Thread: Slaying cited as targeting of immigrants

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Slaying cited as targeting of immigrants
By Alexia Campbell, Larry Keller

Palm Beach Post Staff Writers

Sunday, February 19, 2006

WEST PALM BEACH — When Hurricane Stan ravaged Guatemala and ruined the crops of Elvira Pérez and her husband last fall, they left their three children with relatives and headed to Florida to find work.

Their move took a tragic turn early Saturday, and left Pérez a widow, when Miguel Bernardo was shot to death in West Palm Beach

About 12:50 a.m., two men shot Bernardo, 24, and a friend, Eliseo Elias, in a robbery attempt, police said. Bernardo, a construction worker, died at the scene. Elias, in his teens, was taken to St. Mary's Medical Center. He was in stable condition Saturday night.

The two men were attacked a block from the apartment the couple shared with two other couples and three children at 428 Roseland Drive.

Witnesses described the assailants as two black men with dreadlocks. The men, both about 5-feet-10, were seen fleeing south on Dixie Highway in a dark sedan.

Now Pérez, 24, sobs as she clutches a photo of her husband. The last time she saw him was when he left with Elias to buy a calling card Friday night. She and her husband had wanted to call family in Guatemala.

Mainor Bernardo Nolasco moved to Florida in October with his brother Bernardo and sister-in-law after they abandoned the land where they grew potatoes and corn. He said he didn't sleep for 11 days before the trio decided that moving was in their best interest.

"I didn't lose sleep for 11 days to come here and pass through this," he said, crying. "It is just not fair."

The shootings are the latest episode in what is known on the streets as "Guat-bashing," the practice of robbing Guatemalan and other Hispanic immigrants who are viewed as easy marks.

That's because they often carry large sums of cash since they mistrust banks. Most immigrants are reluctant to report the crimes because either they are undocumented or they fear immigration officials.

They also are easy to rob because many of them don't own cars and must walk through the lower-income, high-crime neighborhoods where they live.

Because so many of these crimes against Guatemalan immigrants go unreported, it's hard to know how often they occur. Some recent incidents in South Florida:

•Eben Roblero, 21, was shot in the chest and killed in the north end of West Palm Beach in December after he struggled with two robbers. His father, Arben, was struck in the forehead with the gun. Two women were charged in the crimes.

•Five day laborers were picked up in Jupiter in September, robbed at gunpoint and left in a cemetery in Martin County.

•Julio Reyes Paxtore, 32, was beaten to death in August by a group of teenagers in Fort Pierce as he called his family from a gas station's pay phone.

Police officers and social service agencies have tried to educate immigrants about banking and the dangers of walking at night while carrying wads of cash, especially if they have been drinking. A West Palm Beach bank embarked on a campaign to persuade farmers and nurseries to make electronic paycheck deposits to ATM cards they would issue to immigrant workers.

Occasionally, a law enforcement officer preys on the immigrants, furthering their mistrust. In 2000, a West Palm Beach police officer pleaded guilty to stealing money from Guatemalan motorists. He got six months' probation and was fired.

Last year, James Tacktikos was sentenced to 18 months in prison for civil rights violations after he admitted shaking down Guatemalan and Mexican motorists for money in his position as a Palm Beach County sheriff's road patrol deputy. He agreed to pay $7,700 in restitution to six victims.

Some police departments are taking steps to help immigrants.

A few weeks ago, officer Freddy Naranjo was chosen as the liaison between the Hispanic community and the West Palm Beach police force.

The department wants to educate immigrants about how to avoid being victims, Naranjo said. Police also are planning a program to provide undocumented workers with Social Security numbers that will allow them to open bank accounts and apply for driver licenses.

"We want to stop not only the hoodlums that are preying and robbing them, but also the businesses that abuse them," Naranjo said.

On Saturday, Elvira Pérez was consoled by Beatriz Illescas, consul general of the Guatemalan Consulate in Miami. She assured Pérez that either the Guatemalan government or the state of Florida would pay to send her husband's remains back to their country.

Illescas said the U.S. government is not doing enough to protect immigrants.

"The immigrants that come here are going to keep building this country, so the government needs to provide safety," she said. "If the crime does not stop, it will only spread to other parts of the population."

Now Pérez says she regrets coming to the United States, where she works packing peppers in Belle Glade. She and her family hoped to apply for the guest worker program President Bush proposed in 2004. They wanted to stay only a few years, but the program has not been approved.

"We thought we were going to save money and buy our family some land," she said. "We came to fight for our survival, and now I don't know what I am going to do."

Now Pérez says she regrets coming to the United States, where she works packing peppers in Belle Glade. She and her family hoped to apply for the guest worker program President Bush proposed in 2004. They wanted to stay only a few years, but the program has not been approved.

I'm sorry she came too. I'm sorry ANY of them came. I hope they will ALL go home.