temporarily suspended from work, jokes in bad taste, rejected by their peers ... These are some of the cases of discrimination suffered by Mexican citizens in New York, because of the outbreak of new influenza A (H1N1).
far, none of the cases were formally reported, but the victims of discrimination related their experience to some Mexican associations of the city.
The director of one of these, Tepeyac, Joel Magallán said the case of a young woman who works in construction: "He said the company contractor working people needed for new construction, but the landlord asked not to hire Mexicans for fear of catching the flu. "
Magallán heard about this case because the young person attends English classes offered Tepeyac and told what happened to her teacher. Then, the center's director decided to interview the young to know what happened exactly, and consider whether you could take any legal action. "I have to consult with counsel and see what can be done" said Magallán.
On the other hand, the director of Tepeyac also explained that there were instances of "jokes in bad taste" among coworkers. "At work there are always bickering and some took it from the flu to comment on fellow Mexican that can not be considered jokes " denounced.
Another familiar associations of discrimination cases FAMA, the Federation of Mexico, which brings together 78 American organizations in the northwest and is based in Manhattan.
The vice president of the organization, popularly known as Casa Puebla, Carmelo Maceda, told DPA that three Mexicans went to the federation to ask for directions to find work because they were suspended temporarily from the factory that used for fear of spread of H1N1.
"His fellow workers were afraid of being infected, although none of the three had symptoms influenza and even traveled to Mexico recently, ", said Maceda.
" Under pressure from workers, the owner had to temporarily suspend them until the issue of the epidemic to calm down. "This situation with the crisis economic aggravated the problem to find a job " he said Maceda.
Another case that you know is a guy who decided to leave voluntarily work in construction because their partners did not want to share the tools with him for fear of the flu.
The new flu outbreak caused even that Casa Puebla decided to suspend the traditional festival May 5 is celebrated each year in Queens and attended by thousands.
"We had to postpone it because we were worried, because when 200,000 people attended festival and we can not take health coverage for all of them and many do not have health insurance" , Maceda justified. "Many people who come to the festival are undocumented and opt to take medication in stores because they are afraid of the cost of going to the doctor."
"We risked a big infection" , said Maceda, who said that for more "INRI", the festival was held in a park near the two main foci of infection in the city, the Saint Francis Preparatory schools and PS 177.
far, Casa Puebla will not initiate any formal demand as "no complaints documented in their hands", but says , if any, the federation will "whatever is available" . Before
discrimination cases, the consul of Mexico in New York, Ruben Beltran, told DPA that the consulate had received no complaint but invited the affected "they do know the consulate to be taken necessary and can be documented. "
On Monday, Undersecretary for Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mexico, Juan Manuel Gomez-Robledo, had criticized the UN's attitudes "xenophobia" against Mexicans as confinement in airports as happened, though Gomez-Robledo avoided giving names countries, in China.
"We support the zero tolerance said Consul Ruben Beltran in possible cases of discrimination.
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