An interesting piece from Alternet on the treatment of migrant workers in the US.: http://www.alternet.org/immigration/21st-century-version-slavery-widespread-america?akid=10215.1074389.pssaZW&rd=1&src=newsletter812563&t=3
And a piece on why and how Latin Americans get to the US to work. It's from my diary when I spent some time in Costa Rica working for an electric power distributing co-op back in 2004. March 27, 2004 Got quite a lot of information ... on how people get to the US. It takes a lot of money, about $7,000.... To borrow that kind of money, a person typically has to mortgage his house so that, if the guy doesn't make it to the US and, as happens, loses the money, he and his family have no place to live. Of the $7,000, some $5,000 goes to the coyote, and the rest is for transportation. The coyote provides no guarantees. He tries his best, but if something goes wrong, he disappears, money and all, and the guy is left stranded. The preferred destination is New Jersey, where there is a high concentration of Costa Ricans. The husband of the lady who runs the hotel I'm staying in is in New Jersey, as is the father of an adult guy I talked to over in Coopesantos yesterday. Many of the men make some money and come back. Others stay for some time and keep sending money back. However, some, and I got the impression that it=s not uncommon, stay in New Jersey for the rest of their lives. They remarry there and their wives remarry here. End of story. Alexis also talked about how hard it is to get into the US legitimately. Apparently it costs $100 just to apply for a visa, and there is no certainty that you=ll get past the interview. His view is that the Americans do everything they can to make it very tough for Latin Americans to get into the US, yet Latin Americans are very badly needed there because Americans don=t want to do their own shit work. Once in the US, Costa Ricans do all kinds of menial jobs, from picking up garbage to being busboys to God knows what. March 28, 2004 Alexis estimates that about 25% of the Los Santos male labor force is away working in the US. More than anything else, this would account for the low level of unemployment around here. He also said that it=s impossible to make a living from two to three hectares of coffee. If that is all one has, one has to find additional work to feed the family. Ed
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