Thread: TN-Immigrants lack safety net after layoffs

Immigrants lack safety net after layoffs
But many stay in U.S., scraping by
By Julia Preston
New York Times
Posted: 03/22/2009 12:01:00 AM CDT


MORRISTOWN, Tenn. — Like many places across the United States, this factory town in eastern Tennessee has been transformed in the last decade by the arrival of Hispanic immigrants, many of whom are in this country illegally.

Thousands of workers like Balbino Lopez Hernandez, 28, settled in Morristown and took the lowest-paying elbow-grease jobs, some hazardous, in chicken plants and furniture factories.

Many Americans who lost jobs are turning for help to the government's unemployment safety net, with job assistance and unemployment insurance. But illegal immigrants do not have access to it.

Instead, as the recession deepens, they are receding from community life. They are clinging to low-wage jobs, often working more hours for less money, and taking whatever work they can find, no matter the conditions.

Despite the mounting pressures, many of the illegal immigrants are resisting leaving the country. After years of working here, they say, they have homes and education for their children, while many no longer have anything to return to in their home countries.

"Most of the things I got are right here," Lopez said in English, which he taught to himself. "I got my family, my wife, my kids. Everything is here."

What help there is for illegal immigrants in Morristown comes mainly from churches, like Centro Cristiano Betel Internacional, where Lopez connects with a word-of-mouth network to find odd jobs.

Employers, wary of immigration agents,
now insist workers have valid Social Security numbers. Lopez, who does not have one, said, "Without the number, you are nothing in this country."
Nationwide, Hispanic immigrants, both legal and illegal, saw greater job loss in 2008 than did Hispanics born in the United States or black workers, according to the Pew Hispanic Center. Nearly half of foreign-born Hispanics are illegal immigrants, according to the center, a nonpartisan research group in Washington.


http://www.twincities.com/business/ci_1 ... source=rss

Employers, wary of immigration agents,
now insist workers have valid Social Security numbers. Lopez, who does not have one, said, "Without the number, you are nothing in this country."

AS IT SHOULD BE!

So are the TN factory and businesses using E-Verify now. I is plain they haven't in the past. ICE go to TN.

Hey jerkoff, you and the fam-damnly STOLE the American dream and now you share the American reality, which you are a great cause of. Go home and stay, there are Americans that need jobs and the American dream. I could care less of anyone BUT a GD AMERICAN!