‘Amigo Checking’: Wave of Muggings Targets Immigrant Workers

Juan’s cousin didn’t know how to react. He was paralyzed with fear and was late calling an ambulance. When they arrived to help him, Juan had already bled out. His funeral took place Feb. 25 in the Fruitvale neighborhood of Oakland, Calif. Juan, a native of Guatemala, had only been in the United States for one year.

Emilia Otero, founder and director of a day laborer center in Oakland, says the attack on Juan, or “Juanito” as she called him, is not an isolated incident or a new phenomemon. “Almost two or three times a week [the workers] come to me with reports that they were beaten or had their wallets or identification stolen,” she says.

Otero, an immigrant from Tijuana, Mexico, explains that about two years ago there was “a wave of muggings, robbery, assaults and killings,” against Guatemalan workers.

According to Otero, Guatemalans make up nearly 78 percent of the workers at the day laborer center, where each week an average of 400 people gather in the hopes that someone will offer them work.

Beyond “Amigo Checking”

The Oakland police released a report on Feb. 13 that described a criminal trend identified in 2006 that is known by its slang term, “amigo checking.” The report found that many immigrants were being attacked—mostly by young African-Americans—because they don’t have bank accounts and carry cash with them.

But beyond the money the workers carry in their pockets, Emilia Otero points to other reasons workers from Guatemala, in particular, have become an easy target for many criminals.

Unlike other laborers, like those from Mexico, who “know the system better,” and know to be more alert about their surroundings, Guatemalans tend to be “more shy and have a smaller physical stature,” she says. Otero identifies language as another important factor. “They don’t speak English or Spanish. I think when they walk in a group and people hear them talking a different language, they are identified.”

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