A Mexican immigrant hunting for a job in Queens hands over $120 cash as an upfront fee to a clerk at an employment agency.
But when she shows up at the restaurant that the clerk told her was hiring and asks for Mr. Lopez the manager, there is no Mr. Lopez. And they aren’t hiring anyway.
The scene is fiction — acted out before more than 100 people this spring during a forum at an East Side church — but it’s based on actual experiences.
The set is based on businesses located along Queens’ Roosevelt Ave. — where informal job agencies often illegally share space with other enterprises.
The play aims to educate immigrant New Yorkers about exploitative employment agencies — which scam them by charging a fee and not actually delivering employment or placing them in jobs that pay below minimum wage.
The problem is widespread among the more than 300 licensed and hundreds more unlicensed employment agencies in the city, according to immigrant advocates.
In a 2012 survey, New Immigrant Community Empowerment found that 81% of Latino immigrants in Jackson Heights, Elmhurst and Corona who use employment agencies had paid fees but didn’t get a job or a refund.
7 comments:
Oh well....if you're dumb enough to fall for a con like that then you get what you deserve.
Well, when you hide in the shadows, do not learn to speak the English language and learn to assimilate and stay isolated, then you become a victim.
Its OK, they are here to scam off of us. Circle of life, and all.
Latin Americans are about the only species that eat and prey on their own. There are a bunch of Latinos that have brought their unlawful practices to this country. They should be hunt down by the long arm of the law and denounced by other Latinos as well.
Now they know what it feels like to be scammed. Just ask a taxpayer. If they didn't cross the border illegally, they wouldn't be here and wouldn't get scammed.
81% fell for this? If you knew 10people and 8 of them had been ripped off, why in the world would you do the same thing?!
"Latin Americans are about the only species that eat and prey on their own"
You could not be more wrong. Every immigrant group in this country has done this in a long documentable history, from slumlords to sweatshop owners to massage parlors.
I have little sympathy for non-assimilating illegals, but please get your history straight.
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