Thread: US seizes migrant's life savings (Illegal Alien)

US seizes migrant's life savings


Richard Luscombe in Miami
Monday October 1, 2007
The Guardian

Pedro Zapeta spent 11 years scrubbing pots in a Florida restaurant, dreaming of the day when he would have enough money to buy a small plot of land in his native Guatemala and build a house for his mother and sisters. When he was ready, he stuffed his $59,000 (£29,000) life savings in a duffel bag and headed for the airport.

But he never made it home. US customs inspectors seized the cash, suspecting that Mr Zapeta was a drugs courier, and immigration officials arrested him for being in the country illegally. Now, after a two-year legal battle in Miami, Mr Zapeta is to be deported while the US treasury keeps the money he earned washing dishes at an average hourly rate of $5.50 (£2.70).


The authorities finally accepted that he had earned the money when he produced pay stubs, but the internal revenue service then laid claim to it because Mr Zapeta admitted he had never paid taxes. His lawyers claim tax officials are also pursuing a further $10,000 in public donations made after his case was publicised last year.

IRS and customs officials declined to comment.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0%2 ... %2C00.html

US seizes migrant's life savings

First of all, he's not a "migrant". He's an illegal immigrant.

Second...I know this story draws sympathy for Pedro from some people, but if you dig beneath the surface...beneath all the "life savings" and "dreams to buy a plot of land" propoganda, you'll find the truth.

And the truth is this: Pedro is guilty of committing several crimes. His first crime was to come into the U.S. illegally. His second crime was to get a job in the U.S. that he was not legally entitled to have (and, while I have no proof of this, it's possible he might have used a fake SS#). His third crime was to opt not to pay his income taxes, and his final crime was to fail to declare his cash at the airport.

So, basically what we have here is a man who came to the U.S. illegally, worked in the U.S. illegally, broke laws by not paying his income taxes, then attempted to take his tax-free illegal earnings through the airport without being detected.

And now he's facing the consequences of his criminal acts. Pedro came by his $59,000 only because he broke several of our laws; therefore, he has no right to that money.

I couldnt help but post this. We have to pay taxes and cannot get away without doing so lest we end up getting hit by the IRS, so an illegal alien who illegally worked should loose all monies he illegally earned. That goes for any illegal in this country.

I QUESTION WHETHER HE EVEN ACTUALLY SAVED THIS MONEY.....BASED ON WHAT HE SAYS HE WAS MAKING. HE HAD TO HAVE MONEY COMING FROM SOME OTHER SOURCE. NO WAY HE SAVED THIS MONEY FROM A DISHWASHING JOB. DONT THINK SO.

Originally Posted by redpony353

I QUESTION WHETHER HE EVEN ACTUALLY SAVED THIS MONEY.....BASED ON WHAT HE SAYS HE WAS MAKING. HE HAD TO HAVE MONEY COMING FROM SOME OTHER SOURCE. NO WAY HE SAVED THIS MONEY FROM A DISHWASHING JOB. DONT THINK SO.

I'm with you Red pony, I can see no way anyone could save fifty nine grand in eleven years working as a dish washer making 5.75/hr.
Something ain't right here.

If he worked 7 days a week and 8 hours a day without overtime and not paying taxes, over that period, he would have made $184,184.00 Plenty to live off and easy to save a third of his income. Even without the extra hours it would have been $125,840.00, he would have had to save half of his income in order to have that much money. It is plausible that he could have saved it if he lived in a flop house with 20 other people.

Of course, he illegally entered the country, illegally got a job, and illegally tried to transport his ill gotten gains, so it would be hard to believable anything he says.

Of course, he illegally entered the country, illegally got a job, and illegally tried to transport his ill gotten gains, so it would be hard to believable anything he says

AND WE DONT KNOW HOW LONG HE WAS ACTUALLY HERE. HE SAID ELEVEN YEARS.....BUT HOW DO WE KNOW?

I SEE IT THIS WAY. A PERSON CAUGHT IN THE AIRPORT WITH 59K OF DRUG MONEY....WHAT ARE THEY GOING TO SAY? NOT THAT IT IS DRUG MONEY.

I DONT THINK IT IS REALISTIC TO THINK THAT HE SAVED IT.....GIVEN HIS INCOME. YES IT IS PLAUSABLE. BUT IN THAT CASE YOU COULD SAY THAT HE LIVED IN THE STREET AND ONLY ATE PEANUT BUTTER FOR ELEVEN YEARS...AND THAT IS HOW HE SAVED IT.

HE DIDNT SAVE IT....HE WAS TRANSPORTING IT. I DONT THINK IT WAS HIS MONEY. IF HE WAS BRINGING IN THAT KIND OF MONEY, HE WOULD NOT BE WORKING AS A DISHWASHER. I DONT THINK IT WAS HIS......AND I DONT THINK HE SAVED IT.

It could just be my feeling on this, but I do begin to resent it being asked to be the world's ATM... We should be letting in people based on whether they are truly interested in becoming Americans and assimilating to the culture. If people only come here to grab cash and go home, then they're coming here for all the wrong reasons.

Originally Posted by PhredE

It could just be my feeling on this, but I do begin to resent it being asked to be the world's ATM... We should be letting in people based on whether they are truly interested in becoming Americans and assimilating to the culture. If people only come here to grab cash and go home, then they're coming here for all the wrong reasons.

You are 100% correct! They only want to use us, and they only want amnesty in order to be able to use us without fear of deportation. They feel nothing for our country, our culture, or its legal citizens. We are merely a means to an end.

They have no integrity. They are leeches, and if we don't soon end this, they will continue to suck everything they can from us until nothing is left.

You know, I have to say something about this guy. He's allegedly been in the U.S. for 11 years and speaks no English.

Heck! I was in Mexico for 13 days (about 9 years ago), and by the time I left I was doing pretty danged good with my Spanish! I mean, I wasn't fluent or anything like that (obviously), but after conversing with the locals for 13 days, I had picked up a lot of words and phrases. I am CERTAIN that after 11 years in Mexico, I'd be FLUENT in Spanish!!