The trial of Hernandez-Perez on 15 charges, including kidnapping, assault, robbery and criminal possession of a weapon in the attack on Melissa Diggins has put a very bright light on the growing problem of illegal immigrants in the area. Hernandez-Perez an El Salvador native was in this country illegally and was employed at the now closed{they did have shitty food; no loss} Big Apple restaurant on South Broadway.
Unfortunately it has also brought out some long simmering anger in local people against the growing Hispanic population in the area. In a classic case of scapegoating on the Saratogian web site Victim in Saratoga Springs kidnapping on Walnut Street testifies HERE tempers were flaring in the comments with some since removed that called for vigilante type justice against the perceived Hispanic horde.
So who are these Hispanics that are moving to this area in greater and greater numbers? The vast majority, perhaps up to 99% are hard working men and women with children just trying to eke out a meager existence while trying to go unnoticed by the general population. You see them in the isles of Wal-Mart or in the back of restaurants, tired and sweating after a night of working their nuts off for little pay.
Did the Hernandez-Perez commit a horrible crime against a young hard working girl in Saratoga. Sure looks like it, but that’s for the jury to decide. Is he representative of the vast Hispanic population in the area? I don’t think so; in fact I would guess most of the local Hispanics would like to kill him for what he did.
When I see and hear people in town speaking about “them” as somehow lesser creatures or of being more criminal in nature than “us’ I want to vomit. I think of Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice and Shylocks line “I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes? hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions? fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer, as a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed? if you tickle us, do we not laugh? if you poison us, do we not die?”
Well you get it. And what happens if a Hispanic child is raped by a local man? Where can she turn? What about the police ,do they have a protocol to deal with it? If and I mean if, a local man is arrested and brought to trial, will the girl and her family be deported? What if an illegal immigrant is robbed? Can he even report the crime without fear of deportation? Do we even have a Spanish speaking police officer? High school Spanish doesn’t count.
People can stick their heads in the sand and pretend these things don’t happen, but with the limited knowledge we have of the illegal community, they could of already have.
IN THE END I FEEL, THEY HAVE MORE TO FEAR FROM US, THEN WE DO FROM THEM.
26 comments:
Fuck you tighe.Val told me your an illegal Canadian
I don't know if tighe is illegal or not but he sure looks like one of us.
Tighe, you better be careful of these pictures of young kids on your blog or you will end up like the guy that owns Beverly's restaurant.
I know many hispanics who are good people trying to raise families. But if others want to live here would you please at least learn the fucking language.
bravo! Saratoga's lack of diversity has always been shameful.
Great post John, Saratoga has long been known for being racist and as the mother of a bi-racial child I have experienced it first hand.
I have nothing but respect for the latin workers who work 6 and sometimes 7 days a week with no complaint and for little pay.
I have heard about employers who took full advantage of their solid work ethic and illegal work status and didn't pay them knowing full well that illegals had no recourse to get the $$ that they worked so hard for.
Unfortunately, the general public can't differentiate between an immigration issue and a criminal issue. I don't think this Hernandez person attacked someone simply because he is illegal, obviously they're other issues involved.
You can show solidarity by shunning those who are racist and who express racist sentiments.
Gracias amigo.
Mi familia trabaja muy duro y no somos como el hombre en su periódico. Ejercemos nuestra Inglés y algún día esperamos ser capaces de ser tan fluido como algunos de sus bloggers, sin la toma de posesión.
האיש בעיתון שלך. אנחנו לתרגל את האנגלית ויום אחד שלנו אנחנו מקווים להיות מסוגל להיות שוטפת כמו כמה בלוגרים שלך, בלי לקלל.
Meine Familie arbeitet sehr hart und wir sind nicht wie die Menschen in Ihrer Zeitung. Wir üben unsere englischen und wir hoffen, eines Tages in der Lage sein werden, so fließend, wie einige Ihrer Blogger, ohne die Vereidigung
Gràcies amic.
