Thread: Day laborers clean Mamaroneck park

http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs ... 90334/1018


Day laborers clean Mamaroneck park
By CANDICE FERRETTE
THE JOURNAL NEWS

(Original publication: March 19, 2006)


MAMARONECK — David Melendez wants his neighbors to know he wants work, not trouble.

In the two years since he has been in the United States, Melendez, 48, has secured work with local contractors who have been good to him — paying him decent wages and helping him learn English.

But he hasn't worked in two months and is worried because he is the sole provider for the wife and daughters he left in Venezuela.

Melendez's story was among those discussed while a group of about 15 picked up debris and raked leaves in Columbus Park yesterday. It was an organized effort to repair their public image in the neighborhood and restore the park, which for years served as a gathering place for him and other men who wait for contractors and homeowners offering jobs.

"The community has a bad image of us," Melendez said in Spanish as he tied up a trash bag. "And we want to show that this is not true. We are not what they think."

The goodwill gesture and public-relations campaign was a big step for a group of men who have been at the center of debate after village officials closed the official hiring site at the park on Feb. 1. While politicians, Hispanic advocates, residents and clergy have often spoken about them or on their behalf, yesterday's event was one of the first actions planned and proposed by day laborers themselves.

"Some Hispanics drop garbage, but some others try to clean up that garbage," said Deborah Barrios, 20, of Mamaroneck. "I don't believe they are bad people; they just want to contribute to the environment."

Barrios, who emigrated from Guatemala, works at Dunkin' Donuts. She takes English classes at the Hispanic Resource Center and came to help the men clean the park.

Francisco Genico, 21, said he likes living in Mamaroneck, but if there were job opportunities in Mexico for him, he would go home. He misses his family so much, he said, and came to the U.S. because his mother needed a costly surgery. While he is here, all he wants is to send money back to Mexico, he said.

"Look around you, it speaks for itself," Mariana Boneo, co-president of the Hispanic Resource Center of Larchmont and Mamaroneck, said as the men were dispersed all over the park.

Mike Kung, 72, who lives a few blocks from Columbus Park, stood in front of the construction site where luxury condominiums are being built watching the spring cleanup.

"This is a free country," Kung said. "They want to clean the park on this cold day, it's fine with me."

Francisco Genico, 21, said he likes living in Mamaroneck, but if there were job opportunities in Mexico for him, he would go home. He misses his family so much, he said, and came to the U.S. because his mother needed a costly surgery. While he is here, all he wants is to send money back to Mexico, he said.

Hey! The Mexican government has been running radio ads on at least one El Paso TX station all about how much good Vicente Fox has done for Mexico. There are jobs, roads, schools, universities. Send Francisco Genico a letter and tell him to go home and get one of those jobs. We don't want him here, that is for certain.

If these "contractors were so good to this guy they would get him a work VISA and help him gain legal status. I wonder if the "contractors are paying employment taxes and SS on this guy.
These folks need to understand that employers are NOT doing them any favors - they are just making money off of them. If they get deported the employers will just find another "cheap" illegal to replace them.