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My tablemate dipped her doughnut into the cup of hot chocolate and purred while she chewed. "Is this the best thing you ever ate, or what?" she said. We were splitting an order of churros and hot chocolate, which the waiter recommended as the best dessert on the menu at Hugo's, the popular upscale Mexican restaurant on Westheimer.

A churro is a Mexican doughnut made by extruding dough through a nozzle into a deep fryer. The nozzle gives the long stick-shaped doughnut pronounced ridges, which trap the cinnamon and sugar topping. At Hugo's the kitchen doesn't fry the churros until they're ordered, so they're served piping hot. Hugo's also cuts them in three pieces, fills the inside with the caramel syrup called dulce de leche and serves them on a plate with a dainty scoop of mocha ice cream.

There are hundreds of Tex-Mex cantinas, authentic Mexican restaurants, taquerías, carnicerías, panaderías and taco trucks in Houston. But ever since it opened in 2002, Hugo's has been the best Mexican restaurant in the city. In the 2003 "Best of Houston" issue, the Houston Press named Hugo's Houston's "Best Restaurant," period.

The restaurant roasts its own cocoa beans and grinds them by hand in an old-fashioned stone mill imported from Oaxaca. The fresh-ground cocoa powder is used to make its signature mole poblano, as well as the cup of hot chocolate that comes with the doughnuts.

The churros and hot chocolate at Hugo's are sensational. Churros are a common street food snack in Mexico City, which is fitting since Hugo Ortega, the owner and head chef, grew up in one of Mexico City's worst slums. Ortega entered the United States illegally, and like an enormous number of Mexican immigrants, he found work in the restaurant industry.

The restaurant industry is the nation's largest employer of immigrants, according to the National Restaurant Association, which estimates that 1.4 million restaurant workers in the United States are foreign-born immigrants. Seventy percent of them work in the lowest-paying jobs, as dishwashers, busboys, prep cooks and cleaning help.

The National Restaurant Association lobbies on behalf of restaurant owners, and predictably, it's one of the loudest proponents of immigration reform. "While the government claims stepped-up enforcement...will discourage future illegal immigration across our nation's borders," the NRA Web site says, "in reality, all they are doing is eliminating a sizeable portion of the workforce without providing any legal avenue to hire foreign-born workers to do jobs that Americans are no longer taking."

Meanwhile, anti-immigration groups such as U.S. Border Watch, which intimidates day laborers as they wait for employers to pick them up, remain active. "It makes me sad," Ortega says about a recent confrontation in northwest Harris County. "If immigrants are selling drugs or committing crimes, then put them in jail or send them back to Mexico. But please judge immigrants as individuals and for their contributions to society."

"You only hear one side of the immigration debate, because the people who really know what's going on can't say anything," one Houston restaurant owner told me. "If you own a restaurant and you speak out about immigration, you make your business a target."

There's a weird disconnect between perception and reality for those who work in the business. Thanks to media demagogues like Lou Dobbs, much of the American public is ready to "send 'em back to Mexico." Meanwhile, Spanish is what you're most likely to hear in a restaurant kitchen.

Author and TV star Anthony Bourdain is one of the few chefs who's been willing to speak frankly on the issue. He says the American restaurant industry would be in big trouble if all the illegal immigrants in this country were rounded up and deported. "The bald fact is that the entire restaurant industry in America would close down overnight, would never recover, if current immigration laws were enforced quickly and thoroughly across the board," Bourdain told me. "Everyone in the industry knows this. It is undeniable...I know very few chefs who've even heard of a U.S.-born citizen coming in the door to ask for a dishwasher, night clean-up or kitchen prep job. Until that happens, let's at least try to be honest when discussing this issue."
_____________________

The two roasted poblanos were stuffed with shredded pork shoulder that had been slowly braised with pears, peaches and raisins, and spices. I ate some of the filling with the spiciest part of the chile, the thick flesh around the stem. There was so much going on — the sweetness of the pork, the kick of the fiery green chile and the creaminess of the thick walnut sauce, sparked with the intense tartness of pomegranate seeds that burst as I chewed — it was a baroque fugue of flavors.

"I learned the secret of the walnut sauce from a lady in Puebla," Hugo says. The secret is to buy walnuts in September when they're still white inside and then soak them in milk until the bitter skins slip off easily.

Hugo's serves chiles en nogada through the fall or as long they can get fresh pomegranates. In the summer, the menu switches over to dishes made with squash blossoms. The restaurant also serves such exotica as huitlacoche (corn fungus) and sautéed chapulines (grasshoppers) when they're available.

The chiles en nogada at Hugo's are the best I have ever eaten — even better than the supposedly definitive version I once sampled at Osteria San Domingo in Mexico City.

The dish is associated with Mexican patriotism. The green chiles, white walnut sauce and red dots of pomegranate garnish are traditionally arranged in the order of the colors of the Mexican flag. Chiles en nogada were created by the nuns of the Santa Monica convent of Puebla in 1821 to commemorate the arrival of Agustín de Iturbide, architect of Mexican independence. Iturbide's celebrity was short-lived; he was crowned emperor in 1822, deposed in 1823 and executed in 1824. So maybe the fiery chiles en nogada should also be considered symbolic of the cruel fate that befalls so many Mexicans.

It's hard to picture the soft-spoken, slender and genteel-in-his-chef's-whites Ortega climbing over a barbed-wire fence with the Border Patrol in pursuit. Like so many others, he crossed the border for little more than the promise of washing dishes and busing tables.

"My teen years were pretty awful," he says, remembering his struggle to take care of seven brothers and sisters and his decision to cross the border. "My dad was beating my mom and me. He hardly ever came home. When I was 15, I quit school and started working for Procter & Gamble in Mexico City loading boxes of soap into cartons on an assembly line. My family was going hungry. I was buying rice and beans, but that was it. There was never enough. Then my mom had twins and got sick. I was raising the kids and working. It was a bad deal."

Ortega couldn't earn enough to live, no matter how hard he was willing to work. Hope arrived in the form of a letter from a cousin named Pedro (not his real name) who had made it to Houston.

Pedro wrote about the terrible journey. The van he was riding in blew up. He had to walk across the desert with nothing but a couple of tacos to eat. But he made it. He was living in a shotgun shack between Taft and Montrose. "He said he was making $200 a week," Hugo remembers. That sounded like a lot of money."

"I was young. I wanted to do something with my life. And I wanted to help my mom and my family," he says. "What would you do?"

In April of 1983, at the age of 17, Ortega decided to go to the United States. "My mom was very sad and very concerned when I left. When I quit my job at Procter & Gamble, I got 200 pesos in back pay, which was less than $20. I bought a bus ticket to Juárez with the money."

Ortega arrived in Juárez along with an older cousin, who was 23, and three other friends. A coyote met them as soon as they got off the bus and asked if they were going across. "You have to give him a phone number of somebody in the U.S. If you don't have a phone number, they won't cross you. My cousin and I gave him Pedro's number in Houston. Pedro had to agree to pay $500 for each for us. He really stepped up to the plate."

For five days, Hugo and his group stayed in a junkyard in Juárez, sleeping in wrecked cars and eating potatoes and eggs. On the fifth day, they attempted to cross the border.

"We had to inflate a plastic boat by blowing into it. There were 35 people including little kids and fat ladies who could barely walk. We took turns going across in the boat. I was scared to death because I couldn't swim. The mosquitoes [helicopters] came with their lights, and we tried to hide in the bushes. The coyote cut a barbed wire fence, and we ran. We got to a road. It was perfectly smooth, with no potholes. I thought, 'Wow, what an amazing country.' We got caught by the Border Patrol. They tied up our hands and put us in a van, took us to the bridge and sent us back across the border. We crossed again three more times, but we kept getting caught."

'The fifth time, we all split up, and the young guys who could run fast went by themselves. We crossed two fences and got to the railroad tracks where we were supposed to wait. Someone opened the door of a railroad car and then they locked us and two coyotes in there. The coyotes told us if we coughed or made a noise, they would kill us. I believed them."

"They had a special seal so that the customs people wouldn't open the rail car. We were in there for three hours before the train moved. After awhile, we could barely breathe. We took turns putting our faces up to a crack in the floor to get air."

"When we got close to San Antonio, the coyotes had to hack through the railcar's wooden wall with a pickax so they could get the door open. One of the coyotes cut his hand open, so there was blood everywhere. We had to jump out while the train was still moving. Finally we got to a house in San Antonio. People were talking, and it was half English and half Spanish. That was the first time I ever heard English.

"They had taken the seats out of a green Impala and put blocks on the shocks. They crammed 13 people into that car. I was one of five guys in the trunk. We drove to Houston and stayed in a house until Pedro came to get us. We were so dirty and skinny, he didn't recognize us.

"I hated Houston at first. It seemed like a ghost town after Mexico City. There was nothing going on in the streets, no music, no soccer, nothing," Ortega remembers.

