Recently in Guatemala Category
It's difficult for me to blog about anything else when I feel so accountable to unauthorized migrant youth, but this trailer for the documentary "In The Shadow of the Raid" takes me back to the reason I got involved in U.S. migration policy in the first place.
In the Shadow of the Raid - trailer from Streetdog Media on Vimeo.
Picture: Associated Press The Associated Press has an article about a town in Guatemala that is getting inundated with deportees after the New Bedford raid. It's good to see journalism that focuses on the root of the problem.
Nativists are probably cheering the return of all these migrants. To do so is short-sighted. If the U.S. is suffering during this economic downturn, Guatemala is suffering worse. We no longer live in a world where problems fit conveniently into national borders. It is the inability of Guatemala to provide for its people that has forced people to migrate to the U.S. in the first place. U.S. support for many of the brutal policies that have ravaged Guatemala makes the U.S. partly responsible.
Deporting tens of thousands to Guatemala when jobs are being lost makes absolutely no sense. It's forcing the country backwards. It was the absence of jobs in the first place that forced people to migrate. I dream of the day when we approach this issue from a global perspective. It's the only way.
Below are some of my favorite passages from the article:
Continue reading Deportation Town: Xicalcal, Quiche, Guatemala.
(Peter Pereira / New Bedford Standard Times)
When Ricardo Gomez Garcia was picked up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in New Bedford, it served as his death sentence. For one of the factory managers charged in the raid, Gloria Melo, it ended in a $500 fine.
Garcia's story is one of the most heartbreaking stories I know. He was picked up in the now infamous New Bedford raid, resulting in his separation from his wife and his U.S. citizen autistic son. He fought desperately to stay in the U.S. and be reunited with them. When he was finally deported after six months of detention, he had his mother in Guatemala sell her house for $5000 so he could pay a coyote to return to the U.S.
Garcia's family in Guatemala reported he wasn't feeling well and they urged him to stay but he left anyways. He arrived in New Bedford on Oct. 28. He was able to spend 12 hours with his wife and his son before he died. His throat closed up. Today is the anniversary of his death. Garcia fought for seventh months and 26 days to be reunited with his family. 12 hours is more than most unauthorized migrant families get. Garcia's story is an epic tale of love and suffering.
Garcia died for the "crime" of casting off the chains he was born into and pursuing his happiness in another country. Almost exactly one year later, the Associated Press is reported that two of the factory managers charged in the New Bedford raid won't even see the inside of a prison cell.
My mother took this photo last weekend in Guatemala. I thought it was pretty wild so I wanted to share it.
Christopher Sherman of the Associated Press reports:
A former Border Patrol agent pleaded guilty Tuesday to hitting an illegal Guatemalan immigrant in the face with his pistol and to putting the barrel of his pistol against the head of another illegal immigrant while interrogating him.Sombrero Tip to Mexico Trucker.
Santiago Perez, of Edinburg, admitted Tuesday in federal court in Houston to both cases of violating the civil rights of the two immigrants while working as a South Texas Border Patrol agent in 2006 and 2007.Chistopher Sherman - Associated Press (19 August 2008)
Julia Preston's article in the New York Times speaks for itself. (sombrero tip to the ImmigrationProf Blog)
The migrant story has more facets than a finely cut diamond. The facet of Guatemalan adoption is one that I've touched every now and again.
The BBC is reporting that for the first time, the Guatemalan government has "irrefutable evidence that a stolen child was put up for adoption." The story is an unbelievably sad one.
The BBC is reporting that for the first time, the Guatemalan government has "irrefutable evidence that a stolen child was put up for adoption." The story is an unbelievably sad one.
Continue reading Stolen Guatemalan Babies in U.S. Citizen Arms.
If people do not believe in my constant call for a more global approach to the issue of migration, read this latest shocking article from Guatemala's main newspaper, Prensa Libre.
Continue reading 8 Out of 10 Central American Women Migrants Raped.
Sometimes I feel like I'm reading the screenplay for some shoot-em-up movie as I follow this Guatemala crime odyssey, but I'm not. All this case inspires in me is sadness for the country I was born and raised in.
For 11 years, Pedro Zapeta, an unauthorized migrant, slaved away as a dishwasher. Making $5.50 an hour ($5.75 when he earned an extremely generous 25-cent raise), Zapeta was able to save up almost $60,000 for his dream of returning to Guatemala and building a home for his family. Then Zapeta made one simple mistake. On his way out of the country he forgot to fill out a form declaring he was carrying more than $10,000 dollars with him, and as a result he had almost all of his money siezed. I first covered this story in this post.
Now, thanks to the blogging of Tony Herrera, I just heard that Zapeta was able to get all but $5,000 of his money back. It is rare when we get a victory like this. Read Tony's post and savor it.
Now, thanks to the blogging of Tony Herrera, I just heard that Zapeta was able to get all but $5,000 of his money back. It is rare when we get a victory like this. Read Tony's post and savor it.
