Two years after raid, Bianco workers' lives in limbo
By BECKY W. EVANS
revans@s-t.com
March 06, 2009
Southcoast Today
NEW BEDFORD — Life has changed a lot for Elsy Hernandez in the two years since she was detained in a federal immigration raid and sent to a Texas prison for working illegally at the Michael Bianco Inc. factory.
The 29-year-old Honduran immigrant now has a legal work permit and a driver's license.
"I can go to any company and ask for a job without being afraid," she said through a Spanish interpreter.
But life isn't perfect. Like others suffering from the economic downturn, she is unemployed and looking for a job.
She and her former co-workers drained their savings accounts in the aftermath of the Bianco raid, using the money to post bail and pay rent and utilities while they were fighting their immigration cases in court and unable to work.
Hernandez carries dark memories from the March 6, 2007, raid, when Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers stormed the Bianco military equipment factory and arrested 361 undocumented workers, many of them Central American women whose children were stranded at day care or with baby-sitters.
Hernandez, who has no children, said she "suffered a lot" during her monthlong stay at an ICE detention facility in Los Fresnos, Texas. She is grateful to the lawyers, psychologists and philanthropists who have helped her stitch her life back together. Slowly.
"It's very hard to be stable again," she said.
STATUS UPDATE
Hernandez is among only a handful of former Bianco workers whose cases have been resolved. In May 2008, she was granted temporary protected status, a special designation allowing her to temporarily live and work in the United States. Hondurans received the protective status in 1998 following Hurricane Mitch. The designation has been extended through July 2010.
In November, ICE reported that of the 361 Bianco workers arrested in the raid, approximately 168 were deported to their home countries, 116 of the workers were awaiting a court ruling on deportation, 26 had received final deportation orders and would be sent to their home countries, and 16 had their residency changed to legal status. The exact status of another 35 cases in the system was unclear.
ICE officials failed to respond to repeated attempts made by The Standard-Times over the past two weeks to get updated figures on the status of Bianco workers.
The majority of the workers who were released from detention are still fighting their cases in U.S. immigration court, according to attorneys from Greater Boston Legal Services. More than 100 of those cases are being fought by lawyers from GBLS and Catholic Social Services. Both legal advocacy groups have provided free legal counsel to raid victims.
The lawyers have won a handful of cases and to date, none of their clients have been deported, said GBLS attorney John Willshire Carrera. Four workers are on the path to permanent legal residency, while another two have won temporary legal status to live and work in this country. Five other workers are filing for a U-visa, which grants temporary legal status to victims of violent crimes who cooperate with police.
Carrera estimated that it will be another year and a half before all the outstanding Bianco cases are resolved. If any of the decisions are appealed, it could take longer, he said.
LIVING IN LIMBO
Catholic Social Services attorney Ondine Galvez Sniffin said life will continue "to be very hard" for the Bianco workers, who have been living in limbo for the past two years.
"Families are just kind of waiting to get a resolution of their case," said Corinn Williams, director of the Community Economic Development Center of Southeastern Massachusetts. "They keep fighting to stay and build a life here. Their children are two years older and are now in the school system."
One group of workers must travel to Burlington at least once a month to check in with ICE officials, while another group is required to report to ICE through an automated telephone number. Since many do not drive, they rely on transportation provided by immigrant advocacy groups.
While they wait for their cases to be resolved, the Bianco workers are not authorized to work. Jobs for undocumented workers are increasingly hard to find.
"The way the economy is now and the anti-immigrant attitude of some people means (business owners) are not likely to give workers jobs without proper identification," Sniffin said.
Families affected by the raid have received financial assistance over the past two years from the Ninos Fund, which is supported through private donations and managed by the Community Foundation of Southeastern Massachusetts.
Fund managers have released an additional $45,000 in funding for housing assistance and food due to the worsening economy, said foundation president Craig Dutra. But he warned that the fund, which has raised a total of $185,000 since its establishment days after the Bianco raid, "is getting small."