He took a job cleaning offices. When his cousins decided to try their luck in California, he stayed in Houston so he could keep his job. But the company he was working for relocated, and Hugo found himself unemployed and homeless. "I was broke and sleeping outside on Dunlavy Street behind where the Fiesta is now. I was really depressed."

Ortega's culinary career began by chance. Some fellow immigrants he met playing soccer offered to take him to Backstreet Café off Shepherd where they worked so he could apply for a job. Owner Tracy Vaught was impressed with Hugo's attitude and industriousness from the first day. At Backstreet, Hugo slowly worked his way up from busboy to prep cook to line cook.

Ortega says the restaurant didn't know he was illegal. "I gave them a Social Security number," he says.

Soon after they arrive, illegal immigrants buy fake IDs and Social Security cards at flea markets or on the street. As a result, of course, they're paying income tax and Social Security — and never see income tax refunds or Social Security ­benefits.

But Ortega says this didn't bother him. "I didn't care," he says. "I was just happy to be able to work."
_____________________

The dark brown sauce that cloaked the chicken leg quarter was dotted with sesame seeds. The version of mole poblano served at Hugo's was velvet on the tongue. The incredibly smooth texture married the rich taste of dried chiles, fresh-ground cocoa powder, toasted sesame seeds, aromatic almonds and other nutty flavors. But there was a deeper wave of flavor in this version of mole poblano, a wonderfully complex fruitiness and a shining high note of tartness that I'd never encountered before.

"Very few restaurants in Puebla serve mole poblano," Hugo Ortega says. "Because everybody's grandmother makes it better."

Ortega's mole has unusual fruit flavors. "That's the raisins and the plantains you're tasting," Hugo says. I have made a lot of moles from recipes in Mexican cookbooks, but I have never seen a mole poblano recipe that called for plantains.

American foodies make the mistake of thinking that reading Diana Kennedy or Rick Bayless's cookbooks is all it takes to master Mexican cuisine. Cookbooks only skim the surface. Native chefs like Ortega are a reminder of how deep Mexico's culinary traditions really go.

The Ortega family has mole in their blood. A relative of Hugo's makes the mole at the restaurant. "She learned from her mother, who learned from her mother and so on. [Her] mole poblano is fourth-­generation. You should taste the mole that my grandmother makes back in Puebla," Hugo says with a grin.

Hugo Ortega's favorite childhood memories are of his days in Progreso in the state of Puebla. His family moved back to their ancestral village when his father became too sick to work. This period came before his father began abusing his family. Hugo was nine years old when he arrived in Progreso. He was sent to the mountains with a herd of goats to tend.

"I was scared to death at first," he remembers. But he learned how to herd goats and was happy in the country. In Puebla, he learned about Mexican cooking traditions from his grandmother. Some days he would help his aunt, who was the village baker. Other times he would assist his uncle, who lived in the mountains and made cheese.

But Ortega's childhood in the country came to an end when his father recovered and moved the family back to the slums of Mexico City.

Hugo's maternal grandmother remained in Progreso. There, she's the member of an informal club, a group of around a dozen women who travel around the countryside cooking dishes like mole poblano for weddings and other ­celebrations.

Hugo recently returned to Progreso to attend a family wedding. He was shocked by what he saw. "There's only women and children left in the village. All the men and boys are in the United States. It's like that all over Mexico. Things are different. The younger generation isn't picking up the old traditions. Where are the women who will go from village to village cooking mole for weddings after my grandmother and her friends are gone? I am afraid that Mexico's culinary culture is going to disappear."
_____________________

On my most recent visit to Hugo's, I sampled one of the nightly specials, a ­mesquite-grilled black Angus tenderloin. The steak was medium-rare and nicely charred around the edges. It sat in a luscious puddle of guajillo sauce. The rich dried-chile flavor was rounded off with butter and garlic. On the side, two mole tamales and some grilled asparagus spears sat on a bed of sautéed spinach leaves.

To go with my steak, the waiter recommended a glass of 2005 Tikal "Patriota" wine, a Malbec-Bonarda blend from Argentina. It was a big, bold red that stood up brilliantly to the dried chile sauce.

My dining companion tried another entrée from the list of specials, a thick salmon steak cooked rare in the middle and balanced on a bed of mashed Peruvian purple potatoes. The fish was garnished with mussels, and a disk of corn pudding was served on the side.

This isn't traditional regional Mexican cuisine, and it isn't supposed to be. This is modern American cuisine with a Latino spin, and it speaks well of Hugo Ortega's culinary training. "The dinner specials are different, more innovative," he says. "I learned French techniques in cooking school, and I apply them to Mexican ­cooking."

