Funeral funds for immigrants

The owners of a Jackson Heights travel agency said that they hope to let families of other slain immigrants know about resources to help pay for funeral arrangements.
Linda Delgado, of Delgado Travel, pointed to a Bronx-based organization, Crime Victims Support Services, for paying more than $3,000 to the family of an Ecuadorian construction worker, Jose Tenemasa, slain in a bar fight.
A representative from Crime Assistance contacted the Delgado family after reading that the travel agency paid $900 to have Tenemasa’s body flown back to the village of Sigsig in Ecuador.
“If you are an innocent victim of a crime, we give up to $6,000 to the family,” said Joanne Cicero, Executive Director of the Crime Victims Support Services, explaining that the group works with about 1,000 innocent victims of crime statewide per year. Cicero said she got involved with helping crime victims after her 17-year-old son, Paul, was stabbed to death in 1995. “The $6,000, that money is applied specifically for funerals.”
Tenemasa’s family in New York, most of whom work as day laborers, struggled under the burden of the funeral costs, Delgado said.
“To a family like this, they didn’t have the money at the time to pay it all in one shot. They had to borrow from a few people. For crime assistance to repay them, it’s a great relief,” she explained.
Now, Delgado said, his family back home is struggling to make ends meet for Tenemasa’s five children, ages five to 15.
“What they really need is continued assistance,” Delgado said, explaining that Tenemasa’s brother is currently supporting his brother’s widow and children but hopes to one day have a family of his own.
“Most of our customers are in that situation. If something happens to them, then their family back home gets cut off. The only reason why they leave the country in the first place is to provide for their family back home, make a better life for their family in Ecuador,” Delgado said.
Delgado added that her family - father Hector, who owns the agency, and sister Jeanette - decided to help Tenemasa, their fellow countryman, after reading about his story in published reports.
“This is something that we have done throughout years,” Delgado said. “We understand where they are coming from. They want their family member to be buried in their home country and the significance behind that.”
Police are still looking for Tenemasa’s killer and asked that anyone with information to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS.