Posted on 10/19/2007 1:25:01 PM PDT by BillCompton
I am one of the Republicans who was shouted down in the Bush-backed immigration debate. Actually, the words were so hot here, I didn't even bother. I respect those here that feel strongly about the mass of illegals entering the country and I won't go into the reasons I thought the Bush approach was to some degree constructive. The will of the people has been heard.
Now the issue is very different for me. I am heartbroken. My wife teaches high school here in Live Oak, FL. She is relatively new, so she gets lower level students. Every semester, a few "projects" enter her radar screen. She impacts lives and has turned some around. She has lost some. Today we found out we really lost one. Salvador Mendoza is 19 year old and a former student. Until a few days ago, we had no idea he was an illegal alien. He is a fine young man. He pays taxes. makes 35k a year, which is extraordinary for a kid his ages. His job takes a lot of skill and great effort (he cleans out industrial incinerators).
This young man has done yard work for us and has kept our children. He visits every few months and ate dinner with our family last Christmas eve. He always _appreciated_ that my wife had helped him and encouraged him and even fussed at him. We all know that gratitude is the least deeply felt emotion, but his kid has character and class. He graduated on time. When he was 17, he got a ticket for driving without a license. He got a license, did community service instead of paying the fine (big mistake!), and got on with his life. Four nights ago, he was in a small car accident. He has insurance and only his car was involved (he rolled the car on its side, but he and his friend were able to right it with a push.) Before they could carry on, the police arrived. There was an outstanding warrant for not paying the traffic ticket. It was a mistake made by the system at some point, and so he was arrested. When they got him to jail, they ran his id and determined that he was illegal.
Salvador has attend school in our community since he was in the second grade. He speaks without an accent and is as American as I am. He is honest, productive and an absolute asset to our country. Now he is going to be sent to Mexico. He barely remembers the place and his Spanish is not good. He has some family there, because he has been sending them money.
Okay, throw his Mom and Dad out. But he is innocent, isn't he? By what morality can he be considered guilty of anything? Was he suppose to talk his parents out of coming to America? I tell you this is indecent. The sins-of-the-father ethos is more alien to this country than he has ever been.
So instead of having a young tax payer who will raise a family, support his community and (God willing) vote Republican, he is going to a country he doesn't know facing a future we would never wish on our children.
So flame away. But at least have the moral fiber to explain in what moral universe this boy deserves this mess. If you can answer by 8:30 PM tonight, I would appreciate it. You see, that is when he is calling our home from jail to find out what the lawyer told us before he refused to accept the $7,500 retainer. Well Salvador, you are Mexican, so you are screwed.
>>This young man has done yard work for us and has kept our children<<
How old are your children and what do you mean by kept?
How is he paying his taxes? Did he obtain a TIN, or is he committing a felony by falsely claming to be a US Citizen with a stolen SSN?
Any policy is going to lead to injustice. You base public policy on the broad public interest, not on the notion that it is going to be the best or fairest thing for every individual.
We either deport people who are here illegally or we don’t. That’s it. End of story.
But, rest assured, Salvador will get a “disappearance letter” telling him to show up at such-and-such a time for deportation. If he doesn’t show up, nothing will happen to him. He will go on as before.
“...he got a ticket for driving without a license. He got a license...”
OH? And just where did he buy this license? I’m sure that it was not from the state of Florida.
“He speaks without an accent and is as American as I am”
Evidently not you moron. Just another leech who we should deport.
BTW I wish my high school agred kids could make $35K a year and still have time for school.
I smell bovine excrement.
It is an interesting dilemma: here you have a subject who is being asked to undergo hardship for the crime his parents committed. I’m afraid there’s no easy answer.
Deport everybody’s gardener except mine...
Baby sitting. 4 year old boy and 11 year old boy (at the time.) It was for a football game and another time for dinner. The point is we trusted him with our children.
Our laws have never been different regarding this issue, not when he was little, and not now. He was old enough to have done something about it, and he did not.
Now, he can come back the right way.
And how did he obtain a license at all???????
I'm sure for you it is very sad. However, the law is not written based on individual stories, and it does not differentiate between "good" illegal alien to "bad" illegal alien.
“stolen SSN” Hmmm. How do you steal a number. It was a fake number. I don’t know the details.
So, what do you propose regarding our borders and amnesty?
Just to clarify things, there are no warrents issued if you pay your ticket.
Sorry but that is the attitude so many of the illegals have. I am owed something. I don’t have to pay the fines.
Well thats just not how this country works.
Is that a confession to employing an illegal?
Well Salvador, you are an illegal Mexican, so you got caught finally.
There I fixed it.
Bill, this is a great story. Thanks.
For every story about this young illegal alien who just wants to clean industrial incinerators, there are probably 30 stories of illegal aliens who want, well, to steal & rob & cheat & rape & murder & take-take-take from our society. It is a numbers thing.
It’s obvious your friend would be caught in a human tragedy if we managed to enforce our immigration laws. On the flip side, he and millions of his compatriots would have their backs against the wall and would face down the mexican guvmint to REALLY change so that this stuff simply wouldn’t be their primary option. It would be GOOD for your friend that his own guvmint is healthy, starting with Mexico, moving southwards.
Has he talked to an immigration lawyer? I have never heard of someone being deported over a car accident.
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