Hugo Ortega was issued a Temporary Resident (green) card in April of 1988 under the "Reagan Amnesty." With the help of Tracy Vaught, he enrolled in the culinary arts program at Houston Community College. He graduated in 1992 and worked as chef and executive chef at Backstreet Café and Prego before opening Hugo's in 2002. He has made two guest chef appearances at the James Beard House in New York City.

And there are a lot more Hugo Ortegas on the way, thanks to philanthropists like Kit Goldsbury, heir to the Pace Picante Sauce fortune. Last year, Goldsbury contributed $35 million to a small San Antonio cooking school called the Center for Foods of the Americas. His goal was to create a top-rank culinary academy specifically for young Latinos.

The nation's foremost culinary school, the Culinary Institute of America, became a partner in the project. The San Antonio cooking school is now known as the Culinary Institute of America's Center for Foods of the Americas. It will offer extensive financial aid to struggling Hispanic students and, for the most talented, a chance to transfer to the CIA's prestigious main campus in Hyde Park, New York.

Hugo Ortega and Tracy Vaught were married in 1994, and in February 1997 they had their first child, Sophia Elizabeth. Ortega became a naturalized American citizen in 1996. As a citizen, Hugo was entitled to bring members of his family to the United States. "I think I am more patriotic than most Americans," he says. "I love this country like my mother. When I hear the national anthem of the United States, it sometimes makes me cry."

His mother and father live in South Houston, and all of his siblings have joined Hugo here as well. Alma works for Mary Kay selling cosmetics. (One day she hopes to own a pink Cadillac.) Ruben is a pastry chef at Backstreet Café and Hugo's. Sandra works as an administrative assistant during the day and at a local restaurant at night. Rene, a graduate of Reagan High School, works as a mechanic for Admiral Linen Company. Twins Gloriela and Veronica now sell real estate in the Heights. And Jose Luis, who worked in the kitchen with Hugo, recently moved from Houston to Belize to become the chef at The Victoria House.

Hugo's nephew Antonio will graduate from South Houston High School in May of 2008. Tony has received scholarship offers from Harvard, Yale and Rice, among others. It's a difficult decision. But because he doesn't want to be too far away from his family, he's leaning toward Rice.

Hugo is working on a cookbook that will combine old family recipes from Mexico and innovative dishes he created in Texas.

robb@robbwalsh.com

Write Your Comment show comments (26)

  1. This story about Hugo Ortega was so inspiring and moving for me. It seems that the American people often want to make snap judgements about complicated problems without doing the research required to make an ethical decision. Hugo Ortega has truly forged a legacy for his family while bringing a spectacular glimpse of the Mexican cuisine.

    Comment by Susanna Morley — December 20, 2007 @ 06:10AM

  2. Geez, people, what part of ILLEGAL ALIEN do you fail to understand? You couch this serious problem with such nice terms as "day laborer" and "undocumented worker" and either welcome this scourge or avoid the issue.

    I DON'T care if that ego-inflated Bourdain or this guy wants illegal aliens in restaurants. I DON'T want them! I don't want ILLEGAL ALIENS here either. GO HOME! I don't care if this closes some restaurants. I'm perfectly willing to spend more money for my meal knowing that it is prepared by Americans.

    I love immigrants... LEGAL ONES. I don't give a damn where you're from, fill out the damned paperwork and do it right. Illegal aliens drive down REAL WAGES of AMERICAN WORKERS, keeping those at the lower end of the socioeconomic scale from competing for jobs... continuing the cycle of poverty. At the same time, those employers who hire ILLEGAL ALIENS should be fined first, and jailed if it happens again.

    Funny that 80% of Americans want illegal aliens deported, isn't it? Stop being a shill for CRIMINAL ACTIVITY (yes, that's what hiring illegal aliens is).

    Comment by The Future — December 20, 2007 @ 09:15AM

  3. LEGAL immigration is not a problem. Stop linking all immigration, both illegal and legal into one catagory. LEGAL is OK, ILLEGAL is NOT!!

    Comment by Milton Smith — December 20, 2007 @ 09:25AM

  4. Thank you, Robb Walsh, for bringing some warm, light-hearted humanity to what is obviously a very emotional, incendiary and thorny issue, and a problem that unfortunately will not be resolved for a long time.

    Some overlooked aspects of the immigration debate:

    1) "Immigrants do jobs that Americans will not" is a myth: Depends what part of the country you are in. This is an asylum city. Try Maine: I bet you will find U.S. citizens cleaning dishes. It is true that low wages paid to people in and from developing countries drives down wages; unfortunately, I fear that feeds a lot of prejudice.

