LEAGUE CITY — The 17-year-old’s lifeless body was frozen in a sitting position in solitary-confinement at the Galveston County Jail.
Arturo Chavez’s back was flush against a 7-foot partition for the cell’s shower. A blue blanket was twisted into a noose, with one end wrapped around his neck, the other tied to a shower head.
He apparently hanged himself about 48 hours after being arrested for what started as an illegal left turn.
I have a son, he is almost seven, I can’t imagine him risking his life, crossing the Rio Grande, at the tender age of 13, hoping to attain the American dream. This is a story that exemplifies a crisis with our Southern neighbors and with our broken immigration system. Yes, its true, albiet he did it without proper papers, this boy risked his life to come here to create a better life for himself and for his family, imagine the inner strength it must have taken to make such a journey.
Arturo Chavez, 17, after being arrested for making an illegal left hand turn, reportedly panicked, attempting to flee from his jail cell. According to jail officers he was tasered and clubbed while attempting to escape over a fence.
From all accounts, he was a model immigrant, taking classes to learn English, proud of his Mayan heritage but also proud to be here in America, his ankle braclet displaying the red, white, and blue colors. He worked hard as a bus boy, hoping to move up to waiter. People will point out that he came here “illegally”, that he should not have been driving without a valid drivers license, and insurance. I agree with all that, but what I am wondering, is where is our soul as a nation, that we don’t raise this child up, praise him for risking so much, for being so brave to strive for the American dream as a mere child. How many teenagers do you know that exhibit such desire to better themselves and better their loved ones?
Those who knew Chavez said, like many undocumented immigrants, he feared any run-in with authorities as it would likely mean he would be deported.
He left Central America when he was 13 and wanted more out of life than he could get with tips loading baggage at a bus station.
Relatives say it took him nearly 15 days to get to Houston, including sneaking into Mexico and riding a passenger bus north.
He crossed the Rio Grande and hiked through South Texas.
Human smugglers demanded $3,500 to guide him, a hefty sum met with help from family and friends.
In Houston, he was known for his hustle and held out hope his improving English skills would get him promoted from busboy to waiter.
Chavez’s death was a mystery as much as a shock, said Mario Garcia, who owns the restaurant where Chavez worked.
“I don’t understand how you can go from making a mistake to losing your life, I’m dumbfounded by it,” Garcia said. “There are two sides to every story, and the truth is probably somewhere right in the middle.”
$100 sent home weekly
The kid known by his family as niño, Spanish for boy, had come a long way since leaving his indigenous village. He was sending home at least $100 a week to help his mother, father and sister.He was not only working full time, but attending Clear Creek High School’s program to help newly arrived international students.
He wore woven bracelets made of blue and white yarn — the colors of Guatemala’s flag — as well as an anklet with the U.S.A.’s red, white and blue.
“He was very proud of his Mayan heritage,” said Elizabeth Laurence, one of his teachers. “He was a feisty young fellow, popular and wanted to learn English very much. He wasn’t timid; he tried to use it.”
Things were going well with his girlfriend, Jhoseline Martell, whom he met at school.
As the police cruiser’s lights flashed behind him near Louisiana Street and League City Parkway, Chavez dialed Martell on his cell phone and stuffed it in his pocket.
“He said the police have stopped me, just listen,” recalled Martell, 15.
He normally rode a bicycle to avoid such trouble, but he had recently bought a used green Honda sedan.
He had no driver’s license, no insurance and what turned out later to be a fake identification card.
He was arrested and taken to jail. His mugshot was taken while he wore the red shirt from his job as a busboy.
Even though some may not agree, being a teenager is not easy. A teen is stuck between being a kid and an adult – sometimes feeling like one or the other, depending on the day. Some teens are thrust into the role of being an adult, a role they are not ready to take on. Teens have new things to deal with socially and academically and new types of pressures. For even the happiest teenager, these years can cause anxiety and confusion. For this young teen things must have been very confusing. When teenagers have additional problems to deal with, life can feel even more frustrating and difficult. Living in the shadows and trying to support a family must have created lots of anxiety and confusion for him. Feeling like a failure can contribute to upset, angry, and depressed feelings for some teenagers. I am sure this young man felt like the ultimate failure which probably led to a mindset of hopelessness.
For teenagers who don’t feel that they have anywhere to turn for help, they may think their lives aren’t worthwhile. If a teenager feels unhappy and helpless and has no one to reach out to, it puts him or her at an increased risk for suicide. If he would have been incarcerated in a JUVENILE FACILITY he may have had supportive people and counselors around who could have helped him deal with the problems. Besides that he would have been supervised.
