THE NEW IMMIGRANTS
Illegal immigrants in city 'always looking over their shoulder'

By BECKY W. EVANS
Standard-Times staff writer
June 30, 2008 6:00 AM
NEW BEDFORD — Like many working parents, Elena doesn't get much sleep.

The married mother of three wakes up at 4 a.m. and goes to bed around 11 p.m., except on nights when the refrigerator breaks and she stays up until 1:30 a.m. scrubbing the replacement fridge clean.

THE NEW IMMIGRANTS: A four-part series

Elena (not her real name) is a 34-year-old illegal immigrant from Honduras who has lived in New Bedford for nearly three years and was caught during the federal immigration raid at the Michael Bianco Inc. factory on March 6, 2007. She asked to remain anonymous due to her illegal status, which extends to her husband and their eldest daughters, ages 8 and 4. The couple's daughter, who was born here in 2007, is a U.S. citizen.

Elena and her husband make calculated decisions every day to avoid being caught by immigration agents and deported. They spend as little time as possible walking outside or mingling with the general public. They leave their sparsely furnished three-bedroom apartment only to go to work, attend church or buy groceries. On the few occasions when they drive, they make sure their borrowed car is in perfect operating condition so it won't attract police attention.

"It's an intense life of stress and worry," Elena said of living illegally in New Bedford. She spoke in Spanish through an interpreter.

For the city's estimated 4,000 to 7,000 illegal Central American immigrants, being caught by immigration officials is a constant fear. In some cases, it may prevent people from leaving their homes, reporting crimes to police or seeking medical attention.

"I find that people who are undocumented are always looking over their shoulder," said Helena Marques, executive director of the Immigrant's Assistance Center, a New Bedford referral agency for legal immigrants.

Ms. Marques says illegal immigrants "have gone further underground" since the Bianco raid. They spend a lot of time in their apartments and avoid large shopping malls and restaurants, she said.

"When someone is undocumented, they have a fear of going out and are always doing the calculations to see if it is safe to go to the market "¦ quantitatively, it builds stress," said the Rev. Marc Fallon of Catholic Social Services, who ministers to the city's Central American immigrants.

Illegal immigrants are wary of driving to Providence now that Rhode Island Gov. Donald L. Carcieri has issued an executive order calling for a crackdown on illegal immigration.

"I get worried, especially if I go near Rhode Island," said Pedro, an illegal immigrant who drives in Massachusetts with his Honduran license. Pedro (not his real name) spoke to a Standard-Times reporter on the condition of anonymity because he fears being caught by immigration officials. He, too, spoke in Spanish through an interpreter.

The 21-year-old married New Bedford resident faces an upcoming court hearing in Plymouth for driving without a valid state license. He says a police officer stopped him for no reason while he was driving to Plymouth to visit his boss. He says the officer seized his car after she discovered that he did not have a state license. He later paid $200 to retrieve it.

If Pedro is deported to Honduras, he and his wife have a plan. She will get a job and hire a guide, or coyote, to smuggle him back into the United States.

"I would not think twice about coming back," he said. "It's a long, long trip. But I would come."

Despite the challenges of his illegal status, Pedro says life in New Bedford is "more comfortable" than in Honduras, where people work very hard for little money. There is lots of crime and "everything is expensive," he said of his home country.

Pedro and his wife have an 18-month-old son who was born in the United States. They live in an apartment with his in-laws. On weekdays, Pedro gets up at 4 a.m. and drives about 40 minutes to his job at a demolition company. He goes straight home after work.

"That is the life of the immigrant," he said. "From home to work, and work to home."

He spends most of the weekend at home with his family, listening to music and watching television. Sometimes he goes to the North End to play soccer with friends.

When he thinks about his future, Pedro dreams of legalizing his status and seeing his son graduate from high school.

Elena, too, dreams about becoming a legal U.S. resident. For the past year, she has been in and out of court for hearings related to her detainment in the Bianco raid. Her case is complicated by the fact that she never showed up for an immigration court hearing in New Orleans due to Hurricane Katrina. (Elena was caught by U.S. immigration officers while crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.) After the hurricane hit, she and her family moved to New Bedford to live with relatives.

Asked how her life would change if she was granted legal status, Elena rattles off a list of benefits.

"I could sleep better. I could save to buy my own home, to have a car, to be in the street without being afraid, to walk in the street without being scared police are right behind you," she said. "The only thing I want is to work and to be able to pay my expenses. I don't want any support from the government."



Contact Becky W. Evans at revans@s-t.com
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