Thread: Homeland last trip for many late immigrants

http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll ... 10333/1075

Homeland last trip for many late immigrants
By JOEL MARINO
jmarino@news-press.com
Originally posted on August 21, 2006

Ivan Rafael Mares Martinez, 23, saved most of the money he earned at a pool-construction company in Fort Myers to help his mother move from a cardboard shack into a sturdy house in the Mexican town of Miguel Hidalgo.

Half a decade after leaving his family, Martinez is returning home.

On Aug. 6, Martinez lost control of his pickup truck while driving on a rain-soaked stretch of Interstate 75. The truck burst into flames after hitting a tree by the Colonial Avenue off-ramp.

Martinez and a passenger were burned beyond recognition.

"When a Mexican dies here, it's tradition to send him back to his country," said Martinez's brother-in-law, Jose de Jesus Alvarez, who has been handling the arrangements. "That's why we're sending his body back to his family."

Alvarez's decision is one that many immigrants in Southwest Florida face when their dreams of working and living here end tragically.

Families want their loved ones' remains returned to their homeland to be laid to rest.

It costs thousands of dollars to return the bodies to their countries. Often, friends, relatives and churches legislation to limit the numbers of illegal immigrants, there are no laws regulating what should be done when they die in the United States.

"There are no federal or state mandates requiring bodies be sent back to their countries," said Jorge Lomonaco, consul general of the Mexican Consulate in Miami. "Families are free to choose to bury them here if they want."

A growing service

According to Lomonaco, 140 Mexican nationals who died in Florida last year were returned home, an act called repatriation.

Carla Cruz, a spokeswoman for the Guatemalan consulate in Miami, said the remains of 40 of her countrymen have been sent back so far this year.

John O'Shaughnessy, funeral director at Anderson Funeral Home of Fort Myers, has seen the rise of such cases in the past 10 years especially because of the growth of the Hispanic population.

Anderson has handled 25 repatriations since 2005. Most were Mexicans or Guatemalans — the largest illegal immigrant groups in Southwest Florida, O'Shaughnessy said.

Most of the deaths were caused by accidents at work and vehicle or bicycle-related accidents.

The average cost for one repatriation is about $5,000, which O'Shaughnessy said could be about the same as purchasing cemetery property such as vaults.

The cost covers transporting the body to Miami International Airport, the body's container, shipping fees and air cargo costs, all of which are handled by the chosen funeral home.

"The price also depends on the family's choices. For example, it'd be cheaper to choose cremation, but almost no one does it because it goes against their religious beliefs," O'Shaughnessy said.

Beyond costs

Victor Caviedes, parochial vicar for the San Jose and Jesus Obrero Catholic missions in Fort Myers, has counseled the families of deceased immigrants, including Martinez's. He has also accompanied remains to Guatemala two times.

The decision to choose repatriation is rooted in a need to maintain ties with something familiar, a need that goes beyond any cost, he said.

"I get workers coming to me and saying, 'When I die, I want to die in my country.' They want to be buried in the land of their families because they want to, not because they have to," Caviedes said.

Caviedes' last trip to Guatemala was in July, when he flew with the the remains of a young man to the poor town of San Miguel Acatan.

He said men and women covered in dirt thronged to the town's decaying church to pay their last respects.

"There is much poverty there; people living in houses made of cardboard or mud. Their relatives in Florida send them money to build concrete houses, to have a life, and once that income is gone, there's nowhere else they can turn for aid," Caviedes said.

The Diocese of Venice, which covers Lee County, neither endorses nor prohibits repatriation, said Peter Routsis-Arroyo, director of Catholic Charities of Lee County.

The diocese also does not oppose church collection drives for the purpose of repatriation.

"We try to help, given our limited resources. But a lot of the time, it's the community that shows the most support," Routsis-Arroyo said.

As pastor of Esmirna Pentecostal Church in Fort Myers, Rafael Santiago has a congregation of 200, most of whom are Guatemalan.

An entire immigrant community can be affected by a single death, he said.

"I've seen family members or friends going door-to-door with pictures of the dead, asking for donations," Santiago said.

After a congregant died a year ago, Santiago said the entire church attended the funeral. Some mourners placed items such as bits of money, food and pictures in the coffin, mementos that accompanied the body home to its resting place.

"I teach what the Bible says, but they have their own folk traditions, and I have to respect that," Santiago said. "It's what brings them together."

Going home

After Martinez's accident, his immediate family raised $8,500 in donations by asking friends and neighbors for help.

Of that amount, $5,000 will be spent in returning the remains through a Broward County funeral home the Mexican consulate recommended. The rest of the money will be given to family in Mexico.

Jorge Flores Martinez has already flown to Mexico to await his brother's body.

"(Martinez) was a happy, smiling guy, always working," Alvarez said. "He'd be happy to know that so many people were there to make sure he got home."

On Aug. 6, Martinez lost control of his pickup truck while driving on a rain-soaked stretch of Interstate 75. The truck burst into flames after hitting a tree by the Colonial Avenue off-ramp.

I hate to say it, but I'd almost bet my last dollar Mr. Martinez was stoned out of his mind. Thank goodness he hit a tree instead of another car!

Great, so we won't ship them back when they are here illegaly and alive, but we will when they die? What a joke.