THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 25, 1996 TAG: 9610250516
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DIANE TENNANT, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 74 lines
The problems keep piling up around paralyzed migrant worker Marcos Gonzales, an illegal immigrant who was injured in an Eastern Shore car wreck in August.
His family was to have come to Norfolk two weeks ago to receive training at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital on the 24-hour care he requires.
But his wife lost her passport, airplane ticket and money in Mexico City on Oct. 9. Then, earlier this week, the U.S. Embassy denied visas for Gonzales' toddler sons and father, fearing they may not return to Mexico.
``Nobody ever mentioned that there would be an issue around getting these visas,'' said Jim Albright, coordinator of the Catholic church's local migrant ministry.
Albright has scheduled - and canceled - three different flights for the family in the past two weeks. He has driven to Newark, N.J., twice to pick them up, only to find them still grounded in Mexico City.
``It's been such a bureaucratic kind of snafu for two or three weeks now,'' Albright said. ``I don't know who to appeal to.''
Gonzales' family must learn to suction the 24-year-old man's lungs, maintain the oxygen tube in his throat, turn him over every few hours, protect against skin breakdown and blood clots and perform other types of care typical for a patient paralyzed from the chest down. With therapy, Gonzales may regain some use of his arms.
Gonzales could face deportation unless he leaves the country, although immigration authorities have not begun any action against him. But he can't return to his Mexican village, five hours from Mexico City, until his caregivers are trained.
Albright said the embassy workers he talked to were Catholic and sympathetic to the church's efforts to raise money and help the Gonzales family. But one worker suggested the family was just one of many seeking to enter America, possibly with plans not to return, and that the donated money could be better spent elsewhere.
``It was bureaucracy I was dealing with, and it was just so painful,'' Albright said.
Now, Gonzales' mother, her 9-month-old daughter and Gonzales' wife are completing a new round of paperwork to enter the country.
In the meantime, the hospital has kept Gonzales as a patient, absorbing the cost of his care because he has no insurance and no money. By Oct. 7, his care had already cost $161,959.
Translators are on standby to help the family and the medical staff communicate. Living arrangements are on hold. The airline has agreed not to penalize the Catholic ministry for changing airline reservations so often.
The Cristo Rey Hispanic Community has been accepting donations for Gonzales, whose brother was killed in the same accident that paralyzed him. The brothers were the main supporters for their families, sending most of their earnings from picking vegetables and fruit back to the family in Mexico.
The donations were intended for medical supplies. Now, Albright says, they're considering using some of the money to help the family expand its farm or start a small business. Gonzales' father raises and sells 10 piglets a year, and does farm labor.
While that is decided, Albright continues to work on getting the family to Norfolk to be trained.
``He (Gonzales) has known that they're coming, and it's like letting him down every time we tell him they're not coming,'' Albright said. ``It's like quicksand, you know? It just keeps slipping away.'' MEMO: For more information about helping the family, call the Cristo Rey
Hispanic Community at 490-7896. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
FILE
Maria Newman comforts migrant worker Marcos Gonzales, who was
paralyzed in a car accident last summer. Gonzales is currently being
cared for at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital.
KEYWORDS: ACCIDENT TRAFFIC FATALITY INJURIES
MIGRANT FARM WORKERS MEXICO by CNB