    2) Why not focus instead on what is so terribly wrong with the corrupt governments of the countries from which so many people feel compelled to flee? Why are politicians in those countries not fulfilling their primary duty as elected leaders to protect their own citizens? If I were a political leader in a country from which hundreds of thousands had to flee every year JUST TO SURVIVE, I would be embarrassed, to say the least.

    Comment by Clarity — December 20, 2007 @ 02:27PM

  5. Thank you, Robb Walsh, for bringing some warm, light-hearted humanity to what is obviously a very emotional, incendiary and thorny issue, and a problem that unfortunately will not be resolved for a long time.

    Some overlooked aspects of the immigration debate:

    1) "Immigrants do jobs that Americans will not" is a myth: Depends what part of the country you are in. This is an asylum city. Try Maine: I bet you will find U.S. citizens cleaning dishes. It is true that low wages paid to people in and from developing countries drives down wages; unfortunately, I fear that feeds a lot of prejudice.

    2) Why not focus instead on what is so terribly wrong with the corrupt governments of the countries from which so many people feel compelled to flee? Why are politicians in those countries not fulfilling their primary duty as elected leaders to protect their own citizens? If I were a political leader in a country from which hundreds of thousands had to flee every year JUST TO SURVIVE, I would be embarrassed, to say the least.

    Comment by Clarity — December 20, 2007 @ 02:27PM

  6. It is a great tradegy that the federal gobvernment does not represent the wishes of 80% of the American people.

    Legal immigrants built our nation and illegal immigrants are destroying it.

    Legal immigration allows the immigrant to become part of the society and SPEAK ENGLISH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    These "extranjeros illegales" use up social and educational resources. Pay little or no taxes and worst of all send 40 billion or more back to their home country. What part of giant sucking sound is not understandable.

    These illegal aliens bring crime, TB and other exotic diseases, and illegal drugs by the ton. The cost is almost incalculable.

    It would be better if we sent 40 billion in aid to Mexico, everyones corrupt country, to get their house in order. The "corruptos" are exporting their unbelievable inability to govern.

    I would rather pay more for my food so long as my fellow Americans are serving it.

    The worst of this modern day tradegy is that government is a party to this criminal enterprise by not enforsing our laws against illegal immigration.

    If the tables were revered with Mexico the American illegals could expect prison or death from our Mexican "Friends."

    Comment by Art Ciampi — December 20, 2007 @ 03:33PM

  7. Absolutely, Art. So, if the problems are so obvious, why are things allowed to continue as they are? Why is nothing really being done about it?

    Because the system of illegal immigration benefits corporations and governments on both sides. Corporations get cheap labor without responsibility to the laborers in the form of benefits (sometimes, they don't pay them at all!!!) or to the government in the form of taxes, and American consumers get cheap goods in return. Governments of countries like Mexico get all those billions of dollars flooding their economy, without having to pay for any sort infrastructure or other social services for the workers that made that money.

    Sounds like a win-win situation to me. Well, to the usual suspects: The political and economic elite.

    What I can't understand is why anyone would ever advocate to perpetuate this system: They are not standing up for people who "just want a better life"; they are overtly encouraging a corrupt and unethical system of SLAVE LABOR that allows for all manner of civil and human rights abuse. Anyone who thinks illegal immigration is just fine the way it is certainly is no friend of the people.

    Comment by Clarity — December 20, 2007 @ 09:49PM

  8. I'm glad to see there is still some sense amongst the readers of the HOuston Press. Most get what its about. The panderers and elitists have made it into a racial issue. What people are blind to is taht keeping the current system is keeping an underclass in this country. The libs have had some degree of success in making it out to be an issue of race and hate. But what they cover up are their own interests in having a near-slave class of people. People who work under dangerous conditions, people who have little recourse if not paid or get injured. Illegal immigration is no friend of the working man nor the illegal alien. It cuts wages. It forces legal immigrants and citizens out of particular industries and service oriented jobs. The people who have spread the lies about clamping down on immigration as hate are the ones who rely on this slave pool. Remember which party freed the slaves. Liberals just happen to have better PR right now and can twist their ideologies into being as they are proponents of the common man.

    But even liberal elitist need their grass cut cheaply and their food served cheaply.

    Comment by Billy Deez — December 20, 2007 @ 10:27PM

  9. An interesting article that made some good points while making me hungry at the same time. However, the write of the piece chose to gloss over the fact that Hugo committed identity fraud when he purchased his Social Security number; and that someone else legally in the US may have just had their Social Security number compromised.

