Velásquez

PROVIDENCE — Edgar Velásquez left for the Mexican highlands yesterday with praise for his courage and blessings for his journey.

Velásquez departed as lawyers were still trying to settle a claim against his former employer, a tree-service owner who hired the 22-year-old illegal immigrant, then turned his back after Velásquez accidentally slashed his face open with a chainsaw.

Velásquez’s lawyers allege that William J. Gorman Jr. arranged to have Velásquez deported last year before he could pursue a workers’ compensation claim against Gorman, owner of Billy G’s Tree Care in Warwick.

As lawyer Stephen J. Dennis said, Velásquez “had been tossed out as damaged goods.” By rare exception, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security sanctioned his return on a humanitarian basis in September so that Velásquez could have his day in court.

Yesterday, lawyers for both sides said they were close to reaching a settlement agreement in a groundbreaking case that would compensate Velasquez for his injury and associated care. If the case is not settled, trial will continue in Velásquez’s absence.

Although Gorman has few assets, his lawyer, Michael A. St. Pierre, and Dennis, said the agreement would establish a payment schedule.

On Sunday, during a Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe celebration, Velásquez struggled for composure as he thanked hundreds of people at St. Teresa Church in Olneyville. From the altar, he expressed gratitude “for taking me into your homes” and hearts when he was a stranger to all but a few, and for raising $500 that he has already sent home. He thanked his attorneys and those whose efforts led to his return.

Velásquez said it is his dream to buy a Toyota four-wheel-drive truck so he can raise and sell more coffee beans to support his mother and brothers. During a community breakfast that followed the celebration, well-wishers pressed bills into his palm and wished him Buena suerte or good luck.

Asked if he’s worried that he may never see any money from Gorman, Velásquez said he is optimistic that he will.

“I leave it in the hands of God; he will decide what’s going to happen,” he said.

Velásquez boarded a flight to Mexico City yesterday at Boston’s Logan Airport. He was then scheduled to fly to Tuxtla Guttierez in Chiapas, ride a bus for four hours and then walk for six hours to reach his mountain village. He said his brothers will meet him with a horse that will carry his two suitcases, and villagers would feed them along the way.

He said he’d been homesick, and has tried to busy himself by taking English classes. Last week, Velásquez said he is worried after learning that his youngest brother had been badly injured when kicked by a mule, and that his uncle had a tumor removed from his side.

He said he’s looking forward to Christmas, when villagers will get together and sing.

In phone interviews earlier this year from Mexico — when his return to the United States was still a vague hope — Velásquez said through an interpreter that he paid a “coyote” $1,800 to help him cross the Mexico-Arizona border in 2005. He then made his way to Rhode Island to join relatives.

During those interviews and subsequent testimony before Workers’ Compensation Judge Bruce Q. Morin, Velásquez said a relative arranged a job with Gorman. He said Gorman picked him up at 6 a.m., and would not let him leave until Gorman said their work was done.

He said Gorman never provided training or protective gear, and described Gorman as “very abusive.”

Velásquez injured himself on March 31, 2006, when the chainsaw bounced off a fence and kicked back into his face. The saw flayed his forehead to the bone; and sliced through his left eyelid and his nose.

At the time, Gorman was elsewhere, mulching tree limbs, and after the accident, Gorman “denied knowing me,” Velásquez said.

A plastic surgeon performed emergency surgery on Velásquez. His wounds have healed, but a scar cuts from his forehead to his lip, and his left eye does not fully close. He also still suffers infections at his hairline, and doctors say he may need more surgery on his eye.

In August 2006, Velásquez attempted to pursue a workers’ compensation claim against Gorman, as Rhode Island law entitles him to do. But on the day of a hearing, immigration agents arrested Velásquez outside the J. Joseph Garrahy Judicial Complex in Providence.

Velásquez said he was about to enter the courthouse when he saw immigration agents, and Gorman, who laughed and called out, “ ‘Now Edgar, I’m sending you back to Mexico … I have no use for you now.’ He said, ‘Edgar, Adiós.’ ”

Weeks later, Velásquez was returned to Mexico. One year later, the federal government yielded to pressure from the Mexican-American Association of Rhode Island, the Mexican Consulate in Boston, and Senator Jack Reed’s office, and granted Velásquez a five-day humanitarian visa. Immigration lawyer Roberto Gonzalez twice succeeded in getting that visa extended.

Velásquez testified in both his own case against Gorman and in a separate case brought by the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training. The state is seeking penalties against Gorman for not having workers’ compensation insurance when Velásquez worked for him in 2005 and 2006. Last Friday, Velásquez gave a deposition that will be preserved in the event that trial proceeds without him.

In October, Morin issued a preliminary order awarding compensation and medical costs, and last week set scarring damage to Velásquez’s face at $11,250. Gorman to date has paid Velásquez about $500 in lost pay.

Gorman could face penalties of hundreds of thousands in the state’s case against him, however Bernard P. Healey, a lawyer with the workers’ compensation division of the state Labor Department, said the department may suspend any penalties, “provided he pays Edgar for the other claim.”

Dr. Antonio Barajas, president of the local Mexican-American Association, said he is “cautiously optimistic” that it will be settled.

Barajas said, “It shows when injustice has happened to this degree, we cannot let it go unnoticed. The Constitution has some protection for everybody who sets foot on this great nation, regardless of creed, color, or immigration status.”

The Rev. Raymond Tetreault of St. Teresa Church in Olneyville, said Velásquez’s case demonstrates a need to pass immigration legislation in Congress, “so that many others [in his situation] will be able to work … and not live in fear, and not be mistreated.”

kziner@projo.com