Rigoberto Gutiérrez is a day laborer who arrived in Yonkers from Mexico 20 years ago with a backpack full of dreams.
When she returned home from her job in Mexico, her dream was to attend college but she knew her mother would never be able to pay her. She saw her work very hard and barely earn enough to eat. With her broken heart, she left her family, left Mexico and came to live in a basement in Yonkers that filled with water every winter.
Every morning he got up very early and walked to a place called “El Palito” where construction workers gather to look for work.
He wanted to study and enrolled in a School to learn English. A few years ago, Rigoberto became the President of Obreros Unidos de Yonkers. This is a Catholic Charities Day Laborer Program. Rigoberto has been a strong leader and has been involved and has shown a great passion for helping others and has become an advocate for those less fortunate. Rigoberto helped by bringing groceries to the day laborers who are on the corner and to the elderly in the pandemic.
Today he has a wife and three children and has worked very hard to give his family a better life. With the assistance, encouragement and support of the Immigrant and Refugee Services Division of Catholic Charities Community Services, he applied for permanent residence and was successful in obtaining a green card. Last year he applied for citizenship and became a US citizen. His dream of being an American citizen came true.
Rigoberto recently applied to join Carpenters Local Union 279 and was selected to join the Union this year. Now, Rigoberto has citizenship, a good salary and benefits for him and his family.
Rigoberto said: “I am a construction worker and I need to be focused to be able to do my job well. A few months ago I joined Local Carpenters Union 279. I am discovering new things and being more efficient with my work. My greatest joy is my family and being able to provide an education for my children and a stable life for my wife, who is the main inspiration. Her support always fills me with joy every day to be able to move on.
I am extremely grateful to Catholic Charities for their support and programs that have given me the opportunity to become a United States citizen. I have a commitment to my fellow day laborers who have come to the United States from Mexico and other countries to make a new life of dignity and fairness. I will continue to help others. I am proud to be a Mexican and now an American citizen; I carry both flags with great pride.”
Janet Hernandez, Westchester County Coordinator, Day Laborer Program, Division of Immigrant and Refugee Services, Catholic Charities Community Services