Aging in the shadows: A crisis of older undocumented immigrants awaits Illinois
Martina Alonso, 69, left, hugs her husband, Gregorio Pillado, 79, in their apartment before Pillado leaves at approximately 2:30 a.m. for his job in a meatpacking plant in Chicago.
By Carlos Ballesteros and Laura Rodríguez Presa (Chicago Tribune) | March 15, 2022
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Editors’ note: Injustice Watch and The Chicago Tribune teamed up to report on the challenges facing Illinois’ aging undocumented population in a series of stories focused on access to health care and housing. This is the first story in the series. Leer el orginal en español.
In a cold basement apartment on the Southwest Side, Gregorio Pillado and Martina Alonso count pennies and pray for relief.
Pillado, 79, has been working at a nearby meatpacking plant for 20 years, lifting thousands of pounds of frozen meats into large vats, eight hours a day, five days a week. His $16 an hour pretax is the married couple’s only source of income. With it, they manage to pay for their groceries, medicines, utilities and their $800 monthly rent — but not much else.
Alonso, 69, used to bring in money by catering small parties and selling bags of chopped-up nopales (prickly pear), but she had to stop after she fell and injured her wrist months ago.
https://www.ciceroindependiente.com/english/immigration-2022-undocumented-seniors-illinois-curtain-raiser
