Five Hispanics live in a cramped mobile home in Hays. They say they want to go home. The three men and two women, who live on Guatemala Lane off Airport Road, say they can't afford the cost of a bus ticket back to El Paso, Texas. They say the reason is that they were promised things they didn't get once they arrived in Wilkes. During an interview with The Record on Friday, they said they were told they would be employed by Tyson Foods and that they would pay $25 each week for rent. They said that between the five of them, they are paying $1,000 a month to live in the old mobile home. Tony Marin, director of Centro Latino, called their situation "pitiful." "They are not being done right," Marin said. "They don't have enough money to go back. They don't make enough." Marin's office, which serves as an advocate for the Wilkes Hispanic population, was notified of the situation last week. Francisco Hernandez, one of the residents of the mobile home, says that instead of getting a job with Tyson, he instead works at the plant through Employment Staffing of North Wilkesboro, a temporary agency. Hernandez's check stub shows that he brought home $204.16 for a week's work. A $50 deduction was taken from that check by the employment agency. Christy Cranfill, the manager at Employment Staffing, said that $25 of the deduction goes toward rent and utilities. The other $25 goes to transportation to and from work, the laun-dromat and shopping. She says she has kept her word with the Hispanic employees. Employment Staffing rents three mobile homes for these employees on Guatemala Lane. Two are occupied, Cranfill said. She says she wishes living conditions for these Hispanics were better. "This isn't exactly what I wanted," Cranfill said. "But the housing conditions are not the way it is because of Employment Staffing, but because of the prejudices in Wilkes County." She said many landlords are reluctant to rent to Hispanics.

       Cranfill added, "None of them are the poor pitiful victims. They are not being forced to live in this housing. They can move out if they want to. They knew coming up here that this was a temporary thing. Most of them are going back this month." Cranfill said that Gaona Labor Agency of El Paso had recruited these and several other Hispanics for her. "I tell them in advance how much their rent is, how much their transportation is, how much they will be getting paid and what shifts they will be working," Cranfill said, adding that the company also offers medical insurance coverage for about $3 per week after an employee has worked for a month. Cranfill said this is the first time she has used the company to find employees. Officials at Gaona Labor Agency could not be reached on Monday. "We pay them a fee," Cranfill said. That fee includes drug testing of potential employees and verifying immigration papers. Cranfill says her company pays for bus tickets from El Paso to Statesville, where the Hispanics are picked up. Once here, she also checks their papers. Unlike Tyson Foods, which has a computer system connected with the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, Cranfill says she has to "take on faith" what she is told about the documents.

       Still, Cranfill hires only a portion of Hispanic applicants. "Three-fourths of them, their papers don't seem right," she said. Maria Fuentes got hired. She lives in the mobile home on Guatemala Lane with the four other Hispanics. Marin translated as she spoke in Spanish. She and the others told how they were strangers until they were housed together. Fuentes' bedroom is next to that of her housemate, Ruth Velda. The rooms are tiny, about six-by-eight feet in diameter. Children's bunk beds are set up in a larger bedroom where two of the men sleep. There is another bedroom, partitioned from the living room by a shower curtain. "You can see how these people live," Marin said. Other tenants have already left. It is believed they went back to Texas. Marin said he was told by one of the tenants that three Hispanics had recently been "thrown out" of one of the mobile homes after they quit their jobs. "They had to live outside for two days." Cranfill said she was only aware of one such employee. "He stayed drunk. He wouldn't work," she said. "I let him stay an extra week, but you can't help some people." Hispanic workers are needed here, Cranfill said, "Without them, Wilkes County industries would feel the brunt of the labor shortage." Cranfill says her company has done nothing wrong. "We're not trying to discriminate against Hispanics," she said. "We're on the up and up. We're doing the best we can."