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CNN Sunday Morning

Many Enron Employees May Have to Leave U.S.

Aired February 10, 2002 - 11:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: The bankruptcy of energy giant Enron has not only left thousands of its employees broke or without pension savings, but hundreds now face their greatest nightmare, either find a job within weeks or leave the country. CNN's Fred Katayama reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRED KATAYAMA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Mauricio Mora will never forget January 15. He became a father. Two weeks later, he lost his job as a researcher at Enron. Reality hit. Worries surfaced.

MAURICIO MORA, FORMER ENRON RESEARCHER: All cash now is the (inaudible), the groceries and the baby. So it's kind of on a survival type of war type of budget.

KATAYAMA: Mauricio Mora faces more pressures than the typical laid off Enron worker. He needs to get a job by mid-March or leave the country. Mora holds an immigrant visa for skilled workers, called H-1B. More than six percent of the 4,000 fired at Enron were foreign workers.

KATAYAMA (voice over): Immigration lawyers say those workers have up to roughly 45 days to settle affairs, get a new job, or leave the country. Mora's actively searching for leads.

MORA: I'm running under cash pressure and visa pressures, so I need to find something.

KATAYAMA: He found one lead.

MORA: That's great. I'll be back here tomorrow.

KATAYAMA: And he looks for jobs online at home. Mora came from Columbia. He has a Ph.D. from Stanford. His wife, Rosalia, stays home with Florencia. Accounting for the new mouth to feed, the economist figures his savings and $4,500 severance check will carry them only until March. He has applied for unemployment insurance and food aid for the baby.

MORA: Do the debts worry you?

ROSALIA MORA: A lot. They are big (inaudible) because they are huge and we have to pay them monthly and they're difficult to negotiate. We don't want to end up as Enron did.

KATAYAMA: Mora has set a March deadline. If he's still unemployed by then, he says they'll pack up and go back to Bogata, rather than risk running afoul of the law. He's keeping a positive attitude, focusing on the start of a new life, instead of the end of a job. Fred Katayama, CNN Financial News, Houston, Texas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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