Anchor Babies

Just when I thought I had seen it all........ About 4 weeks ago an older Mexican woman was dropped off at the shelter by her son. She does not speak one word of English and she is blind. I am assuming that this was recent development since the poor woman has had no training to deal with blindness. She is totally dependent on other residents to help her with dressing, walking her to the restroom, taking her to the cafeteria and anything else that arises. Dorm staff at the shelter is basically for security purposes, they do not assist in personal issues. The case managers are there from 9-5 and seem to be too overwhelmed to get her into a facility that can teach her to cope with blindness.
Of course, this could be complicated by the issue that the lady could very well be illegal. It's difficult to get the whole story, she does not speak English, staff is bound by client confidentiality and the Spanish speaking residents are not exactly forthcoming with translation or assistance. At this point the poor thing is groping her way around the shelter and trying to make the best of it. There is one older Mexican lady at the shelter, she has been there about 10 years, and she is the only one that has even tried to help the woman, but her English is so bad she really is not able translate.

I guess I don't understand the cultural differences, but how can a son just drop his blind mother at a homeless shelter and drive off. Especially since the son seems to be doing O.K.,he drives a late model Hummer and dresses well. Meanwhile the poor women is confused, she has no idea what is going on, and the few people that do care and want to help, cannot communicate with her, and the ones that can do not want to be bothered.