https://honorificabilitudinitatibus1.blogspot.com/2025/05/blog-post.html
You ever call customer service, get a cheerful voice on the line, and think, “This guy sounds more American than I do”? Surprise—you're talking to a bloke in El Salvador who got deported from the U.S. for having too many parking tickets... or possibly a felony. Either way—cheers to immigration policy, the unsung hero of outsourced tech support.
See, the U.S. decided, “Let’s deport thousands of people who grew up in America, speak perfect English, and know more about our pop culture than half the Midwest.” El Salvador said, “Fine by us, we’ve got a few empty buildings and a lot of phones.” Boom—instant call center industry.
It’s poetic, really. America kicks them out, then pays their employers to hire them back... just with worse dental. You can't make this stuff up. These guys spent more time watching Friends than Salvadoran news, but now they're explaining your overdraft fees with a smile and a hint of trauma.
Jonathan Blitzer from The New Yorker called it “the only part of the formal economy that makes use of their skill set.”¹ That’s code for: You sound American enough to get screamed at by Karen from Nebraska without her realizing you're 2,000 miles south of Texas.
So next time you’re yelling “Let me speak to your supervisor,” remember: you probably already have. He just got deported last week.
¹ Jonathan Blitzer, “The Deportees Taking Our Calls,” The New Yorker, January 23, 2017, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/01/23/the-deportees-taking-our-call
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