Let’s remember the reasoning part of the brain in the frontal lobe does not even mature until about the age of 24 yrs old and even longer for some. So teens are not the best at good judgment, making decisions or reasoning.
This, to say the least, is a very sad case. A young life lost. Such a tradgedy.
Soy — I just think the most EXPEDIENT way to address this is by going after the employers. We seem to focus on the outcome not the cause…. I am not endorsing illegal immigration. I am also not saying if some one is here illegally it should not be addressed.
I just don’t think it’s fair to go after ONLY them.
Medic – good to see you guy. Saw some of your posts over there and wondered if you would stop by.
Why is this screen black? I will have to backtrack…. I hit refresh and thougt I’d was in another place…. 🙂
/\/\3|)iç 64 said on 26 Aug 2008 at 4:38 pm:
“Yes, many were still treated as second class citizens, but those who came here as ILLEGAL aliens in the 20’s did ASSIMILATE to the new country. Those coming here today do not.”
Not exactly a true statement. Of those who came in the 20’s, only a small % assimilated. It was usually the 2nd generation that fully assimilated.
Sr. Medic: Lucky Duck, Elena, and TH will give you a challenging debate but they are never rude. Perhaps there is something I am not seeing, but your ass ….no…I won’t go there. Begging a thousand pardons.
But I am sure you are up for spirited debate or you would not be here. I am pleased you are being careful about the snakes. There are several here. We are a hisssssssing bunch.
Hissssss, hisssss…/\/\3|)iç 64
LOL @ the snakes
OK Marie, I will give you that one, but at least the second generation assimilated or made an attempt to. Today there are no incentives to assimilate because the PC police think it is ok to print everything in Spanish and press one for English.
Jake, I am very passionate about ILLEGAL aliens and the problems that arise from them being here. It is a problem that can not be fully shouldered on the ILLEGAL aliens, but the employers must shoulder the brunt of the responsibility by employing them. Of course, many would look at it as the glass half empty and say if the ILLEGAL aliens were not here, the employers wouldn’t have a labor force to draw from.
WOW we are white again. What a blinding splash to the retinas!!!!
Howdy, M64!!
Those employers need to be held accountable for their hiring of those here illegally. They make our country very attractive for those wanting to work for the almighty dollar. These employers MUST stopping hiring those without the proper paper work. Let’s face those employers are vested in our country, and they are much easier to hold accoutable then those with no and/or false documentation.
Don’t want to be held accountable by the “grammar police”. 😉
Corr: These employers MUST *STOP* hiring those without the proper paper work.
What a lot of the people posting here don’t understand, perhaps because you’ve never been victims of police abuse, is that the police are experts at filling your heads with terrifying thoughts of what is going to happen to you and what they are going to do to you.
And that is how they can mentally torture you when you’re NOT a prisoner but a free citizen with full rights.
Imagine the way they terrorize you if you happen to find yourself stripped of all your rights and completely at their mercy in a prison like what happened to this kid.
God only knows what the prison guards may have sadistically threatened to do to this poor kid in prison.
Maybe they told him that they would classify him as a gang member and then return him to Central American authorities. This is a terrifying thought as there are paramilitary right-wing death squads in Central America that kill known gang members on sight.
He was undocumented so he knew he had no rights. Maybe they told him he was going to stay in prison forever. Maybe they said they would classify him a terrorist and send him to guantanamo bay. They could have told him anything and under the circumstances, a 17 year old boy would believe it.
Think about it.
He had a lot going for him. Do you really think he would commit suicide just for being deported? Most immigrants don’t worry about being deported unless they have family here. They know that they can just come back. This kid was probably told that some horrific fate awaited him. They convinced him of it.
So he made his peace and won his freedom the only way he knew how.
No Elana, I’m not suggesting you are a terrorist sympathizer. Simply that the tactic of martyrdom is a very common tactic in the propoganda world of the socialist and the terrorist. They have to capture the hearts and minds of the “gullible” population in order to rise in political power and achieve their political objective. Your political objective is what you stated. I simply disagree it is the right political objective for the Majority benefit of this Democracy, and only benefits the Minority in this Democracy. I am suggesting, for all of your noble self-interst compassion, you are on the wrong side of taking care of the MAJORITY in this DEMOCRACY, and as a result of furthering sympathy for “illegals” and possiblly as an indirect result of your efforts to help them, you are contributing in a negative way to the welfare and wealth of our ENTIRE society, not just the little segment you feel sorry for.