La meva família treballa molt dur i no som com l'home en el seu diari. Exercim la nostra Anglès i algun dia esperem ser capaços de ser tan fluid com alguns dels seus bloggers, sense la presa de possessió.
Merci ami.
Ma famille travaille très dur et nous ne sommes pas comme l'homme de votre journal. Nous pratiquons notre anglais et un jour, nous espérons être en mesure d'être aussi fluide que certains de vos blogueurs, sans la prestation de serment.
Go raibh maith agat cara.
Oibríonn mo theaghlach an-chrua agus nach bhfuil muid mar an fear i do nuachtán. Táimid ar ár gcleachtas Béarla agus someday tá súil againn a bheith in ann a bheith chomh líofa le roinnt de do blagairí, gan an eascainí.
Grazie amico.
La mia famiglia lavora molto e non siamo come l'uomo nel tuo giornale. Noi pratichiamo il nostro inglese e un giorno speriamo di essere in grado di essere il più fluente come alcuni dei vostri blogger, senza il giuramento.
Dziękuję znajomym.
Moja rodzina bardzo ciężko pracuje i nie jest jak człowiek w gazecie. Ćwiczymy nasz angielski i mamy nadzieję, że pewnego dnia, aby móc być tak płynnie, jak niektóre z blogów, bez przysięgi.
Acoja con satisfacción a Saratoga a mi amigo.
we get some real comedians here.
For once in my life I agree with you.
And fuck Ron Kim
In Mexico, if you have a job you're lucky. If you loose it, you might not get another one. And if you loose your job and you're over thirty you'll never work again. I don't have enough money to bribe officials and business people to keep work. At the boarder, we'll run between your cars selling whatever we can get our hands on. Even a few of your dollars can feed us for weeks.
Here I've seen your kids complain that they are sad, everyone's got an iphone except them. In my country, on special occasions like my birthday, my mom would give us a couple eggs. She'd dress 'em up nice, but seeing the want in my sister's eyes I'd always share. Your kids get Ring Dings and Yoo Hoos for snacks. We'd get fruit that was laying around so long it was starting to change a rotten color. Just having shoes was a treat for us. I don't ask for much.
To get across the boarder, I've spent thousands of dollars on men who squeeze money out of you like they're racing to skin a jack rabbit because they haven't eaten for weeks. I've had your lawyers take thousands of dollars for a green card they knew they'd never give me, explaining weeks later that the money was gone "Because that paperwork is expensive."
I've worked in on your race tracks and in your factories where companies make lots of money off us as we sweat all day without air conditioning or fans. We pay your social security and Medicare without ever a chance of getting any of that money. We pay your gas tax, food and clothing tax, but I don't know where that money goes. Don't know. Don't see it.
I know your president wants to work some amnesty deal where we admit we're illegal and we go back to our country to wait for a visa. I'll never turn myself in because I'll die before I ever see that promised visa. Even family and friends who have their green cards have to wait three, five, ten, eleven years to see their kids. One time when I was back in my country, my neighbor came home to get her daughter who looked at her mom stranger than a stranger in the street.
I know you want to control us. I just need to get some work and send money back to my family. I only wish I could get my story out to more of you. I know what I'd say. I know what I'd show you. Pictures of my kids with tears in their smiles. They're brave but if they wake up scared at night or don't know why they get so sad and lonely I'm not there to lift them with my arms and heart. And that hurts. I know you know that's true.
I don't want you to give me much. Just let me work, send money home, and know that I'd do just about anything to keep doing it. And I don't even want to stay in your country. I've got nearly enough money sent home and saved to buy a little house and some land. That's all I want. That's all I want. I hope you understand. Look in your kid's eyes and if they reflect back to you any hope, that's all I want. Some of that reflected hope shinning on me and mine. Nothing big. Nothing much.
God bless.
