[Picture from same article - copyright
latimes.com, 20/11/2012 - Image Genaro Molina]
20.11.2012. Isaias Garcia had labored for
decades to raise a family in Torrance when in 2009, the Zapotec Indian faced a
life-changing decision.
The authorities of his family village of
Santa Ana del Valle in the state of Oaxaca had called him home to serve without
pay as a councilman for three years. If he refused, they could confiscate his
property — a house and nine acres — under a centuries-old system of local
Indian governance known asusos y costumbres (uses and customs).
Garcia came to America illegally, and he
knew that going home would be tantamount to permanent deportation; border
security and drug-cartel violence had made returning to the United States more
dangerous and costly. Nor could he afford to pay someone in Santa Ana to do the
job for him.
