The Department of Homeland Security subpoenaed the Rye, N.Y., club in July, demanding detailed employee information. The employees who were terminated were all in the process of becoming legal citizens.
Ten employees in various stages of the process of becoming citizens were terminated from the American Yacht Club in December when the Department of Homeland Security subpoenaed the club in July, demanding detailed employee information, the Lower Hudson Valley, N.Y.-based Journal News reported.
According to Luis Hernandez, who managed the dining room at the Rye, N.Y., club and worked there for 22 years, he legally came to the United States from Mexico at age 18. While attending Rye High school for a year, he took a crash course in English and went to work at the yacht club. Two of his brothers, who immigrated before him, also had jobs there, the Journal News reported.
Eventually Hernandez’s visa expired, but he, and many of his co-workers in similar straits, remained in the U.S. About 10 years ago, a sympathetic manager, who has since left the yacht club’s employment, sponsored the workers so they could pursue the long and arduous task of becoming legal citizens. They hired an immigration lawyer to represent them, the Journal News reported.
The workers had completed many steps in the process, Hernandez said.
“The investigation and the subpoena came as a complete surprise,” the club statement said.
Complying with the subpoena, the club was able to supply some information. However, last month the DHS told management that documents for some of the staff “did not support their eligibility to work in the United States.” The list of required documents was “very precise,” but the club didn’t elaborate, nor did the DHS, the Journal News reported.
At any rate, DHS said the employees had 10 days to produce the needed documents to remain employed. Some of the workers were apparently successful in meeting this demand. Hernandez and nine others were not. During the first week in December, they were all let go with two weeks pay. The news came as a complete shock, the Journal News reported.
Laura Ceron, a $20-an-hour waitress, was among the terminated. “Nobody ever, ever expected anything like that,” she said. “Not even in their wildest dreams. It was just very sad.”
It was hard to fathom because everything had been above board, Ceron said. Nobody was hiding their status. “We paid our taxes,” she said.
Peter S. Duncan, the club commodore, informed the membership in a letter, the Journal News reported.
“For most of us, these individuals were more than employees,” he wrote. “They were the warm smiling faces that greeted us every time we arrived at the club. They knew our names and our children’s birthdays.
Duncan said the club had a history of overcoming obstacles and compared the loss of “cherished staff” to a disastrous fire that destroyed the clubhouse in 1951. He said the club would emerge from the latest crisis “stronger and more resilient,” the Journal News reported.
Like Hernandez, Ceron has lived her entire adult life here. Going back to her native Mexico is not an option. “I don’t know anybody there,” she said.
Hernandez remains committed to becoming “legal in this country.” At age 40, he still wants to go to college. It might be corny to say that this is the land of opportunity, but to Hernandez that’s exactly what America is, the Journal News reported.
“It’s beautiful,” he said. “Just the colors of the flag excite me. I think it’s really pretty. I love it.”
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