Vote on future of pension plan
Garcia’s record is blemished only by an arrest in the late 1990s — for driving with his brother’s license before he could get one of his own, his lawyer said.
Once he arrived in the U.S., he petitioned for asylum, providing documents to show he was targeted by local police in the turbulent uprising.
Garcia was awarded qualified status to live in the U.S. while his case was resolved, and was given permission to work.
But in the backlogged court system, it took years to appear before a judge, Sanders said.
It wasn’t until 2008 that Garcia got his day in court, and by then the violence in Guatemala had come to an end.
His asylum petition was denied, and so was his appeal in 2013. That was the year Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents marked him for deportation.
But Garcia could prove he followed the law while his asylum case was pending and was on track for a green card, his attorney said.
ICE officials allowed him to stay but had him come in every year to review his case.
“Now this year he is actually eligible for his green card through marriage, and they detained him,” Sanders noted.
Garcia’s son Melvin, 25, said he didn’t know how the family would survive emotionally or economically without his dad.
“He’s a wonderful person, just a really calm and caring individual. He’s always supported me and he’s always taken care of the family,” said the devastated son. “He even got me a job at the same place that he works.”
Garcia is also dad to Arly, his 18-yearold daughter with Maria, and has stepchildren.
A few years ago, he and Maria bought a house in Virginia and moved everyone but Melvin down there. Garcia, who still works on Long Island, visits his family on weekends.
“He was afraid of the gang violence on Long Island, from MS-13,” said Melvin. “He wanted my little sister Arly to have a more tranquil life.”
Garcia also recently became a grandfather, his family said.
His family, his union and company are all lining up to support him, Sanders said.
But what’s so frustrating is that Garcia followed all the rules, he said.
“Every year, he would show up and submit the correct paperwork for a stay of deportation. Three out of the four times, it was routine and simple,” he said.
“This year, the only thing that has changed is the American government. But the point is, he hasn’t been ducking immigration law at all.”
A spokeswoman for ICE’s New York office confirmed Garcia’s deportation order to The News on Friday.
“Garcia Vasquez had been granted multiple stays of removal, which have since expired. He has a final order of removal and his order of supervision has been revoked,” the spokeswoman said.
“Garcia Vasquez was taken into ICE custody Aug. 24, 2017, and will remain in custody pending removal from the United States,” she added. SOME 34,000 Teamsters will cast ballots this week to decide the fate of their sinking pension fund.
The Treasury Department in early August approved a preservation plan submitted by the New York State Teamsters Conference Pension and Retirement Fund.
The plan calls for slashing benefits for retired Teamsters across upstate New York by 29%.
Teamsters who are still working will see an 18% cut to their projected monthly pensions.
The Draconian measure could be the only way to keep the fund alive, said John Ring, the fund’s legal adviser.
Without the cutbacks, the fund would likely be insolvent within 10 years — leaving 34,000 New Yorkers upstate with no retirement money, instead of reduced payouts.
As many as 200 multiemployer pension funds across the country — particularly those in the trucking industry dominated by the Teamsters — are in the same difficult position, Ring said.
Dozens have submitted preservation plans for approval to the Treasury Department.
New York’s fund is the largest of its kind to have its application approved and the first Teamster one to get approval. “The participants will now vote on it,” said Ring. “The ballots should come back by Sept. 6.”
If the fund participants approve the reduction in payouts as a way to ensure long-term survival, the plan will go into affect around Oct. 1, he said.
Many of those affected by the plan are UPS drivers, he said.
But the New York fund covers drivers for all types of companies upstate, like breweries, dairies and some manufacturers, Ring said.
The state of America’s pension plans has been a quiet crisis for some time now, with more employers pulling out and fewer unionized workers to pay in.
The looming disaster is the Central States Pension Funds, which covers roughly 400,000 people in the Midwest and South, Ring said.
Its application for a preservation plan was rejected by the Treasury Department, which didn’t find it financially sound.
If Central States goes broke, its members would have to rely on payouts from the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. (PBGC), which insures pensions.
But PBGC only pays out a fraction of retirees’ promised benefits, often less than onethird. It’s maximum payout is about $1,300, Ring said.
PBGC. has already stepped in to cover one defunct Teamster pension plan for downstate New York Local 707. Its fund hit rock bottom in February, slashing the monthly benefits of some 4,000 Teamster retirees.
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. is now cutting the monthly checks, at a pittance of what the ex-Teamsters thought they would be.
Ring said he is hopeful the upstate members of New York State Teamsters Conference Pension and Retirement Fund will vote to reduce their plan now — rather than wait for it to run dry and have PBGC step in.
“The PBGC itself has said it only has enough money to stay active for about 10 years,” he said.
“Our trustees decided . . . better to take this opportunity now, cut benefits by a certain amount . . . and shore up the plan,” Ring said.