By Angela Covo
La Prensa San Antonio
San Antonio.- Fleeing the dangers at home in Mexico, a new wave of legal immigrants from the south bring jobs and investment capital to the United States, specifically to San Antonio, a city they find welcoming and easy to adapt to. Click above for the story.
Jorge Oliver was having a good season in his hometown, Mexico City. His business, TASA, Tecnicos y Alimentos, was thriving after more than 30 years of hard work, his children were well and happy, and his talented wife was working on her latest painting.
Oliver family fled Mexico for a new and safe start in San Antonio.
He shuddered when he thought about his almost-kidnapping a year before in Mexico City, where they all lived and worked. Extortionists had taken another business owner from the enclave where his offices and buildings spread out – someone with a much smaller business, but who drove a white Mercedes, just like he did.
The business associate survived the three-month ordeal, paying a hefty ransom. And as soon he was released, the victim warned Oliver to be careful because he was the one they were gunning for.
That first kidnapping had been a case of mistaken identity.
That was why the Olivers ultimately decided to succumb to the new reality of life in Mexico City, and purchased kidnap insurance, armored their vehicles and hired security.
Still, almost a year later, the threatening call from an extortionist came, and Oliver was fed up. They called the insurance company, who advised the family to leave the country, right away.
And so, days before Christmas, with gifts sitting under the tree, they left the country and fled to safety, in the United States.
They had visited the United States before, mostly to Dallas where they had some family. And they even lived in Philadelphia for a year or two so the children could learn to speak English well, a skill Jorge Oliver thought would be essential to later success in life.
But this time, they might not return to the dangerous city where they were a target. This time, they would go to San Antonio.
“We picked San Antonio because I wanted to be close enough to try to manage my business in Mexico,” Oliver said. “But more than that, it is an affable, amiable city, with decent people who treat each other courteously, and has a strong Latin community,” he explained.
Oliver ultimately…
Finish reading A new wave of legal immigrants from Mexico
