At some subway stations in Brooklyn and the Bronx, Mexican immigrants suffer from ongoing harassment, as criminals take advantage of these isolated locations.

Florentina Olivares, originally from the state of Guerrero, works at a supermarket on 125th Street on Saint Nicholas Avenue, and lives in the Bronx. Olivares, who has been living in the area for five years and boards the D train at Fordham Road to get to work, was recently assaulted while waiting for the train.

"The problem at this station is that there are almost no other people around. It's always very deserted and the perpetrators don't pass up the opportunity to bother you. It was seven in the morning when a young Hispanic man approached me to ask me for change. When I was looking through my purse for coins, that hoodlum snatched it from me," Olivares affirmed.

Olivares said she isn't the first victim to have gotten robbed on the subway. Other Mexican immigrants who start their workday early in the morning have faced the same ordeal.

"My nephew works at a restaurant and returns home between one and three in the morning," Olivares added, "When he was leaving the station, an African American tore off his gold chain. As if that wasn't enough, he also got punched in the stomach."

Unsafe locations

Mexican immigrants have encountered similar situations at the 20th Avenue station in Brooklyn. Lucio Salinas, originally from Puebla, works as a street vendor on the boardwalk at Coney Island. Three weeks ago he was robbed of his day's earnings.

"I got off the N train and took a few minutes to organize my merchandise. A man approached me from behind and asked me for money. I was afraid because he had a gun. I gave him more than $300," said Salinas.

Salinas added that the subway station does have security cameras; however, the station becomes unsafe after 10 p.m.