    Comment by Stephen Taylor — December 22, 2007 @ 07:49AM

  10. NEARLY EVERY ARGUMENT PUT FORTH AGAINST IMMIGRATION REFORM IS NOT BASED ON FACTS OR CREDIBLE SOURCES. http://www.snopes.com/politics/immigration/taxes.asp; http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?sid=415.

    NumbersUSA and the CIS use distortions and half-truths to foment anti-immigrant fervor. They are also funded/founded by the same bigoted xenophobe, John Tanton. http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?pid=180

    1. It's a question of law: There is a difference between laws and morals. If it really was a LEGAL issue, then they should have no qualms about CHANGING the law. Give these people a process by which they CAN come here legally and work, because as it stands now, there isn't one. If we stuck with "the law is the law", then women would still be little more than chattel and Blacks would not have the right to vote.

    2. It's a security issue: Where was the only legitimate terroristic bombing threat since 9/11 from? The CANADIAN border. You see Canada has way more Muslims than Mexico. Now, the State Department lists the ELN, FARC, AUC and Shining Path as "Terrorist Organizations". http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/crt/2005/65275.htm They also list Cuba as a State Sponsor of Terrorism. http://www.state.gov/s/ct/c14151.htm. Is it possible that there are hundreds of Cubans, Peruvians and Columbians sneaking across the border illegally? Yes, it's possible. Is it probable that there are "hundreds" of ARABS, IRANIANS, EGYPTIANS & SAUDI'S (and other Middle-Easterners) sneaking across the border as many anti-immigrants like to INFER? In all their hysteria they have found ONE example of a Middle-Easterner being snuck across the Southern border: Mahmoud Youssef Kourani. A Lebanese National who snuck across to raise money for Hezbollah. Which for me begs the question: if the same is true for Canada, why aren't we clamoring to build a wall up there? Isn't it a little disingenuous to quote 150,000 OTM's without specifiying that the VAST majority of them are from Central and South American countries? http://judiciary.house.gov/media/pdfs/ERCRSreport.pdf

    3. They only come here to live off Welfare & Foodstamps: GAO report shows that 3% of total monies spent on AFDC and 2% of the monies spent on Food Stamps went to households with an illegal alien as it's head. http://www.gao.gov/archive/1998/he98030.pdf.

    4. They don't pay taxes and are bringing down the economy: As a general rule, the federal government reaps a net benefit from illegal immigrants in the form of Social Security payments that the workers are never able to collect because they are not citizens; it is the states, in terms of social services, education and medical services, that pay the bulk of costs associated with supporting the undocumented population. Even so, Rector and MacDonald's claims are disputed by numerous scholars, including even MacDonald's senior colleague at the Manhattan Institute, Tamar Jacoby. Jacoby, who studies immigration extensively, told the conservative National Review that while individuals might receive more in services than they paid in taxes, "they are growing the [overall economic] pie so significantly that that cost pales in comparison." Jacoby cited a recent study of immigrants in North Carolina that reported that over the prior 10 years, Latino immigrants had cost the state $61 million in a variety of benefits — but were responsible for more than $9 billion in state economic growth. http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/jacoby.htm. Further, $68 billion sent home to Latin America last year....if this is how much they're sending back, HOW MUCH DO YOU THINK THEY'RE SPENDING HERE? http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/5226810.html.

    5. They are committing crimes and filling our jails: Last year, the Federal Bureau of Prisons reported that over 27,000 Non-US Citizens entered Federal Correctional Facilities. Unfortunately, it doesn't give a break down into Criminal or Illegal aliens nor the ethnic make up or nationality. But even if you assumed they were ALL of Latin American descent, which they were NOT, that would be .22 percent of 12 million.
    http://fjsrc.urban.org/analysis/ez/displays/s_freq.cfm

    There were 125,655 people in Texas Prisons in 2002. Of those, 30.7% were White, 41.3% were Black and 28% were Latino. Unfortunately, of those 35,183 Hispanic inmates it doesn't break down their immigration status. http://texaspolitics.laits.utexas.edu/html/just/features/0504_01/slide2.html. The estimated population of illegals in Texas in 1999 was 700,000. http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/statistics/illegal.pdf. Even if you assume that ALL of the inmates in Texas prisons of Latino descent are illegal, which they are NOT, that is STILL only 5% of the total estimated illegal population of the state. Therefore, one can reason that 95% of undocumented workers do NOT come here to commit crimes and fill our prisons.

