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.
Would you like to know what's happened to my small town in the past seven years? We have a "godfather" who appears to operate without any governmental challenge whatsoever. Because his "flock" is so large, he is fast becoming the town's unelected Mayor.
His front is a big church "Iglesia Bautista Evangelista" but the local church leaders are solemn and afraid of him. None of his "flock" ever goes to any other church. A few tried, becaus there was a Hispanic outreach and he disciplined them severely. He brings in his flock from deep in Mexico. He's the go-to man with a cellphone who knows the crooked contractors and the slumlords. He knows how to get the kids into the schools, somehow, even with all the vaccination requirements.
In my hometown, the # of ESL students has gone from 5% to 15% in FIIVE YEARS. Tripling in five years.
In my hometown, in the rural mountainous south, there are three shops that advertise "Envios Dinero" and sport Mexican flags. The windowfronts are heavily postered and no walkers-by on the sidewalks can see inside. Must be real dark in there.
This godfather presently does a good job of keeping the peace. The other day, though, I saw something disturbing. There were two young toughs marching a pair of hideous dogs--worse than pit bulls, larger, like those dogs the lawyer couple in CA had that killed one of their neighbors. They marched, swaggering, past the police station.
Who knows what sort of godfather will come next, when the tenure of this one is done?
I know some in the affluent Golfing Set who also get very attached to their servants. George Bush clearly puts his loyalty to his house servants over his loyalty to the rights and privileges of lawful Americans.
Well Bill.....on a positive note....you are free to move to mexico with him...
One in his alternate universe.
“(He speaks without an accent) and is as American as I am.”
Well Bill, in point of fact, he isn’t as American as you and I.
This country can deport illegal aliens and even legal immigrants, but not American citizens or even children of illegal aliens born here.
That’s the law. Salvador was in this country illegally, so he was deported.
You can argue some sort of `act utilitarianism’ if you want—make exceptions for illegal aliens that you know and vouch for, but then the exceptions overcome the rule.
And the next thing you know, the ACLU is rubbing their collective foreskins (or not) while they mull over how to ... well, you know what I’m sayin’.
And what part of ILLEGAL don't you understand?
I attend a Slovak Catholic Church. You wouldn’t believe how many people I know that have paid $$$ for years, in an attempt to get here legally.
When they are turned down, they lose the money. Yet, many keep trying. Year after year.
I am not sure that it makes sense to loath the many illegals who do come here to work hard and make money to give their families a better life. If you lived in a corrupt country which was dirt poor and just a few miles away their was a very prosperous country which had many available jobs and had been serious about enforcing its immigration laws for many years wouldn’t you also cross the border illegally and work to improve your families lot. So, in the end we do need to stop illegal immigration but I don’t think that you can really (morally) blame those illegal immigrants who have come here to work hard - The criminals and people who come for social services are a completely different matter.
Sorry, my last post should have said “hadn’t been serious about enforcing immigration laws for many years:
Since the authorities now know he is illegal and are going to deport him, are they also going to deport his parents and any other siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.?
He does not deserve to be a Mexican any more than I deserve to be an American. It is an accident of our birth.
The goal of public policy cannot be that everybody gets what he deserves. It is inevitable in any policy that many people will get what they do not deserve and many other people will be dealt an injustice. The important thing to consider is if the public policy makes sense on a societal level, not on an individual level.
Borders serve a function. Citizenship serves a function. As such, we must have borders and we must have citizenship. This means we must also have deportation, or the borders and citizenship are meaningless and the public good is not served.
Does Salvador deserve it? Maybe, maybe not. Probably not.
Does that matter? No.
Amazing and horrifying.
So MS-13 gets to stay because of your boy?
What kind of logic is that? It is not a matter of "blame," but of enforcing our laws. This "I'm depraved because I am deprived" mentality to excuse lawbreakers is what has allowed 12 to 20 million people to enter this country illegally and stay and work here. There has to be some personal accountability. And we need to start enforcing our laws and controlling our borders.
Are you suggesting that we have some sort of screening process allowing illegal aliens who work hard to stay here and deport the rest?
$35,000 a year. 2000 hours in an average work year ( 40 hour work week ).
35,000 / 2000 = 17.50 an hour. I do not know many companies that pay that much to persons who have not graduated high school and under 18 years of age regardless the job. It surmises that if he worked part time he had to make more hourly which I doubt or if he worked more than 40 a week when did he go to school, homework, sleep etc...?
My point was I wish my kids could make this miraculous $35,000 a year so I could keep some of my own money. If that was possible you’d see a larger drop out rate in high schools.
You may not be lying in which case you have been duped by a con artist better check the silverware drawer.
Either way he should be in Mexico manana.
Besides the human cost, I just wish that people would stop and think that if the U.S. ever were to try to deport the millions of Salvadors, the spectacle would cause widespread revulsion. Who would vote for such people in the future?
And at the same time there are still illegal alien felons sitting in the jails of my county and state that ICE refuses to deal with because they are "too busy" and have to "prioritize." Come to think of it, it's a lot easier to deal with a basically law abiding guy like a Salvador, than a real criminal.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.