Thread: One illegal immigrant's 2,300-mile trip

http://www.timesheraldonline.com/ci_2903204

From Mexico to Vallejo
One illegal immigrant's 2,300-mile trip
By MATTHIAS GAFNI, Times-Herald staff writer
Vallejo Times Herald

Sunburned and dehydrated from three grueling days of walking through a scorching Arizona desert, Cesar Rodriguez triumphantly climbed over a wire fence at the border between his home country of Mexico and the home of his future employers - the United States of America.
Rodriguez, blistered and chafed from his perilous journey, hitchhiked, bummed rides, took buses and eventually found himself in Vallejo - a place he had never known nor heard of until desperation set in.

This is where he'd make his money. He arrived in March.

Now 2,300 miles from home, the 30-year-old stands daily in a local home improvement store's parking lot, seeking work as a day laborer. He sends home whatever he can to his wife and young son, leaving himself barely enough for his own rent and food. Each day, he proudly wears the same hat with "Greatest Dad" etched above the bill.

A Times-Herald reporter met Rodriguez in the Vallejo Home Depot parking lot and returned to his humble south Vallejo home July 18 to talk about his life. Sitting in a tattered recliner, with a sun-scorched face from a two-day construction gig and finishing his Cup-a-Soup dinner, Rodriguez spoke about his journey, family, work and future.

Because he speaks limited English, Rodriguez's story was translated by a Times-Herald photographer.

Rodriguez was born dirt poor in Ocosingo, Chiapas, a mid-size tourist town in one of the country's southern-most states. His father was a tractor operator and his mother was a homemaker.

Rodriguez, the middle child, grew up with five brothers and one sister.

"We were poor," he said. "We had food, but we were a humble family."

Rodriguez graduated from high school and had aspirations of becoming a teacher. But Chiapas, one of the country's poorest regions, had few jobs to offer.

At the early age of 17, he first crossed into the United States. He stayed illegally for four years, living in San Francisco and doing kitchen work in a restaurant. He returned to Mexico in 1996 to care for his mother and brothers.

After returning home, he married his wife, Francilia, and in 2000 they had a son, Pablo Cesar.

Wanting to support his young family, he decided to return to the United States. It was a gut-wrenching decision.

But he saved up and paid 1,000 pesos (or roughly $100) for a six-day bus ride that would take him to the northern Mexican state of Sonora.

Rodriguez, his brother and a friend prepared to cross the border through an unforgiving desert linking Mexico with Arizona.

He took along five one-gallon bottles of water, canned tuna, tomato sauce and bread.

"You can't carry much," he said.

Other than rations, Rodriguez left with the clothes on his back, a pair of shoes, a baseball cap and no money.

"You get assaulted if you have money by gang members," Rodriguez said. Roaming Mexican gangs patrol the border areas, stripping down immigrants to steal what money they have.

Worst of all, he was unable to bring any photos or keepsakes from Mexico.

Rodriguez can't even remember the name of the desert, but said his friend guided the trio through the barren wasteland.

"There were a lot of scorpions and snakes in the desert, and it was really hot," he said.

Rodriguez kept moving as much as he could, coping with constant stings from the never-ending cacti and stickers from the barbed-wire bramble.

Eventually, they tired and were forced to sleep, quickly resting on the endless, searing sand.

They finally reached the border, ironically a simple wire fence. There were no immigration officials anywhere.

"It's very remote," he said, adding that immigration officials wait by a nearby highway for tired immigrants to stumble out, looking for a ride.

The trio managed to avoid the authorities and hitchhiked to Mesa, Ariz., some 150 miles north.

He was dehydrated and hungry. His feet were blistered and his groin chafed from the constant movement and sweat.

"Muy facile," Rodriguez smiled.

Rodriguez's group stayed in a Mesa mission for 36 hours, showering and cleaning up.

Eventually, they found a ride to San Francisco after agreeing to pay for gas. He arrived and remembered the familiar surroundings.

However, after scouring the city for three days looking for work, he was unable to find a job.

"I didn't find any and a guy said, 'Go to Vallejo.' So, I came to Vallejo," he said.

Rodriguez boarded a Greyhound bus and arrived at the Lemon Street station with no money, no home and the clothes on his back.

He wandered around, with very limited English skills, and eventually was told by some Spanish-speaking Vallejoans to try looking for work at Home Depot.

At Home Depot, Rodriguez met other illegal immigrants and found a living situation. He shares a ramshackle three-bedroom house with four other immigrants, three from Guatemala and another from Chiapas, Mexico.

The interior is a mix-matched collection of old, dirty sofas, an old TV, worn carpet and other furniture.

"People give us furniture," Rodriguez said.

He pays $140 a month in rent. He says there's no extra money for any comfort items.

"There's times when there's not enough money for food," he said.

Despite his humble lifestyle, Rodriguez said he wires home $200 a week on average to his wife and 5-year-old son. To earn that much he needs to work seven days a week.

And lately, work has been slow.

"I intended to cross and make some money and take care of my family," he said. "But I haven't been able to find a steady job."

The week before speaking with the Times-Herald, Rodriguez didn't earn enough money to make rent and send money home, so he made no trip to Western Union.

He hopes to find a steady job with a construction company.

But, he desperately misses his family. He said he buys international phone cards and talks with his family by phone every week. He'd prefer to be home with them.

"My roots are there," Rodriguez said. But he knows he won't find work where his family lives.

Rodriguez keeps abreast of news in his hometown by watching Univision and other local Spanish television stations.

"If I could bring my family over here I would stay here," he said, hoping his family could get a visa.

For now, he's content waking up each day at the crack of dawn, and making his hour-long trek to Home Depot, hoping he can toil a back-breaking 12-hour work day and earn some money.

"Hopefully, if I find a job, I'd like to stick around a few years."

I DONT CARE HOW TREACHEROUS OF A TRIP IT WAS TO GET HERE. THIS PERSON IS ILLEGAL AND DOES NOT DESERVE TO BE HERE. DEPORT!!!

Wow! What a journey! He's my hero! And just think, there are several billion more just like him. How could we turn our backs on such fine people. We should pack these noble men into ramshackle housing and really live it up!

Home Depot rules!

Originally Posted by TheWatchdog

Wow! What a journey! He's my hero! And just think, there are several billion more just like him. How could we turn our backs on such fine people. We should pack these noble men into ramshackle housing and really live it up!

Home Depot rules!

Dont forget WAL-MART!!