That is the flaw in your concept of Justice and Sympathy.
What you are doing in supporting “illegal” sympathy can even be held accountable under the law at a later date, should someone wish to press legal charges in the same way “militant and subversive” groups that undermine the national security of our nation can be persecuted under the law. The comments you and others post and the evidence gathered using the recorded and preserved files and internet traffic on this site at the FBI, CIA, DIA and DHS based on the subversive elements and facts that transpire on this site can be used in a later “anti-illegal” damage and subversion lawsuit, brought by the majority of the society against the minority of society that hurts it.
Mackie yo make way too many assumptions about his conditions. I’ll bet the police were simply following the law which is what they are supposed to do. What people do to themselves is beyond their control. Have you ever watched the violence and resistance, and arrogance of people who are going to jail? Do you blame that behavior on the police too?
People are only accountable for what they do under the law, as I tried to explain to Elena. She and I are only accountable under the law. I prefer to make sure I am on the side of the LAW and not supporting people who are breaking it. Breaking the law hurts the majority of the population in a Democracy, and NO minority has a right to break the law simply because they want to, or they feel sorry for just a small segment of the population that is hurting the majority segment of the population. Every member of the “majority” (not an ethnic majority in a Democracy) is entitled to compensation for those injustices under a court of law.
Wow!
Sad story. I see empathy and all kinds of arguments of who is to blame. A life was lost. I see all kinds of reasons for why it came down to a possible suicide OR a snuff.
I most sympathize with Marie’s post at 4:54 PM and as ALWAYS Big Mack threw out the head twitch question @3:50.
I have a question that has not been covered in this thread. When talking about going after the employers ( and employees) how do we know that the employer is not operating under a different law/loophole due to outsourcing? EXAMPLE: Budweiser sold out, ( the end of America , lol jk) So now a foreign company OWNS them but are operating in the states,is there a loophole that they can hire illegals within the USA (dumb question as it maybe, I don’t know, so I ask;) )
Holy CACA! You miss coming here for like an hour and all of a sudden, you are thrown into a brand new, dazzling blog! I love it! Good work!
KG,
It’s a conspiracy!
LOL, to keep you coming back or loose your way….just kidding 🙂
I think some of you know I like my conspiracy theories 🙂
Michael,
How is this kid, feeling so helpless, helpless enough to take his own life, even remotely similar to martrydom?
It is so easy to judge people isn’t it Michael. My grandfather, as a baby, emmigrated from Russia, when the whole family arrived, my aunt sara, who was maybe 4 at the time was very ill. So terrified of being split up, my great grandfather begged a fellow passenger to hide her in his suitcase. So, I guess I am decendent of not only an illegal immigrant, but illegal immigrant aiders and abbetters.
Mando,
You bring up a perspective I had not really thought about. I guess, you are right on some level, where were the parents of this young man/child. But what are your choices when faced with such overwhelming poverty. On one hand the mom who leaves her child behind, like in the case of the boyscout in Loudon, are villifed for “abandoning” her children, then in this case, the parents are villified for staying behind while he works and strives for a better life.
Every night I sing my kids their goodnight songs, I snuggle with them, kiss them goodnight, and know that I have such a lucky life to be in this country. How can I not wonder what I would do for my family if my circumstances were different. If the future that faced my children held virtually no hope.
Michael,
You cling to the law like a drowning man.
The founding fathers never meant us to be idol worshipers of the law. They wanted us to test the law against our notions of justice. They wanted us to apply this test on a case by case basis…and if the law was found to be unjust, they wanted us to nullify the law…but only on a case by case basis.
This is our right. And more than that, it is a duty.
However, it is a right and duty that has atrophied because of our neglect.
It is a right and duty more powerful than voting. Do you know the name of this right?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVZFlBJftgg
Elena, I think Mando’s theory is probably more correct than yours. Suicide does not happen overnight, People have generally experienced “months or years” of pain in their lives, before suicide is the last straw.
Here is what I think and the more I personalize it the more tragic I feel and the more sympathy I feel for this young “man” (not child).
I think economic pressure from his parents (at 13 to work!), drove this young “child” at 13 to make a hazardous journey, to compensate what his father and mother were unable or unwilling to do, provide for a family that probably included more KIDS, than they could possibly feed (the poor do that irresponsible thing better than anybody).
