to assist growing
immigrant population
New company hopes
to assist growing
immigrant population
BY JOYCE BLAY
Staff Writer
LAKEWOOD — In a time of recession and increased unemployment, Rafael and Lisette Caraballo have a simple but direct message: charity begins at home.
In order to fulfill that maxim, the Lakewood husband and wife entrepreneurs have launched Aztec East LLC in partnership with Aztec Worldwide Inc. of Arlington, Texas.
At a recent news conference, both Lisette Caraballo and Ada Gonzalez, director of Immigration Plus, as well as coordinator of the English as a Second Language (ESL) program run by the Lakewood Development Corporation, explained why Aztec East may be Lakewood’s best hope to solve the financial and medical needs of the township’s most vulnerable residents.
"Over 60 million Americans are out of work," Caraballo said. "We developed a program for those people as well as the undocumented."
While the North American Free Trade Agreement lowered United States borders to many Canadians, restrictions on immigration for Mexicans continues to create a subculture of illegal persons from that country seeking better employment opportunities in the north, Caraballo said.
In a letter written to Gonzalez on Jan. 31, 2002, former Lakewood Police Chief Michael Lynch, who retired at the end of 2002, estimated the number of illegal Mexican residents in town at more than 14,000. Caraballo and Gonzalez said they believe that number is even higher.
"From the Mexican’s point of view, $18 a month (in Mexico) vs. $6 an hour (in the United States)" is worth coming to America to work, said Gonzalez. "The American dollar goes a long way in Mexico."
Gonzalez said some illegal immigrants from Mexico have run several successful businesses, all under false Social Security numbers or under the Social Security numbers of legal residents.
"They don’t want to come to this country to be an illegal," said Caraballo. "I want to help them become legal. That’s why I’m here."
The Caraballos and Gonzalez believe the solution to the problem of Lakewood’s underground work force, many of whom have no health benefits or who send money home to relatives, is to provide access to a network of discounted health care providers, as well as banking privileges through use of a debit card backed by MasterCard.
"This is a stored value card that is PIN protected, FDIC insured (and would be) offered through their employers," Caraballo said. "Employers (would) deposit their (employees’ wages) in this account."
Caraballo said Capt. Rob Lawson of the Lakewood Police Department had told her that many undocumented workers are robbed at check-cashing locations. Through use of the card, she said, the money could automatically be debited and sent to relatives without exposing workers to robbery of their earnings, and at a lower cost than is charged by some services.
Caraballo said those enrolled in the program also would learn to use checks that would be issued to them. The financial benefits also would be reciprocal, Caraballo said.
"This is a revenue-generating card for banks as well," she said. "We help (the undocumented) transition into the mainstream (by giving them help in getting loans)."
Eventually, Caraballo said, those same people could apply for mortgages in order to buy a home of their own.
The other component of the program is its medical benefits, which are provided at a discount through Galaxy Health Network Inc., a health management company based in Arlington, Texas. It is neither an insurance company nor a health care provider, according to Caraballo, but access to its health care professionals through a card that would be issued to members could replace charity care currently given to residents in Lakewood without medical insurance.
"We are speaking to Kimball (Medical Center)" in order to arrange acceptance of the card there), Caraballo said. "The goal is to reach out to more (area) hospitals (and doctors)."
Caraballo said that for a charge of $40, a family as large as 15 could receive discounted treatment for medical, dental, vision or chiropractic services through network providers, as well as purchase prescriptions at a lower price.
She said enrollment in the program could replace expensive medical insurance that many employers cannot afford.
The key component to giving those in need of such services access to them, said both Caraballo and Gonzalez, is obtaining the trust of those they want to help.
That was also a concern of state Sen. Robert W. Singer, who is a member of the Lakewood Township Committee.
"The biggest stumbling block is to get people to sign up for it," Singer said. "I met with the president of Aztec (Worldwide), who is from Texas, and he said they were able to win that population over, so maybe it will work."