Posted on Sep 14, 2023
A journey continues: migrants reflect one year after being flown to Martha's Vineyard
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A year ago, 49 migrants arrived unexpectedly on Martha’s Vineyard, a wealthy island community off the Massachusetts coast. Immigration advocates called it a cruel political stunt, but it has surprisingly created a legal advantage that some of the migrants might be able to use to remain in the United States.
Among them was Carlos Luzardo, who worked seven years as a barber after moving to Colombia from his native Venezuela. After living through a political crisis and then economic upheaval, he sold his business and decided to migrate to the U.S.
“It was a difficult decision,” he said earlier this month, speaking through an interpreter.
In the last year, the stocky, gregarious 25-year-old has been slowly building a new client base in the kitchen of his apartment in a Boston suburb. To earn more money, he works in a salon washing hair, waxing eyebrows, and simply talking with people. “I spend an hour with them, fixing them up. And just like that, they find me endearing. I’m not sure why,” he added with a smile.
Among them was Carlos Luzardo, who worked seven years as a barber after moving to Colombia from his native Venezuela. After living through a political crisis and then economic upheaval, he sold his business and decided to migrate to the U.S.
“It was a difficult decision,” he said earlier this month, speaking through an interpreter.
In the last year, the stocky, gregarious 25-year-old has been slowly building a new client base in the kitchen of his apartment in a Boston suburb. To earn more money, he works in a salon washing hair, waxing eyebrows, and simply talking with people. “I spend an hour with them, fixing them up. And just like that, they find me endearing. I’m not sure why,” he added with a smile.
A journey continues: migrants reflect one year after being flown to Martha's Vineyard
Posted from capeandislands.org
Immigration
Refugees
Venezuela
Colombia
Posted 8 mo ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."Luzardo takes home about $600 a month. It’s all under the table while he awaits legal work authorization. But he’s been able to buy a pair of clippers and good scissors, while helping to support his mother and girlfriend back in South America.
“[I’ve] sent a little to my family,” he said, “not [as much as] I want to, but I have helped them.”
The migrants flown to Martha’s Vineyard, most originally from Venezuela, say they were tricked into boarding planes in Texas under a false promise of expedited work papers and housing. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has since taken credit for what he’s called a “voluntary” relocation. Many of the migrants, Luzardo among them, have painted a very different picture.
Arriving on Martha's Vineyard
When the migrants disembarked the two planes that brought them to Martha’s Vineyard, Luzardo said, they were almost immediately left alone to wander.
But islanders, after gathering enough information to realize these people needed help, quickly jumped in.
Leaders from St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Edgartown offered two buildings as shelters. One housed men, the other women and children. High school students studying AP Spanish started translating. Beds, food, and toys were made available, then even more: access to a dentist, to lawyers, to soccer balls.
Amidst the frenzy of media coverage that sprang up around them, many of the migrants started sharing their stories with volunteers and reporters. They said they’d been told they were going to Boston or New York, among other places, that were set up to receive them. When they realized this wasn’t true, they said they felt lied to, duped, used.
“From the beginning I knew this was something sponsored by the government, but it was something that was not right,” Luzardo said. “But I didn’t react against it because I saw how well we were being treated and cared for.”
Many migrants were still processing these feelings when they voluntarily left the island and were transported to dorms at Joint Base Cape Cod, where Massachusetts officials concluded there would be more infrastructure in place to accommodate them."...
..."Luzardo takes home about $600 a month. It’s all under the table while he awaits legal work authorization. But he’s been able to buy a pair of clippers and good scissors, while helping to support his mother and girlfriend back in South America.
“[I’ve] sent a little to my family,” he said, “not [as much as] I want to, but I have helped them.”
The migrants flown to Martha’s Vineyard, most originally from Venezuela, say they were tricked into boarding planes in Texas under a false promise of expedited work papers and housing. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has since taken credit for what he’s called a “voluntary” relocation. Many of the migrants, Luzardo among them, have painted a very different picture.
Arriving on Martha's Vineyard
When the migrants disembarked the two planes that brought them to Martha’s Vineyard, Luzardo said, they were almost immediately left alone to wander.
But islanders, after gathering enough information to realize these people needed help, quickly jumped in.
Leaders from St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Edgartown offered two buildings as shelters. One housed men, the other women and children. High school students studying AP Spanish started translating. Beds, food, and toys were made available, then even more: access to a dentist, to lawyers, to soccer balls.
Amidst the frenzy of media coverage that sprang up around them, many of the migrants started sharing their stories with volunteers and reporters. They said they’d been told they were going to Boston or New York, among other places, that were set up to receive them. When they realized this wasn’t true, they said they felt lied to, duped, used.
“From the beginning I knew this was something sponsored by the government, but it was something that was not right,” Luzardo said. “But I didn’t react against it because I saw how well we were being treated and cared for.”
Many migrants were still processing these feelings when they voluntarily left the island and were transported to dorms at Joint Base Cape Cod, where Massachusetts officials concluded there would be more infrastructure in place to accommodate them."...
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel good day Brother William, always informational and of the most interesting. Thanks for sharing, have a blessed day!
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People have lost their communication skills. I’m sure they are happy just to have someone listen.
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