REQUIEM FOR JUSTO

    With The Orange Loser running the country there is so much to resist. One thing are his efforts to hurt, belittle and tear apart immigrants and their families. In Miami immigrants are everywhere, some "legal", some not. Many do the menial jobs most of us try to avoid.  
   
    Do you know anyone that likes doing yard work in the hot summer sun? Lawn service trucks are all over Coconut Grove.

    One of them belonged to Justo Delgado. He came here from Peru and quickly found work maintaining lawns. Over the years he developed a successful  landscaping business that takes care of most of the yards on my street.


    While I do my own yard work, I asked Justo for help three years ago. I needed someone to climb a tall tree to lope off a thick rotten limb. It was much too high for me. 
   I figured he'd ask one of his sons to do it but with no hesitation, Justo -ten years younger than me- did it himself.  He was happy to climb up  and crawl out on a limb with a chain saw dangling at his side.

    Yesterday he and his sons were doing similar work work for a neighbor down the block. Justo climbed a tall ladder with a pole saw in hand. As he cut through a hard-to-reach branch his saw hit a power line. Justo was electrocuted and fell to the ground. Efforts to revive him failed.

The deadly wire, just off Douglas Road

    
    Our neighborhood is shaken by his death. He was one of us. His kids are our neighbors too. Justo's boys were back  cleaning our yards at 8 a.m. this morning.  When a neighbor approached one to express her condolences he thanked he and added, "We're working today to honor our father".

     Justo was also one of millions of hard-working immigrants who we should honor, not vilify.  We're in this together. All of us deserve understanding, respect, and basic human rights. 
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