Wed, 30 Apr 2025

Wed, 30 Apr 2025 Deported gang members get second chance at call centre

In the Mexican city of Tijuana a number of firms are employing people who were removed from the US.
Alberto Salagan was deported from the US in January, returning to Mexico after growing up in California. He had been arrested for gang activity and found himself homeless and alone in his birth country. Thanks to a deportee support organization, Alberto learned about EZ Call Center, which hires English-speaking staff. The company's owner, Daniel Ruiz, is also a deportee who was born in Mexico and grew up in the US before being deported for low-level drug crime. Many employees at EZ Call Center are also deportees, including Alberto, who has turned his life around after falling into gang life in the US. He says he had to learn Spanish again, but his language skills helped him find a job as a telephone sales agent. Daniel Ruiz founded the company and also co-founded a humanitarian organization that provides support to deportees on their arrival in Mexico. He believes that deportees who have turned over a new leaf are among his most trusted employees. The number of deportations from the US to Mexico has actually decreased since Trump's second administration, with 39,000 received between February and April compared to 52,000 for the same period last year. However, there are still many people being sent back to Tijuana on a daily basis, where they often face hostility as they try to resettle. Companies like EZ Call Center have become important in providing deportees with gainful employment and helping them avoid a slide into criminality. Another company, the American Survey Company (ASC), also relies on a deportee workforce for its call center operations. The company's chief happiness officer, Nora Diaz, says they don't ask about employees' pasts and focus on their wellbeing to help them reintegrate. Luis Luna is another deportee who has found work at ASC after being sent back to Mexico from California state prison. He believes the job has saved him from returning to a life of crime.
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