Imagine the pressure on a 13 year old to WORK and SEND MONEY HOME, TO BE GONE FROM PARENTS WHO LOVE MONEY MORE THAN THEY LOVE YOU. THIS IS MY ANGER AT ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION, IT PUTS PEOPLE INTO POVERTY AND MISERY, and CHILDREN INTO FINANCIAL SLAVERY.
I WOULD NEVER HAVE LET MY SON DO THAT! I would rather be a farmer and dirt poor than divide my family, or live in a country that I had to ILLEGALLY enter or send my kids to illegally enter. My ethics and sense of law are greater than any parent who would knowlingly subject their 13 year old child to that.
In the 1900s and today around the world many fathers and mothers (with more nad many of them ended up in squalor in WORKHOUSES. Illegal immigration is not much better than these WORKHOUSES (Read Oliver Twist). I’m am opposed to “ilegal” immigration for every moral reason I can think of. I am not opposed to “legal” immigration, it is much more HUMANE and controllable interms of damage to all concerned.
Allowing “illegals” to have a means to exist in this country only creates the MISERY of financial slavery to this family that this young man probably felt and WAS OVERWHELMING. I’ll bet it was the YEARS of expectation that he should work in such isolation and misery, driven BY GUILT, BY GUILT likely laid on him by his FATHER and MOTHER, who cared so LITTLE ABOUT HIM, that pushed him over the edge. That PAIN CAME LONG BEFORE THE POLICE ARRESTED HIM.
So I don’t support “illegals” or your view that we should sympathize with “illegals”, because we are simply creating and sustaining more misery than we can create wealth, and WE can’t bring every miserable person into the US just because they are poor in thier own country. There are BILLIONS of people just like that young man. Are you justified in destroying us (the majority of people in our Democracy), just because you feel we can or should let 5.0 Billion people in without papers and “legalize” all of them with a simple change in status?
This is why I believe your “efforts” and sympathy is misguided and actually doing far more harm than good to people just like this young man, because it encourages and enables so many “new” young 13 year old “men” to follow him and experience the same misery and potential death.
By supporting the conditions for his misery to exist you are esentially killing him with your misguided kindness. This the the same flaw in those Child Workhouses of the 1800s and 1900s, before LAW banished it, and the same will happen when the LAW banishes “illegal” immigration forever!
Mackie, you “flee” the law like a criminal afraid of getting caught. Which of us will win?
My “justice” is as I just explained Mackie. The LAW has been made by the Majority in this Democracy for that very real reason of “justice”.
Mackie,
RE: your post @ 18:51,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTDhgR3p12w
Michael, I think you are assuming a great deal also. Unless we have been in that situation, I don’t believe we can evaluate it in your terms and your sense of ethics. Additionally, do you believe the people who aren’t Americans feel the same sense of outrage over breaking our laws? I sure wouldn’t feel a sense of moral outrage over breaking another country’s laws.
My grandparents immigrated too, so what? That was then, they dealt with their problems then. This is now, we are dealing with our problems now. Our solution is the solution of the Majority of the people in this Democracy, whether you like it or not, indignant or not, sympathetic to lawlessness or not. Your use of this young man’s death as a political tool for “illegal” sympathy, shows the flaw in your reasoning that you are doing more good than harm. I disagree.
Moonhowler, because they have no such sense of moral outrage and are hurting our Majority (as are many of you), that is why I seek the law and the political will to punish them for what they are doing to the rest of us.
That is why I draw the line between “legal” and “illegal” and not between the good or bad of “ethnic group” behaviors. The problem is simply with “illegal”. That is the moral justice and injustice, the morality of elected and voted LAW. (mackie does not get this because he hates the LAW of the MAJORITY).
Not one of you get this, even “impoverished people” that stay intact as families can be happy. Were paleo Indians happy?, Were Incas, or Mayans, or Aztecs happy?, Were families who farmed and lived off the land happy? Did ANY one of them have more than the family of this young man has? You assume that ALL poor people, because they have no money are UNHAPPY. That’s you MORAL mistake. ONLY those who are decadent enough to value money, glamor, fame and property over family happiness are not happy, even though poor. It is how you as a family leader (Father or Mother) TREAT your family that determines happiness, and wealth.
I do hope some of you GET THAT. If I was born poor, I would create happiness for may family no matter what I had, and I don’t think you could stop me unless you made me a SLAVE or a SERF. DEMOCRACY is what prevents THAT.
