A man from the state of Oaxaca, who lives in the United States without documents, participated in the California Lottery without imagining that it would soon be winner of more than half a million dollars. However, he faces a serious complication: to To get your money you must have a bank account for the prize to be deposited.
According to what he told Univision34 Los Angeles, a few weeks ago he went to a liquor store and bought “two lottery scratch-offs, one for 5 and the other for 10 dollars ”. Soon after, he realized that he had won $ 750,000 as a prize.
“At that moment I felt happy and at the same time tears came down,” he said. His immigration status filled him with terror, I did not know if I could collect the large prize that he had won.
The man, who asked the outlet to remain anonymous, gave the ticket to someone else to collect the money, because “people told him that they would not pay the ticket because of my immigration status.”
This action led a police investigation that has spanned nine months and currently the Mexican migrant has little time to claim what he won.
However, beyond your immigration status, Lack of documents could make you lose that $ 750,000Therefore, according to the California Lottery, the important thing for the contest is not whether or not the winner is a migrant, “what is required by law is to verify that they are giving the money to the correct person ”, they pointed out.
Finally the check that was given to him was for $ 525,000, net amount after state tax deductions, but while it was good news, the issue also started a race against the clock.
The expiration date of the check is set for July 30, therefore, if not collected, the prize could be lost. Desperate, the man called the television Univision34 to ask for help, because without a passport or consular registration, banks cannot open an account.
The media announced that they contacted the Los Angeles Consulate General to ask for support and help the man deliver documents that identify him, although so far the future of the award remains uncertain.
Migrants generally flee their countries of origin due to the violence and insecurity that occurs there. In fact, many of them have begun to prefer to stay in Mexico.
The Mexican Commission for Aid to Refugees (Comar) highlighted that in the first six months of 2021, the country registers more than 51 thousand asylum applications of people from 90 different countries.
This historical fact, as it was cataloged by the authorities, was presented during the advances in the care of refugees and applicants. It was detailed that although not all meet the characteristics of a refugee, more than 72% have a positive resolution before this dependency.
In recent years, the number of people seeking refugee status has increased in the last eight years, as in 2013 there were 1,296, while so far in 2021 there are 51,654 applicants. Historically, the most registered nationalities are from Honduras, followed by Haiti, Cuba, El Salvador and Venezuela.
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