he was not needed any more and fired him.

On the day after Christmas 2006 Tom Brokaw said, “In many parts of the country immigrants are doing the work Americans no longer want to do, especially the hard work of manual labor at construction sites.”

Let me assure you, Mr. Brokaw that my son wanted that job. Let me assure you that he was crushed to loose it to someone who obviously had no legal status in this country that I and my father defended. Let me assure you that I witnessed the significant negative psychological impact this episode had on my son concerning his ability to go out and work.

I have tried to teach my children the importance of playing by the rules. Let me assure you Mr. Brokaw, that these people are R******R who are aware that they are not here legally. Their very first act upon entering the United States is to intentionally violate American law and sovereignty. How can anyone thinking clearly support this kind of element being introduced into our homeland to unfairly compete with our own children?

Apparently, Mr. Brokaw, your choice is to spread the diatribe that “Americans don’t want to work”. Americans are not afraid of work. They want to be fairly compensated and treated with dignity. The illegal residents you support with your view are here out of desperation and would eat dung for two bucks an hour. That is obviously not a level playing field. This will lead to a generation of Americans losing hope. Your desire, by this statement, is to propagate the myth that “American’s don’t want to work”.

My father’s great generation has a saying, “You can go to Hell.” Well Mr. Brokaw, I am not going to tell you what to do. What I am going to do is not allow you into my home. Let your advertisers know that as far as I am concerned, they should put their investment into a different network.

Jack USA (Sent Dec 26, 2006 3:27:09 PM)

noyoucannot, yes I too think another march would wake up even more people.

This columnist works for The Oregonian, but is not one of their top reporters. Her name is on every Latino story in the state, as well as all of the stories about illegal immigration. I firmly believe this is the same woman who during my rally in downtown Portland was hounding me for information, then asked if I considered myself middle class or upper middle class? I told her neither, we lived on one income, less than 25,000 yearly and homeschooled our kids. She said thank you, and left promptly. I think my answer did not fit her angle of how she wanted to represent me, the organizer of that rally, as a well to do white woman who hated all people of other races.

The story was never in that paper or any others in the area, which means she decided that if she could not represent Americans against illegal immigration as mean white rich people, and the illegals as the "poor" ones, then she would simply omit the truth and not tell the public that even the financially poor in America want illegal immigration ended.

As well, I also saw her leaving the area and talking very closely with one of the anarchists down there. I have a feeling that this woman is a car carrying member of many of the anti-American Latino groups, and is a believer in Aztlan.