Hernandez said financial assistance from the New Bedford community and beyond is one of the things that has helped keep hope alive for raid victims.
"With the blessing of God, we're getting better," she said. "Little by little, we're doing it."
INSOLIA SENTENCE
Former Bianco owner Francesco Insolia is expected to "self report" to federal authorities today to begin serving his sentence of 12 months and one day in federal prison. His sentencing includes three years of supervised release and payment of a $30,000 fine for helping to harbor and conceal illegal immigrants.
Insolia pleaded guilty in November to his role in employing illegal immigrants at the South End leather factory, which had won Department of Defense contracts to manufacture military vests and other equipment for U.S. troops fighting overseas.
Also in November, Michael Bianco Inc. pleaded guilty to 18 counts of knowingly hiring illegal immigrants and agreed to pay a $1.5 million fine. In a separate settlement agreement for a class action lawsuit, the company committed to paying $850,000 in unpaid overtime and wages to more than 750 workers.
Some Bianco workers on Sunday received the first settlement checks, ranging from less than $20 to $6,000 based on how much overtime they had worked. Hernandez received a check for about $3,500.
"We are very thankful for this," she said. "This fight was not a waste of time. They paid us what we were supposed to be paid. We won."
In a letter to new Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Sen. John F. Kerry, D-Mass., wrote that he was "pleased that the owner of the Bianco factory was finally incarcerated for his crimes and some of the Bianco employees have received restitution. Sadly, there are families that will never be able to recover financially or emotionally from the ICE raid."
STILL TRAUMATIZED
UMass Dartmouth anthropology professor Lisa Maya Knauer has been studying the city's Central American immigrant community since the Bianco raid. Her interviews with Salvadoran and Mayan workers have revealed that the impact of the raid varies by individual.
"There are people for whom it is still really traumatic and a lot of people who have more or less taken it in stride," she said. "Some people are still pretty kind of shell-shocked."
Williams described the daily life of raid victims as "a continuing nightmare."
"When you speak to people who were detained and who were separated from their children and sent to Texas, you realize it is an ongoing trauma... I am convinced it is very tough for these families to put it all behind them and move forward," she said.
Sniffin explained how the process of filing for asylum has forced some of the Bianco workers to relive trauma they suffered earlier in life as victims of civil war in their home countries.
"Their survival depends on past horrors they have suffered," she said.
Knauer said she is most surprised by how the workers interpreted the raid as a sign of deep, personal rejection.
"They see it as, you, America, don't want me here," she said.
IMMIGRATION REFORM
Ken Pittman, a conservative talk radio host on WBSM-AM in Fairhaven, said he doesn't feel sympathy for the Bianco workers because they have made a conscious choice to stay in the country after they broke the law to get here.
"I'm glad they got their money; they worked for it," he said of the settlement checks. "Whether or not they should have had jobs in the first place is another story."
He said he would like to see Congress and the Obama administration develop comprehensive immigration reform that is strong on enforcement and "sensible, quick and efficient" in processing applications from those who want to enter the country legally.
Sniffin said she is looking for reform that will give her clients "a fairer shot at the American dream."
"They are entitled at a fair shot, but right now, with what's on the books, they do not get one," she said.
New Bedford Mayor Scott W. Lang said President Barack Obama and Congress need to develop a system "that has some sort of pathway for legal status for these individuals." He said their first step should be requiring all illegal immigrants to register so they come out of the shadows. The next step would be for both Republican and Democratic leaders to "pound out a bill that has a practical application for cities and towns ... so we can then implement the program," he said.
Reflecting on how the raid had impacted New Bedford, Mayor Lang said it highlighted both the charity and diversity of the city's residents.
"People regardless of their position on immigration reform stepped forward to try to help the families of the individuals who were detained. ... New Bedford is much more aware of who lives in our city and how they form part of the fabric of our city," he said.
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