AMERICA/UNITED STATES - Crisis and recessions affecting illegal immigrants as well

New York (Agenzia Fides) – In New York City, alongside Wall Street and its bankers and high financing, there are hopes and aspirations of many citizens and workers, including those of the illegal immigrants who are suddenly finding themselves without work. As the last link on an utterly complex economic chain, many of them are Latin Americans who reach these large cities, working in more or less precarious situations in the always fairly active industry of construction, until now fairly common in New York as well.
Pedro is 29 years old. He is a Mexican who entered the United States five years ago, living in New York, where he has family. Since then, he has worked as a construction worker, except for a brief time period, until he returned once more to the industry. One October morning, he left his house in Brooklyn, like every other morning, but when he got to work, he was told that the working had stopped and everything would be closed for awhile.
“I'm without work, but I don't know for how long,” Pedro told Agenzia Fides. “They told us to wait a few days, without explaining why.” Pedro works in the construction of skyscrapers, with a company that accepts US citizens as well as legal and illegal immigrants. Today, the construction site is closed . Although no explanation has been given, surely the crisis has led to the indefinite closure of sites all around the city.
“I am not sure if it is because of the crisis, because these days are Jewish holidays and the owner is Jewish. Maybe after two weeks, things will start up again.” With these words, perhaps Pedro hopes to reassure himself and exclude the possibility of that fact that the story of the “promised land” has turned out to be a bluff. In the meantime, every morning he goes with other former employees of his company to look for work, albeit only for that day. There are key places where they go: in markets, for example, where they contract workers for the day, the majority being Mexicans, who are asked to work 12 hours a day for a miserly pay; on street corners, at the “Self-Service” stations, personal contracts with building sites or landscaping companies, etc.
Since the beginning of the crisis, the number of immigrants without papers and unemployed seems to have risen. On the corner of Lexington Avenue and 66th, in the heart of the Upper East Side, i.e., the richest part of Manhattan, there is a large business of paints and painting accessories. In recent weeks, groups of Latin Americans are seen on this corner with their work bags, hoping to find work for the day. There, in front of the business itself, they offer their work to clients or contractors.
Jesús is one of these people. He is a 37 year-old Peruvian who entered the US four years ago, with his brother. “I have never had trouble finding work here in New York,” he told Fides. He lives in Queens, one of the city's five districts, home to many Latin American immigrants. “It used to be so easy, but beginning a few months ago, everything has gotten difficult,” he said, explaining that in early October the situation severely worsened. “However, I hope that it will just be for a certain period of time and that it will soon pass, because living day-to-day in New York is not easy.” And he added: “In recent years we were tranquil. We worked hard, but it meant more money to be able to send home to the family, and in a few years, be able to by a house in my own country.” Jesús thought his dreams were about to come true and hopes that he will not see all his sacrifices over the last few years go out the window. In fact, with the impossibility of bringing their families to the States, many times adults move there on their own for brief periods of time. Oftentimes they are men, although there are many women as well, who are obliged to leave their children at home, left to be raised by their mothers, mother-in-laws, and sisters.
The money they send home are a fundamental source of support for many developing countries. Statistics clearly demonstrate this fact. The flow of money between the US and Latin America has greatly risen in recent years, leading to the construction and purchase of homes on the part of those who used to fight for their daily survival.
Life in the USA is certainly not easy for an immigrant, but the will to build something is a fundamental motivation in resisting and in overcoming any difficulties. However, the crisis that has broken out in recent weeks has taken political, economic, and financial leaders by surprise, although they have recourses to resist. It is especially worrisome for the effect it may have on the illegal immigrants. These men and women will be forced to suffer the ruinous consequences of these events in a foreign country that could show itself to be even more hostile than it has seemed up until now. (FM) (Agenzia Fides 24/10/2008)