An Illegal Immigrant, a human, just like you.
The problem is illegal and illegal means jail.
So Citizen Nancy is still sticking her name into the piblic arena after that iditotic and juvenile post she did about the "mean girl" that picked on here, so it's kinda-OK that she was attacked?
Ms Nancy: how about you sit in the corner for a year or so. That way most of the brain dead ADD types in this city will forget about your stupidity by then.
And sooooo sorry to hear that you are also being picked on by local racists because of your mixed race child. Boo hoo.
Does your business card say 'PERPETUAL VICTIM' on it for your job title?
Citizen Nancy
Since I read your nasty comments regarding the kidnapping victim on your blog, it will now be impossible for me to read anything you write with an open mind. I now consider you a whining, self centered immature woman who should just keep her mouth (and pen) shut.
Just a point of correction: Hernandez-Perez worked at Bentley's in Malta, not the Big Apple. His friends, the Alas cousins, worked at the Big Apple. You'll remember they were illegal immigrants also and suspected of being gang members. As far as I know they were deported but not charged with any crime.
Hernandez-Perez was looking for work at the Big Apple, but the owner didn't have any. That's how his name got associated with that restaurant, because his friends worked there.
What speak Spanish,you kidding me? I could barely figure out the spread in the final four. Let the ewoks learn English and learn to play basketball then we’ll talk. In the meantime stay off the streets or you can ride the lightning.
OK now citizen Nancy is acting like she is a responsible person? You just trashed some young innocent girl who was attacked by one of your own illegals and now you are the savior of us against any racial attacks. Nice! How about an apology to the Diggins family for your very insensitive remarks? How about crawling back in your hole?
Nancy is an illegal Canadian now get a rope and send her back to the Yukon
Than you Tatiana.
Ok you boys had your fun bashing Nancy,unless you want to print your real names no more Nancy bashing posts will be entertained
Sorry Ben, you are wrong on this one. We already pay for lots of lazy American's food stamps and unbridled birth "rights"... now you want me to pay for illegal's too? SUre they are hard working, but they send their money to mexico, they don't spend it here. They don't pay income tax... they don't pay their ER bills, they use get to send their kids to our school systems...
It is a problem, and to make matters worse, there are those who are waiting in line who will NEVER get in because we have an illegal immigrant problem. Don't reward the line jumpers, send them back.
Sorry people you are way off the mark on this one. Read these posts again from these so called "workers". They continually talk about what it is like in their country and they write in their language. This is America and you are here illegally. Which means that you are a criminal. For those of you who posted that there is a difference between workers and illegals, you are correct. Legal workers have work Visas. Illegal aliens do not. They are criminals and have broken the law. They don't pay taxes, they don't contribute to the system. They cost American's millions of dollars in free health care and social program and they do not assimilate like the immigrants in the past did. I do not feel sorry for them, nor do I wish to help them. They are not part of this country and they need to be deported. I am proud of Saratoga. I am proud of where I live and I object to them working for less pay and a cheaper wage. Go the hell home. You are not welcome here.
If we just ignore or deport the immigrants, their gov't will just get angry. You'd think they'd learn from the past, but if your life sucked, wouldn't you want to move to a better place too? I'm not saing being an illegal immigrant is right or to say lets just let them in, but we should butt out of the governments business and take care of our own problems.
What about LEGAL Hispanics... they still get the stares and looks from the ignorant townies...
I should know, I am an educated AMERICAN Hispanic who lives here, and I get stared at everywhere I go in this town...
What's worse is when I get hateful looks by folks with 4 missing teeth and a 1980's mullet...I mean seriously...THE NERVE!
Yet again, Americans are not against Mexicans, just ones that sneak it, wont pay taxes and live 50 to an apartment. IT drives the quality of life down down down and sudenly were in Mexico and were all trying to sneak into canada. If you build something great and beuatiful you should defend it and not want it to be destroyed.
Post a Comment