Alvaro Bejarano, from riches  to rags

The story of Alvaro Bejarano, a 37-year-old illegal immigrant living in Lowell, is the antithesis of the American dream: he went from riches in Colombia to rags in the United States.

Seven years ago, he was living the high life in Tulua del Cauca, Colombia, with his wife, Emma, and their two children. Bejarano had made his fortune by building up a trucking and construction company with his uncle. Their luck ran out, however, when they received a letter from the FARC guerrillas ordering them to hand over $2000. Bejarano and his uncle ignored the note. "We needed the money to pay our bills," Bejarano explains.

It was a decision they came to regret. One day, Bejarano left the company shop to run an errand. When he returned, he found his uncle lying dead on the floor, shot in the head.

The guerrillas caught up with Bejarano just days later. While transporting fruit across town, he noticed two men on a motorcycle pull alongside his truck. The passenger drew a pistol. As Bejarano reached for his own gun, which he had recently purchased for protection, he was shot in the foot. He escaped by driving his truck down a side street.

Fearful that the FARC would hunt down his family, Bejarano left Colombia for the quiet, relatively obscure community of Lowell, where his brother had settled a decade or so earlier. Bejarano and his family arrived in Massachusetts on December 23, 1995 -- just weeks after the deadline of December 1, 1995, specified in HR 2741. Even if the legislation passes, it won't help him.

"I lost everything," Bejarano says. He lost his business, his house, and even his spare time. Since coming to the US, he has worked 12 hours nearly every day (as a quality-control officer at a Methuen-based power company) to save enough money to pay off the tens of thousands of dollars he owes Colombian banks in overdue business loans.

Bejarano may not be rich nowadays. Still, he has realized his own American dream. "In America," he says, smiling wide, "I am happy with my family. At least we are happy."

-- Kristen Lombardi

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Kristen Lombardi can be reached at klombardi[a]phx.com.