Undocumented laborers in Lake Worth struggle as once-dependable jobs vanish

By JOHN LANTIGUA
Palm Beach Post
November 1, 2009

LAKE WORTH — A young Guatemalan immigrant named Juan Carlos stands along Lake Avenue with many other men eyeing each car that passes. They are waiting for a would-be employer to pull up and offer them work for a day, or two or maybe more - landscaping, painting, digging ditches, whatever. This has been a familiar scene for years in downtown Lake Worth, but Juan Carlos, 25, says until recently he wasn't part of it.

"For two years I was working construction, making $14 an hour and a lot of overtime," he says. "I had my own apartment. I sent money home, as much as $2,000 one time.

"Now I haven't worked more than one or two days a week in three months," he says. "I pay $150 to share an apartment with other people. I used to eat out sometimes, but now I cook. I've only sent home about $300 in these past three months for my wife and child."

And he is lucky. Standing across the street, Manuel, 30, also Guatemalan, an experienced roofer, says he hasn't worked a day in two months.

"I have two brothers here who are supporting me," he says. "I would go back home to Guatemala, but now I owe money and I can't. Some people are going back, but those are ones that don't have any debts."

All over the largely Hispanic immigrant community, both legal residents and the undocumented say the recession is causing convulsions in their lives. Some of the industries that have provided them with work for years - construction and restaurants in particular - are among the hardest hit by the economic downturn in South Florida.

A Pew Research Center study released in September indicated that many Mexicans also are crossing back across the border because they can't find work in the U.S. The study said that in the construction industry alone, Hispanic workers, both documented and not, lost 250,000 jobs between 2007 and 2008.

"We saw a wave of people going back a few months ago," said Manuel Allende, director of the Farmworker Coordinating Council of Palm Beach County.

Sister Rachel Sena, who works with Guatemalans at the Maya Mission in Lake Worth, says she saw such departures last year. But now Guatemala is experiencing drought and widespread malnutrition, and the flow of people leaving for economic reasons has slowed.

"Those who have gone back say it is very difficult there," she said. "No jobs, more hunger."

Local caregivers say most immigrants are hunkering down. Many have been here for years, started in itinerant agricultural jobs, but worked their way into full-time local jobs during the boom years, when work was plentiful for the undocumented.

"You're seeing a lot of those people getting laid off and going back to farm work," said attorney Greg Schell of the Migrant Farmworker Justice Project in Lake Worth. "And there aren't many jobs that pay less than farm work."

Jim Kean, a Catholic Church social worker in the farming town of Immokalee, confirmed that many undocumented workers who had moved on to other work are showing up back in town.

"But the growers are saying it's supposed to be a wet winter so they may not plant as much as normal," he said. "There may not be work for those people even here."

Immigrants in South Florida are moving in with each other, sometimes creating overcrowded conditions. They are visiting free food pantries, where demand is up about 30 percent this year

Immigrants who have been here for decades, are U.S. citizens and might normally help those in need can't always do so.

Alex Rivera, 52, from El Salvador, came 35 years ago and is a U.S. citizen. He runs Alex Painting and says he has hired many immigrants over the years.

"But I can't give anybody work now because I don't have work myself," said Rivera, interviewed at the Lake Worth Resource Center, where immigrants search for work. "I've hardly worked the past 10 months. There was a kind of immigrant economy here - in the corner stores, the restaurants, the movie theaters - but no money is moving through there now."

The Rev. John Mericantante, pastor of St. Mary Church in Pahokee, has heard that from many people. His congregation is overwhelmingly Hispanic and many members are undocumented.

In years past he helped people who had trouble paying bills. Now so many people are unemployed that demand is way up while donations are way down. "I've been here 19 years and this is the worst I've seen it," he said. "I have a woman who usually gives me $5,000 per year to help others. This year she couldn't do it. Both her sons are out of work. She has to help them. What can you say?"

As in the past, when people call the church they get Mericantante's warm recorded greeting in both Spanish and English. But today he has had to add a sentence that is just a bit harsh, much like the economic situation.

"If you are calling for help in payment of bills, because of the recession we can no longer help pay bills here at St. Mary's," he says. "Please do not call us back for that kind of assistance."

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/ ... _1101.html