The 49 deaf Mexican men and women who were kept as virtual slaves in Queens, New York will be allowed to remain in the US, according to federal officials.  The illegal immigrants were forced to peddle trinkets in the New York subway and shopping malls and to turn over any earnings to bosses who kept them in horrid conditions and would sometimes beat and abuse them. Ten to fifteen of the Mexicans would like to return to Mexico, but many others are expected to remain in the US.

Those who choose to remain in the US will receive rarely issued "S" visas. This type of visa is offered to cooperating witnesses who can provide information for the prosecution of cases in the US or those who, having provided the information, fear for their lives once they return home.  The INS grants only 250 of these visas nationwide each year, and applicants must be sponsored by a law enforcement agency.  The INS, the US attorney and the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department are sponsoring the Mexicans.

In a related story, Alfredo Rustrian Paoletti, who pleaded guilty in 1997 to conspiracy to recruit, smuggle and keep the deaf Mexicans in the US, has been deported to Mexico to face money-laundering charges.  The charges result from the estimated $1 million per year that Paoletti and other ringleaders earned by forcing the deaf Mexicans to sell trinkets in the New York subway and shopping malls.  A New York judge has ordered the money to be distributed among the deaf Mexicans.