Luis Bello
Articles
Mortgaged Lives
(Published February 2000 in La Raza)
The need for work paves the way for the existence of the slavery in Chicago. Many Hispanics fall into prostitution or jobs in which all kinds of illegalities are committed against employees. Misinformation and laws protect the groups that take advantage of the precariousness in which Asians, Latin Americans and Central Europeans live. Their mafias supply the brothels and businesses that humiliate and exploit the low foreigners that they threaten. It is a great business for these slave merchants. Many of these slave holders, currently in the U.S., are immigrants. These mafias are usually formed by individuals who know the same type of suffering.
Some employment agencies where they work or direct Latin Americans make the precariousness of jobs and the exploitation of immigrants easy. There are numerous occasions when workers surpass 12-hour days in degrading labor.
Leslie works in a gentlemen´s club. While getting a beer, she confesses, "You get used to it. If you are good and do what they tell you, you will not have problems. I have been here for eight years. My family in Colombia believes that I work in a restaurant. They can never know the truth. My mother would have a heart attack. Complaining to the police is a mistake; they will arrest me or deport me. Many police officers visit the club. And I do not believe in the promises of the Labor Department. The solution is in smiling at the clients and tomorrow I will see."
Some prostitutes consider their situation to be similar to that of other immigrants. Lisa says that, "Many of us dedicate our lives to send money to our families. My situation is so different from others who sacrifice all their lives for nothing. The difference is that their work is more worthy in this hypocritical society. They live in sad conditions so the banks and the government keep most of the money. All the young ones in the U.S. struggle to send money to other countries. I always ask myself if my relatives are going to thank me."
The Justice Department does not inspire confidence among the immigrants since it acts in quite an illogical manner. For those who are affected, the agency should guarantee safety and seek the eradication of the slavery that imprisons the people who do not live legally in the country. Many believe that, instead of fighting against slavery, the government makes its existence easier since these people would never dare to complain about their situation. The immigrants themselves say that government does not properly defend the deserted, the needy; on the contrary, he is imprisoned and deported without taking into account the fatal consequences that these actions bring to the individual. They deem the legality of their defense very uncertain and do not have resources to defend themselves. They assert that this uncertainty obliges them to silence and to be left in submission.
"What am I going to do? Evidently we cannot cover it all. I have spent too many years seeing this misery," says Terrance, a police office with thirty years of service. He states that, "They always say the same things: my family is poor, there is no way out, they have deceived me, please don't tell my family, stop them... A few hours in the precinct, a police record, and back out to the street."
Laws are applied without anyone stopping to examine the problems that this is going to cause. Those who are affected insist that "instead of defending the most disadvantaged, all the citizens brought to this country with lies and false documents, this damages them". The policeman, Terrance, makes it clear that, "It is more serious and all this paves the way for more delinquency, insecurity and racism, endangering the harmony of American society. We all get hurt because it becomes a vicious circle and, naturally, people try to defend themselves. From time to time, it makes sense that racism exists."
There are different groups that help immigrants in unusual situations. The advice is normally free. Defending human rights is the objective of these organizations that support the eradication of slavery. These groups are used to keeping individuals' identities secret and informing the immigrants about the rights they have; they regard anonymity as fundamental since these situations are even stranger for their relatives back home.
For more articles, click here.
(Published February 2000 in La Raza)
The need for work paves the way for the existence of the slavery in Chicago. Many Hispanics fall into prostitution or jobs in which all kinds of illegalities are committed against employees. Misinformation and laws protect the groups that take advantage of the precariousness in which Asians, Latin Americans and Central Europeans live. Their mafias supply the brothels and businesses that humiliate and exploit the low foreigners that they threaten. It is a great business for these slave merchants. Many of these slave holders, currently in the U.S., are immigrants. These mafias are usually formed by individuals who know the same type of suffering.
Some employment agencies where they work or direct Latin Americans make the precariousness of jobs and the exploitation of immigrants easy. There are numerous occasions when workers surpass 12-hour days in degrading labor.
Leslie works in a gentlemen´s club. While getting a beer, she confesses, "You get used to it. If you are good and do what they tell you, you will not have problems. I have been here for eight years. My family in Colombia believes that I work in a restaurant. They can never know the truth. My mother would have a heart attack. Complaining to the police is a mistake; they will arrest me or deport me. Many police officers visit the club. And I do not believe in the promises of the Labor Department. The solution is in smiling at the clients and tomorrow I will see."
Some prostitutes consider their situation to be similar to that of other immigrants. Lisa says that, "Many of us dedicate our lives to send money to our families. My situation is so different from others who sacrifice all their lives for nothing. The difference is that their work is more worthy in this hypocritical society. They live in sad conditions so the banks and the government keep most of the money. All the young ones in the U.S. struggle to send money to other countries. I always ask myself if my relatives are going to thank me."The Justice Department does not inspire confidence among the immigrants since it acts in quite an illogical manner. For those who are affected, the agency should guarantee safety and seek the eradication of the slavery that imprisons the people who do not live legally in the country. Many believe that, instead of fighting against slavery, the government makes its existence easier since these people would never dare to complain about their situation. The immigrants themselves say that government does not properly defend the deserted, the needy; on the contrary, he is imprisoned and deported without taking into account the fatal consequences that these actions bring to the individual. They deem the legality of their defense very uncertain and do not have resources to defend themselves. They assert that this uncertainty obliges them to silence and to be left in submission.
"What am I going to do? Evidently we cannot cover it all. I have spent too many years seeing this misery," says Terrance, a police office with thirty years of service. He states that, "They always say the same things: my family is poor, there is no way out, they have deceived me, please don't tell my family, stop them... A few hours in the precinct, a police record, and back out to the street."
Laws are applied without anyone stopping to examine the problems that this is going to cause. Those who are affected insist that "instead of defending the most disadvantaged, all the citizens brought to this country with lies and false documents, this damages them". The policeman, Terrance, makes it clear that, "It is more serious and all this paves the way for more delinquency, insecurity and racism, endangering the harmony of American society. We all get hurt because it becomes a vicious circle and, naturally, people try to defend themselves. From time to time, it makes sense that racism exists."
There are different groups that help immigrants in unusual situations. The advice is normally free. Defending human rights is the objective of these organizations that support the eradication of slavery. These groups are used to keeping individuals' identities secret and informing the immigrants about the rights they have; they regard anonymity as fundamental since these situations are even stranger for their relatives back home.
For more articles, click here.