Chak jou, 'jornaleros' Stamford yo navige nan ensètitid ak esklizyon nan rechèch nan travay

Pa Radyo Piblik Connecticut / WNPR

Day laborers, or jornaleros as they are called in Spanish, are immigrant workers who depend on finding a job each day. In Stamford, they gather each morning near I-95 at a corner they call "El Palomar" and wait for luck to cross their path — hoping a potential employer offers them a temporary job in the clandestine labor market.

Mauro V. se yon jornalero san papye ki soti Ondiras. Li te mande pou itilize prenon li sèlman poutèt estati dokiman li yo. Li te di ke salè a se anba tab la, pandan y ap travayè yo fè fas a yon lavi nan ensètitid ak esklizyon.

"Everyone does what they can,” Mauro said. “If you have the experience, you do the job. I’m a painter and make ceramics. But sometimes [employers] ask you for health insurance, which I don't have, so they take advantage and pay you much less."

Pandan ke li ilegal pou yon anplwayè pa peye oswa menase yon jornalero, sa rive. Enstiti Politik Migrasyon an te di apeprè 113,000 imigran san papye te viv nan Connecticut an 2022, e prèske 60% nan popilasyon sa a pa gen asirans sante.

Anka Badurina se direktè egzekitif Building One Community, yon òganizasyon Stamford ki te travay pandan plizyè ane pou jwenn konfyans nan mitan jornalero yo nan mond ensèten yo. Badurina te di ke yo te ede 15,000 imigran. Èd yo genyen ladan l bay sipò pou jesyon dosye yo, konseye travayè yo sou dwa yo ki gen rapò ak vòl salè, epi ede yo konprann dwa yo dapre lalwa federal.

"They are victims of theft. They do get paid, but because they are undocumented, they are victims of crime as well," Badurina said.

Enflasyon ak enpak ki pèsistan nan COVID-19 te afekte anpil Ameriken, men jornaleros yo te patikilyèman vilnerab.