    6. Let them go to the back of the line and come here legally: THERE IS NO LINE. You cannot come to this country except on a tourist or student visa if you do not have family here, have special talents/advanced degrees, are sponsored by an employer or get married to a citizen. Student and Tourist visas do not permit someone to work. Therefore, there is NO way for a skilled or unskilled tradesman or laborer with no ties to this country to come here and work. http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis. That is why we say the system is broken!

    7. They remain loyal to their home country and refuse to assimilate: Most Latino immigrants maintain some kind of connection to their native country by sending remittances, traveling back or telephoning relatives, but the extent of their attachment varies considerably. Only one-in-ten (9%) do all three of these so-called transnational activities; these immigrants can be considered highly attached to their home country." http://pewhispanic.org/reports/report.php?ReportID=80


    So what's left? Bigotry, prejudice and ethnic discrimination. If this is not true, then why are people saying they are a "threat to American culture"? http://www.chron.com/disp/commnts.mpl/metropolitan/5309623.html?o=TimeStampDescending&plckCurrentPage=0.

    Comment by E. Cortes, Esq. — December 22, 2007 @ 02:55PM

  11. Yes "Future", we understand you don't care. You don't care that this man risked life & limb to come to this country and work his butt off. You don't care that he paid taxes and saved his money. You don't care that he built a business from the ground up that added to the economies of Houston, Texas and the Federal tax rolls. You don't care that he never asked for a handout. You don't care because you are a bigot and because you are prejudiced, WE don't care that you don't care. Like it or not sir, they're here and they ain't goin' no fuckin' where.

    Comment by E. Cortes, Esq. — December 22, 2007 @ 02:59PM

  12. Boo f_ckin who.....an illegal that has made good.....we don't have any illegals in Houston (1/2) the population.....I don't care what his bullsh_t story is.....if he is still illegal....deport the asshole......I don't care how well he cooks. Same goes for all the illegals in the country. I swear between the landscape lobby and the food industry, you would think we took the world to raise! Make them come here LEGALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Comment by Top-e5 — December 23, 2007 @ 05:00PM

  13. Geez Mr. Cotez,,,,,,I guess that is what you think......me and all the LEGAL AMERICANS are going to make sure that all you illegals are sent back home.......wheather u can cook or not.

    Comment by Top-e5 — December 23, 2007 @ 05:05PM

  14. E. Cortes, Esq.:

    Pulling the race card is just shameful. How can you even look yourself in the mirror after saying something so utterly absurd?

    None of this has anything to do at all with race, and you know it. There's no "bigotry" against illegal immigrants, but there is prejudice against this outrageous SENSE OF ENTITLEMENT, AS IF this country OWES ANYTHING to people from other countries who are non-citizens. Now THAT is off-putting. Really doesn't further your cause.

    If illegal aliens would demand the same rights and privileges FROM THEIR OWN GOVERNMENTS, instead of fleeing like the cowards they are, the world would be an entirely different place. Demanding "a better life" from a government THAT IS NOT YOUR OWN IS asking for a handout.

    Comment by Clarity — December 24, 2007 @ 09:51AM

  15. Merry Christmas and Peace on Earth

    Comment by robb walsh — December 24, 2007 @ 02:57PM

  16. There will not be peace as long as people stop thinking we owe them something. All I hear is that they(Mexicans) were here first. What about the Myan, and Aztec? They (you people) stole the land from them to claim for Mexico. They were in Mexico long before you or your people were. Your just theives, like you say we gingo's are for stealing from Mexico. Look in the mirror asshole!

    Comment by top-e5 — December 24, 2007 @ 06:23PM

  17. The hypocracy of the pro-illegal people is mind boggling. Their definition of free speech is, "if you agree with me it is free speech, but if you disagree you are a racist!"

    Can you imagine, non-citizens, who enter the country illegally demanding rights they do not have. This preposterous attitude is accepted by those who see a chance for their own economic or political gain by importing a permanent underclass who will work for sub par wages to increase their own profits at the expense of their own nations economic health. A permanently undereducated class who will accept their economic pablum no questions asked. People who will segregate themselves and are more easily controlled.

    The fracture is compunded by the 56 Billion these illegals send out of this country to their home coutnries to further add to our balance of payments defecit. My source for this is the right-wing International NY Times!

    Illegal aliens, Bah Humbug!!!

    Comment by Art — December 31, 2007 @ 02:03PM

  18. I'd guess that, if Hugo brought up grinding wheels from Mexico, he is making chocolate liquor instead of cocoa powder. Here is a cool video showing the process as it is done in Oaxaca.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3E07Bv0Ehyk

    Comment by Jay Francis — January 1, 2008 @ 04:53PM

  19. Hey Top, I'm a Native Texan, born & raised. And you know what? I ain't goin' no-fuckin-where mamon. How do you like them apples, Slingblade?

