Each man stood on principle and personal experience. Julio Samaniego believed Monday’s immigrant rallies and business boycotts were about human rights. His boss, Pat Phares, saw them as economic extortion.
By the time a national day of immigrant marches rolled around, two proud Americans had already paid a steep price for their right to disagree. Samaniego had quit his $20-an-hour job. Phares had lost one of his finest employees.
The country’s larger immigration debate played out on a smaller stage at Patriot Concrete Pumping in Englewood. Two weeks ago, Samaniego asked to take off Monday to march in support of immigrant rights. Phares, Patriot Concrete’s owner, refused.
Both men said that Samaniego gave plenty of notice. Both said Samaniego had vacation time and sick days available. Both said Samaniego would have been allowed to take another vacation day besides Monday.
Where they literally parted company was on the intent of the Monday marches. “Typically, we work around people’s schedules,” said Phares, who must approve all time off. “In this case, I didn’t support what they (the marchers) were doing.”
It was as if rally organizers were trying to force Phares to close his 6-year-old business for a day because he employs Latinos and serves them as customers.
“They threatened me economically,” the business owner said.
“I’ll work with you on anything, but don’t threaten me. Part of what terrorists do is try to hurt you economically. I thought (the march) was terrorist-like. I’m in favor of immigration reform. I go to swearing-ins for my employees when they become citizens. That’s a huge, long bureaucratic mess. It shouldn’t be easy, but it should be shortened.”
His feeling about immigration reform notwithstanding, Phares wasn’t going to be pushed around.
Neither was Samaniego.
“I’m proof that (Mexicans) come here to work and even risk their lives for this country,” he said, standing amid an estimated 75,000 supporters of immigrant rights who rallied in Denver on Monday.
Behind him, his wife, Diana, held a sign with photos of her husband in uniform in front of a tank, along with the inscription: “U.S. Army vet, I am an immigrant.”
At first, he was an illegal immigrant.
“My first job was in San Diego washing dishes for $5.50 an hour because no one else wanted to do it,” Samaniego said.
His father, who was also in the country undocumented, got amnesty under America’s last major immigration reform in the mid-1980s. Later, Samaniego gained legal status. Within a month, he enlisted in the military.
“I wanted to serve this country for freedom,” he said.
He served eight years, including tours in South Korea and Bosnia.
So when Phares spoke of terrorists and immigrants in the same conversation, Samaniego recoiled.
“People come undocumented to this country because they are poor,” he said. “When I lived in Mexico, my friends lived in houses made of pallets and cardboard.”
At 33, Samaniego has come a long way from that place. But he refuses to forget it, even for more than 40 grand a year.
“I’m sorry he left,” Phares said of his ex-employee. “Julio was one of our best guys. But for us, it was the principle of the thing.
“We left the choice up to him.”
If he wanted to protect his paycheck, Samaniego had to be at work Monday, not at the march.
Work or walk?
It was no contest.
Samaniego hopes to start a new job soon for another concrete contractor.
“People say we immigrants don’t help this country,” Samaniego said, as his sons, 7-year-old Julio Jr. and 2-year-old Sebastian, hovered nearby. “We do.”
Samaniego said Phares tried “to keep me from my First Amendment right.”
For a true American, no job is worth that.
Jim Spencer’s column appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday. He can be reached at 303-820-1711 or jspencer@denverpost.com.
