Thread: {SOB}Migrant workers face a fear greater than just fire

Migrant workers face a fear greater than just fireBy Monica Elena Salinas10/29/07 02:08:24
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SAN DIEGO -- The thought of it is daunting: Having just minutes to prepare while you are being forced to leave your home, not knowing when you will return or if your home will still be there when you return.

That is what more than a million people here in Southern California had to face when Santa Ana winds erratically spread fires across the dry, mountainous terrain. In a matter of days, hundreds of thousands of acres had been charred, and well over 2,000 homes and businesses had been burned to the ground. For many families, a lifetime of memories and hard work was reduced to ashes within minutes.

Thousands of them ended up in the Qualcomm Stadium, a venue where people usually come to cheer on the San Diego Chargers or attend concerts. But last week they came to seek shelter, receive aid, a helping hand or a shoulder to cry on, and wait until they were told they can go back to their homes or to the rubble left behind.


Refuge turns to nightmare
Manuel Santiago and his family were just one family of the thousands grateful for the generosity and the aid they received. They also were among the lucky ones whose homes were spared by the fires.

They were told they should feel free to take what they felt was necessary, not knowing what they would find back home. But on their way out of the stadium, that welcoming feeling turned sour. They were detained by San Diego police officers and accused of stealing and looting.

"They asked us if we had legal documents," Santiago told me, still dismayed by what had occurred. They did not. The police contacted immigration agents, and within minutes two border-patrol cars were at the scene. Three of Santiago's cousins and three children, at least one of them a U.S. citizen, were arrested.

"I think we were spared because of the fear they saw in our children's eyes," said Santiago, of whose children three were born in the United States. In the 13 years he has lived here working as a gardener, this was the first time he encountered immigration agents.

His daughter cried inconsolably at the thought that she and her siblings would be separated from their parents. Their mother now lives in fear that after being detained and having their personal information taken by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, the agents could very well show up at their home any day or night and take them away from their kids.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer Richard Smith assured me that although the agency's main goal is to secure the border and uphold immigration laws, its role at the refugee centers is to assist the victims.

"Under no circumstances are we here to look for undocumented immigrants and arrest them," he told me. "But if a law-enforcement agency asks for our help to assist when a crime has been committed, then we are there to help them."

In this case, of course, it was an alleged crime. Witnesses say the Santiago family members, like so many other evacuees, had taken only what was offered to them. Their crime was that they lived in the path of the fires.

Like them, there are many other migrant workers who have situated themselves in makeshift homes on the hills of San Diego County below luxurious mansions and golf courses.

According to the social studies department of the University of San Diego, there are between 14,000 and 15,000 undocumented immigrants who work here mainly in the fields or as gardeners, as does Manuel Santiago. Most of them simply refused to go to temporary shelters set up by civic organizations or to accept the aid that was offered to them. After witnessing the Santiago family's ordeal, I can see why.

They help cultivate the land in San Diego and keep the pristine beauty of its hills. But in the middle of this crisis of vast proportions, for these workers, the fear of being confronted by immigration has been much stronger than their fear of the fires.
Maria Elena Salinas is anchor of “Noticiero Univision.â€

Funny how we can NEVER ANYWHERE arrest illegals for being illegal!

So, where are we supposed to do it?? They can do just about anything (marches, crimes, and on an on), and they still don't get deported!!

Leaving the kids behind?? What kind of a parent would you be?

Seeing that THEIR HOME is in mexico, where there have not been any fires I don't see the issue.

This story came out after the arrest of illegal aliens who were caught stealing stuff by the truckload. So much spin to confuse the issue.

As usual the illegals line up for freebees like pigs at the trough.

Marie has distorted the story to make the family appear to be treated improperly but actually they were taking more than they should have by taking more that one truck load. It was truckload after truckload.
If they had been more polite about taking things they would never have been stopped.

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