Workers: San Eli Mayor Not Paying Employees

Nothing sickens me more than to have to write this piece on Labor Day weekend of all times, but as anyone who has ever spent any amount of time reading my blog knows, I’m an outspoken labor advocate and I know a lot of people in the Valley. So naturally I was approached by a group of workers recently that allege San Eli Mayor Isela Reyes has not paid them for wages they earned at her restaurant/bar in San Elizario, Los Pistoleros. 

The workers indicate that they have reported the matter to law enforcement. Other sources have indicated that there are multiple investigations underway involving the Mayor of San Elizario. 

Reyes was recently elected in May of this year and her administration has come under scrutiny because former El Paso City Representative and one of her political consultants, Eddie Holguin was attending most of the meetings when she was first elected. In fact, sources at the city -as I have previously written- told me he was slated to come in at one point and sit with city staff to “train” them. 

That never actually took place after I previously wrote about it and Holguin has apparently stopped attending the city council meetings. 

The workers are mostly wait and kitchen staff - and as if this allegation wasn’t explosive enough, most of the workers feel like they were taken advantage of by Reyes because they are undocumented. 

If you recall Holguin's wife is former El Paso County Democratic Party Chairwoman and current County Commissioner for the area, Iliana Holguin. Holguin is also an immigration attorney to boot. 

The workers are allegedly owed thousands of dollars and many of them worked as long as 6 months without receiving pay. I know what you’re thinking, how could they work that long without getting paid? Why wouldn’t they just stop working? 

Well the answer is that contrary to what Fox News would have you believe, life can be very difficult for the undocumented. The workers indicated that some of them did in fact receive checks here and there. Sometimes they could cash them at a local grocery store in San Elizario, but other times the checks would bounce.

The store no longer cashes checks from Reyes’ business for the workers, presumably because of the bounced checks. 

When you’re undocumented, there is always a fear that even a minor contact with law enforcement like a traffic stop, could lead to being separated from their families, so as a consequence, many undocumented workers are vulnerable to being taken advantage of because of their status. It’s a lot harder for them to call and report wage theft than other folks. 

The workers have made repeated attempts to collect their money. They allege that there were meant with an endless stream of excuses as to why they haven’t received their pay from Reyes. 

Reyes had previously received several unrelated citations from the City of San Elizario for a range of infractions, which is what led to Reyes’ desire to seek the mayorship according to many people in San Elizario. 

There is no indication as to what happened to those citations since the mayor took office. 

Eventually the workers gave up asking Reyes for the money they were owed and they allegedly approached Michelle Garcia, who is a manager at the business. The workers say Garcia, who is a trustee on the San Elizario Board of Trustees, tried repeatedly to get the employees the money they were owed. 

The workers indicate that Garcia tried several times to get the money they were owed.

"Michelle is the only one that has been trying to help us. She even cried with us one day when we weren't able to get paid because she was frustrated she couldn't get us our money. We don't even know if she's getting paid either", said one of the workers who has gone forward to law enforcement. 

There were customers at Mayor Isela Reyes' restaurants when members of the Comptroller's Office and TABC allegedly showed up to seize property. 

To be honest, I don't know how the joint was even open over the weekend because TABC keeps a list of businesses that have not paid for distilled spirits that they purchased on credit. As you know, alcohol is a highly-regulated business. When I heard they stopped by, I did a quick search and found the data base and sure enough - her business is listed. 

Click here to see the database for yourself. 

Here are some screenshots in case you don't have time to go through the website (it can be cumbersome). 

So she's allegedly not paying her workers and according to the TABC, she's not paying for booze at her bar. That begs the question...

Where is the money going?

Well workers and the TABC aren't the only ones who have asked where the money is. 

The American Cancer Society asked the same thing in 2019 and launched an investigation into her alleged fundraising efforts for the charity. Here's a link to a story on KVIA that covered that situation. 

Sadly when all of this finally sorts out, I doubt the workers will actually ever get the money they are allegedly owed. 

This is a developing situation...