A team of workers consisting of eight people was carrying out road maintenance Monday to Tuesday night last week on the Francis Scott Key Bridge, Baltimore, United States. Suddenly, a large container ship crashed into a support pillar, causing almost the entire span of the bridge to fall into the Patapsco River.
Two workers were successfully evacuated from the water, but six other people died. They come from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. The deaths of six workers from Latin America who were repairing potholes on a collapsed bridge highlights the important role of immigrants in keeping the wheels of life in the United States (US) running normally.
An activist and former construction worker, Luis Vega, stated that this was in sharp contrast to Donald Trump’s populist rhetoric, which often called them criminals and destroying the country. On various occasions, Trump has emphasized that if elected he will carry out mass expulsions of immigrants who are considered to have fueled crime and drug addiction in America.
“Migrants are coming in and doing jobs that Americans don’t want to do,” Vega said. “Their work is too hard, the hours are too long, or the conditions are too difficult. Who here wants to clean a hotel room? Who wants to work under the hot sun?” he stressed once more.
According to Vega, Trump did not see how much harm his words would cause. “Terrorists are not sneaking across the US-Mexico border; they fly with visas,” he said sarcastically.
“In 2020, when we experienced the covid pandemic, no one wanted to work with anyone else. So who does the job of cleaning hospitals? “It’s the immigrants who are risking their lives,” he continued.
Also read: US deports Cuban citizens once more since Covid-19 pandemic
High risk
In reality, it is immigrants who are willing to do various menial jobs, even very risky ones.
In Arizona, the legal minimum wage is US$14.35 or regarding (Rp. 240 thousand) per hour, but, said Javier Galindo, a contractor in Tucson, immigrant workers earn only US$80 to US$100 per day, sometimes for 10 or 12 weeks. working hours.
Also read: Potential Largest Maritime Insurance Payout following Bridge Collapse in Baltimore
“You know what time you come in, but you don’t know what time you have to leave,” Vega said, describing the uncertain fate of immigrant workers. Poverty and despair force them to accept these wages and work in conditions that can be fatal, such as extremely hot temperatures and weather.
According to official figures, Latino immigrant workers accounted for 8.2% of the entire workforce in the United States in 2020-2021, but they accounted for 14% of workplace deaths. The total number of deaths is also increasing, up 42% over the decade to 2021. 2021, with 727 Latinos dying on the job that year.
“Comprehensive reforms to migration to the United States, including regulating these workers, would help reduce the number of victims,” labor activists said. The presence of Latin immigrants is also a solution to cover the labor shortage in the US, especially in the informal sector.
Also read: 3 cranes arrive to clean up rubble from the Baltimore Bridge
“There is a labor shortage,” said Galindo, whose home repair business was hit hard by border closures during the Covid pandemic.
This 48 year old man started his life in the US at the age of 14 by becoming a handyman, aka a construction worker. He even had to climb the roof with the risk of falling. “You would never see a white person doing that job,” he said.
In the two decades since he started his own company, only one white American has ever knocked on his door and asked for a job as a driver. “But he didn’t last long and asked to stop,” said Galindo, laughing
In his region, the construction sector is almost entirely dependent on immigrants, especially those who are undocumented or illegal. “If we only hire people who have legal papers, it’s not profitable for us,” one contractor from Arizona told AFP.
“We would not have been able to build what is being built in this city if it were not for these undocumented workers,” he concluded. (AFP/M-3)
#Baltimore #Bridge #Collapse #Reveals #Dark #Story #Immigrants
