Another "Yola"- Tragedy

We should send the politicians out on one of those instead. What a tragedy.

In the US its the same. We never know how many people died trying to cross from Haiti and Cuba to Florida. We only see the ones who made it safely. How desperate must one be to risk your life crossing these very dangerous waters, especially in the middle of the winter when the seas are even more treacherous. Very sad.

zoomzx11 said:

In the US its the same. We never know how many people died trying to cross from Haiti and Cuba to Florida. We only see the ones who made it safely. How desperate must one be to risk your life crossing these very dangerous waters, especially in the middle of the winter when the seas are even more treacherous. Very sad.

Click to expand...

US is in fact encouraging Cuban immigrants by guaranteeing asylum through "dry foot" policy. If they are willing to offer asylum to "dry foot", they should be willing to offer it to those who are rescued at sea.

Stay in DR! It is better to be poor and alive than dead at sea! You only get one life and there are not many in PR anyway...

Sad day for all

xwill said:

Stay in DR! It is better to be poor and alive than dead at sea! You only get one life and there are not many in PR anyway...

Sad day for all

Click to expand...

PR is not their final destination.

JDJones said:

Not desperate... stupid.

I've met more than a few that have either made the trip, or planned to do so. None of them had the sense God gave a rock.

Click to expand...

JD, go out and rent "Popi". Alan Arkin at his best. Desperate people do appear "stupid" sometimes but there's usually more to it than that as Arkin artfully portrays in the film. In the case of the truly stupid, the desperation intensifies in inverse proportion to IQ.


<object style="height: 390px; width: 640px"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/P6BIJAnMQ0g?version=3&feature=player_detailpage"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/P6BIJAnMQ0g?version=3&feature=player_detailpage" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="360"></object>

belmont said:

US is in fact encouraging Cuban immigrants by guaranteeing asylum through "dry foot" policy. If they are willing to offer asylum to "dry foot", they should be willing to offer it to those who are rescued at sea.

Click to expand...

It is off topic, but you will have to take it up with Cuba since it was Cuba that negotiated to have the dry foot policy with the US.

johnny said:

PR is not their final destination.

Click to expand...

Won't PR's need passports because if this? I know of a PR dude that is getting his original paperwork to prove that he was born in PR. He never owned a passport in his life...

xwill said:

Won't PR's need passports because if this? I know of a PR dude that is getting his original paperwork to prove that he was born in PR. He never owned a passport in his life...

Click to expand...

He's got a Social Security card and a birth certificate and a drivers' license and a voter ID, right?

There Is A VERT SIMPLE SOLUTION to the tragedy of poor Dominicans looking for a better life outside the DR!
Make them read all of "PICHARDO's" posts first!
Then they would all stay and enjoy the "Middle Class Life" here in "Paradise"!
Right "Mr,Pee"????????????????????????????
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

belmont said:

US is in fact encouraging Cuban immigrants by guaranteeing asylum through "dry foot" policy. If they are willing to offer asylum to "dry foot", they should be willing to offer it to those who are rescued at sea.

Click to expand...

?I firmly believe that any man's finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle - victorious." ?
― Vince Lombardi

The satisfaction of getting on shore gives them a sense of accomplishment.

This morning's Toronto Star:

World News: 15 dead, 11 rescued after packed migrant boat overturns off Dominican coast; dozens missing - thestar.com

JDJones said:

Not desperate... stupid.

I've met more than a few that have either made the trip, or planned to do so. None of them had the sense God gave a rock.

Click to expand...

Nice, I wonder how many days you've gone without food.....all your life...

B in Santiago

People don't leave the DR for lack of food!
If they can come up with $5,000 US,or more,they can buy their own food.
Everytime a "Yola" sinks,the cumulative "IQ" in the DR raises.
CC

xwill said:

Won't PR's need passports because if this? I know of a PR dude that is getting his original paperwork to prove that he was born in PR. He never owned a passport in his life...

Click to expand...

The process is not as relaxed as it used to be before 9/11. If they are not planning to stay in PR, I don't understand what they are thinking..

I am not suggesting that people should wander into the ocean to pursue an illusive dream.
But there are people that have no means to feed their families.

I doubt the trip cost $5K. Despite the amount, they sell what little possession they have to pursue the “American Dream” that some one sold to them. Most families abroad will not send money to relatives for such an odyssey

I could rationalize a man (not all men… you must have huge balls ponder on something like this… ) risking it all for his family. I don't see how this could be an easy decision.

I have the most trouble understanding why women do it, especially if they are pregnant.
By pursuing this illusive dream are women thinking about their vanity or naively thinking about a brighter future for their unborn children?

It must be extremely difficult or impossible to fathom, specifically for the expats communities, that there are people in DR that go hungry day in and day out. This is more so in StoDgo.

Throughout the years, Dominican have been conditioned, not to say brain washed, about the so call “American dream”, how easy things are in the US and how some of them could come and turn into millionaires doing illicit things.

They would not risk it all if they knew there is no such thing as the “American dream” and things aren’t easy anymore. It is all an illusion.

First they would have to be unconditioned to change their behavior. Since this is not going to happen anytime soon, they migration will continue. That is very unfortunate.

I leave you with this: It must be difficult to be rational while being hungry. As a result, logic seldom prevails with desperate people.

To think that with let’s say $1K some of them could start peddling something, without having to risk their lives. I am sure some of them wouldn’t want to do something like that. I am also sure that others haven’t thought about it. You can’t think on an empty stomach!

Awesome to see people here discussing a topic of which they know very little or nothing about. I know hundreds of people who have done this trip, including people who have done it several times (back and forth if you can believe that) and a couple of people who have died.

Here are some "facts": Disclaimer: These are just my observations, not hard statistics.

- I would say about 80% of people who make the trip actually make it to Puerto Rico. The great majority eventually makes it to The US and a small percentage settles in PR.
- Out of the 20% or so who don't make it, the main reason is due to scams where they lose whatever money they ended up pulling together and usually don't have any funds to try again. Some "honest" captains will allow people to make the trip a second or even a third time if they feel they weren't able to get you to PR. If you make it to shore (or within view of the shore) then it's considered they did their job.
- The mortality rate is maybe about 1% or lower, so you can see how the risk of dying is not really factored that much into the plans. In addition if you talk to anyone who's about to embark on the trip they're on a pure high thinking that in a few days their life will change dramatically for the better, so trust me they're not thinking about sinking boats.
- The trip costs about 1,000 USD, thus the great majority of people who make the trip are the very poor. Most people who can pool together 5-10k USD take other routes (i.e. via Panama through Mexico or believe it or not there are people who can get you a visa for about 10k to either US or Europe). So while they may not be the very poor (the ones that don't have enough to eat), they are not the middle class either.
- Most of the people who make the trip eventually come back (within a few years) with tons of cash - Which eventually they blow, but nonetheless other people see this and think "Why not me?" therefore feeding the cycle.
- Some of the people who have made this trip are now - After coming to The US and becoming "wealthy" - "outstanding members of society" back in The DR owning large businesses and holding public office in come cases.