There is a rumor that I heard about one of the friends of a
person I know that he is getting ready to go to the States illegally. He has 3 small children and can’t support his
growing family with the money he makes as a shopkeeper of a small store he owns
at the market. I don’t know if that’s true because I don’t know him personally.
I see him working at the market, but I never spoke with him.
People think that unemployment rate here in Guatemala now is
about 30-40% even though the government stated
it is 3.2% in 2005 according to the CIA World Factbook. I have to admit that things changed a lot
since 2005, but there is no more recent information regarding Guatemalan unemployment
rate. So I can’t really post any
accurate information. But I know a
husband of a family that I am close to works 6 days a week and makes about Q2000
($270) per month. This family rents a
room, which costs them Q400 per month, and I assume the cost of food about
Q1200 to Q1500 per month based on what I spend for food (I buy food at the
market and cook for myself. Because people from the market always charge me
more, I always go with my Guatemalan friends not to be overcharged!). Public schools are supposed to be free, but
students have to purchase uniforms, shoes, school supplies, books, and so on. This
can add up to about Q1000 at the beginning of a school year and whatever the
amount of money needed as a school year goes. With this amount of money that he makes, if
you didn’t inherit a house or a business from your parents which he didn’t, I don’t
know what he is going to do if his baby gets sick.
The idea that people get about going to the States is
becoming easier for me to understand.
They are frustrated in being trapped in this poverty cycle. They want to give their children good
education and a safe home with walls.
The house that he rents has tin walls, which makes his house very cold
at night. I am not saying it is correct
to enter another country illegally, but I started to think what I would do if I
were born into a situation like this; being trapped in the poverty cycle. What would you do if you were him?
But I know a husband of a family that I am close to works 6 days a week and makes about Q2000 ($270) per month.
ReplyDelete- How many hours does he work a day? Eight like most of us here do?
This family rents a room, which costs them Q400 per month...
- That's $54 right? I wish my rent was that cheap. Last time I checked my savings I could stay there for the next 30 years without working.
...and I assume the cost of food about Q1200 to Q1500 per month...
- How is that food costs more than rent?
Because people from the market always charge me more, I always go with my Guatemalan friends not to be overcharged!
- That's not right. Why do they charge you more? Because you're not a citizen?
The house that he rents has tin walls, which makes his house very cold at night.
- It gets cold in Guatemala? Isn't that a country in Central America?
I am not saying it is correct to enter another country illegally, but I started to think what I would do if I were born into a situation like this; being trapped in the poverty cycle. What would you do if you were him?
- I can understand his frustration. I probably would do the same. You probably already know this but some reasons US citizens are intolerant of immigrants and laws are getting tougher on them is because a lot of them bring drugs and crime, breed out of ignorance or some bizarre religious reason, abuse government benefits, and stuff. I personally don't have a problem with anybody who wants to leave their shit-hole place to come here and live a better life, as long as they're making honest effort with it and respecting our rules and customs. However, those from another country who want to stir-fry cats and dogs or honor-kill their daughter because they don't approve of the guy she's dating, they have to go.
- Anyway, I wish the best of luck for the shopkeeper. While I can imagine how Mexicans can sneak their way in here, how would someone as far away as Central America pull it off?
- About the currency, how come they use Qs instead of going to USD like El Salvador did?
There is so many problems here in the US with illegal immigration. For the longest everyone just looked away. After all it is cheap labor. But after 9-11, everybody got scared that the terrorists where coming through. The border need to be closed was the answer and all the illegal have to get out. No longer was talk about amnesty for people that have been living here, working hard and contributing positively to the US economy. Now Illegals are looked as at as criminals after all the are breaking the law, But it is just not that simple. Coming into this country legally is even harder. Immigration and all the bureaucratic steps, are extremely complicated and expensive.
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