    Comment by E. Cortes, Esq. — January 2, 2008 @ 11:57PM

  20. Clarity, OK fine. When is it NOT "pulling the race card"? When is OK to call out racism when we see it? When they hang nooses from a tree? When they drag a man from the back of a pick-up? Or are you one of those polly-annas who believes racism no longer exists and everybody is treated equally since 1964?

    Comment by E. Cortes, Esq. — January 3, 2008 @ 12:01AM

  21. Hugo is a perfect example of where the term "wetback" comes from.As for you Cortez...who in the h--- knighted you. You were[if truth were known] probably one of the rowers on that plastic boat with Hugo.I think the ICE should really start busting down on all these eateries since this article states the stats.of how many"illegal Mexicans" are employed by such.I know I'm going to start reporting.When it comes to illegal, then I'll proudly stand up as a racist, bigot or whatever name you want to call me.I'm going to stick up for my country.I guess Sir Cortez flys the Mexican flag over our upside down "old Glory" as well as his countrymen too.

    Comment by Julian — January 3, 2008 @ 12:55PM

  22. The unmittigated gall of these illegals is mind bogling.

    Here we have law brakers on many levels demanding special rights from the citizens of a country in which they are not citizens! They ignore the abject failure of their country Mexico to provide them with a living! They sneak into our nation in the dead of night and demand rights they do no have!!! They refuse to speak our language and want to make this nation into another corrupt, narco terrorist state like Mexico, the Columbia of the north. What unmitigated gall!

    Comment by A — January 8, 2008 @ 09:01AM

  23. Great food article, but an overly simplistic story about illegal immigration. The fact is, the vast majority of illegals will never approach the sort of success that Mr. Ortega enjoys. His is not a representative case and never will be. Furthermore, you have to wonder how many illegals he employs at rock-bottom wages in his restaurant. Beyond the irony of that situation, consider the hypocrisy of a former illegal now taking advantage of the newer ones. Now there's an interesting story...

    Comment by Paolo — January 8, 2008 @ 04:29PM

  24. That picture of Hugo Ortega's entire family on a staircase might as well be a poster celebrating both illegal emigration (something our laws contradict) and chain migration (something our laws SHOULD contradict).

    Neither growing up in "one of Mexico City's worst slums" nor having a relative who obtained citizenship well after illegally emigrating entitles someone to US citizenship.

    Please, for the love of God, stop drinking the "Illegal-Doesn't-Matter" Kool-Aid.

    I was disappointed in this article, Mr. Walsh, because I was not expecting it to champion illegal and immoral behavior. Will the next step/s be be justifying stealing cash from liquor stores and/or celebrating insurance fraud in the name of indigent "self-empowerment"?

    Comment by M Wright — January 8, 2008 @ 05:49PM

  25. This story should be posted on every bulletin board in every culinary college and institute in America. There are literally thousands of kids out there that are paying up to $50,000 to attend culinary schools ansd when they graduate they are going to be competeing with illegals for jobs at $8 an hour ! I know because I was one of them. Fortunately, I had an alternative occupation to fall back on or i would still be making $8 an hour and working in a kitchen where the illegals dominate the workforce and the language and the radio stations. It sucked not having another American to talk to. So, read and head any of you that are contemplating going into the culinary business. My advice to you is to watch cooking shows on TV and take a couple of weeekend or night classes if you really want to learn but do it only as a hobby my friends !

    Comment by Bob — January 9, 2008 @ 05:49AM

  26. I feel that our government is moving in the wrong direction. Even when they move in a positive direction, they get side tracked in legislation. It's insane. Immigrants make up the U.S. and without immigration, we wouldn't be the country we are today. I feel that the U.S. needs to rethink it's spending. Stop trying to win the 'war on drugs' by fighting the source of the issue. It's not going to happen. We need to take the, roughly, 12 billion a year spent fighting this so-called war and build more legal entry points along our border. A couple years ago a poll in Mexico showed that almost half the Mexican population wants to move to America. With that many people wanting to come here, they will find a way. If we do not have enough legal points of entry, they will come here illegally. Those that are here illegally need to be filtered through their actions. If they are here and working to make a better life for themselves and their families, they should be given the option to stay here and provided a path to legalization. If they are here and have been found to commit criminal actions, they need to be sent back to Mexico and monitored so that they cannot come back.

    Mike Taylor - U.S. Representative Candidate, (TX-18)
    http://miketaylor08.us

    Comment by Mike Taylor — January 19, 2008 @ 01:23PM

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