Micheal,
Like I said earlier today, anyone that attempts and/or commits suicide clearly has mental issues. This “young man” had been here for 4 years illegally, and would think he’d lived in constant fear of being identified as being in our country illegally. The responsiblity that had been thrust upon him to provide for himself and his family while going to school and working must have been enormous. Hell, a lot of law abiding adults crack under such pressure.
I think it’s fitting to realize that in many other countries they allow their children to drink at younger age and have a much younger age of consent. Given that fact, I think it’s only natural that these children forced to grow up much quicker than kids here. Therefore, I think they would be far more inclined to send the children out in to the “cruel world” at younger age.
I think one thing that gets overlooked often in the immigration debate is that illegal aliens are exploited by those that hire them, those cyotes that take there money to get them accross the border(often hold them up in horrible conditions), and their parents that have sent them on such a journey to the US. It must clear to those want to come our country the legal way is the ONLY way to truly be able to live the “American Dream”.
“It is the fist responsibility of every citizen to question authority.”
Benjamin Franklin
Red Dawn,
That’s such an incredible movie!
Hi Chris, I think you make an excellent point when you said “it must be clear to those who want to come to our country the legal way is the ONLY way to truly be able to live the “American Dream”.
There are two sides to illegal immigration – those who come here illegally and those who employ them. It must be made clear that those who come illegally have no legal right to be here, it is not their nation and we are not under any obligation to permit them to enter.
It also must be made painfully clear to those who entice and employ illegal immigrants that they too are responsible for today’s problems and they too, must share the consequences of what they have participated in. They also must be shown – via the big stick if necessary – that legal entry into this Country (either by work visa or legal immigration) is the only way to operate.
Both sides are guilty for their parts in this immigration mess. It creates the desire of a family to send a 13 year old boy to another country illegally on his own and it creates the opportunity for someone to hire and exploit him, making him so dependent on his job that he kills himself because he sees it ending.
Much hubbub has been made about the fact that he was 13 when he came here. What most don’t seem to understand is that in many of these Latin American countries, the kids are on their own starting at about 12. It is a whole different world for kids living in poverty. My husband and his brothers no longer lived at home with their parents when they were 12. They went to school through 6th grade and then they either moved in with a sibling or grandparent in a city and worked various jobs such as making shoes (give a shout out to the 11 year old Guatemalan that put your $12 shoes together next time you are at Payless!), whacking sugar cane (my husband has a 5 inch scar on his hand where he almost lost a thumb while doing that at 12) or doing other kinds of farm labor. They had to start contributing to the family or to supporting themselves by then. As I’ve said before on this blog, brothers coming here prevented their youngest siblings from having to quit school and now they are either working a decent job (certainly not by our standards as far as pay wise, but enough to pay the bills) or working and attending college.
I think it is pretty silly to sit in judgement of these parents, kids and families if you haven’t walked a mile in their shoes. And I love the people that say they would never cross our border illegally simply because they have a higher “moral” standard than that. Until you have lived without adequate food or shelter I don’t think anyone is in a position to say what they would or wouldn’t do. None of us know what we are capable of until we are pushed to the breaking point.
TWINDAD,
I AM GIVING YOU THE STANDING OVATION!!!!!
I have so much to say, as you struck a cord in me tonight….damn it, I will hold back, I will hold back….LOL! Damn it, damn it……..
Michael or ANYONE,
Maybe my question is worthy???
First my question and a later comment that supports( voluntary or non) my question:
“I have a question that has not been covered in this thread. When talking about going after the employers ( and employees) how do we know that the employer is not operating under a different law/loophole due to outsourcing? EXAMPLE: Budweiser sold out, ( the end of America , lol jk) So now a foreign company OWNS them but are operating in the states,is there a loophole that they can hire illegals within the USA (dumb question as it maybe, I don’t know, so I ask;) )”
“Moon-howler, 26. August 2008, 19:12
Michael, I think you are assuming a great deal also. Unless we have been in that situation, I don’t believe we can evaluate it in your terms and your sense of ethics. Additionally, do you believe the people who aren’t Americans feel the same sense of outrage over breaking our laws? I sure wouldn’t feel a sense of moral outrage over breaking another country’s laws.”
I got to excited and want to make it CLEAR, that the above comment by Moon-howler was probably on a whole different level and topic. I just see similarities.
I guess this is just another point in how a conversation can turn in BLOGS 🙁
Twin,
Thanks for sharing your personal story here. I’ve heard many similar stories by the folks I used to work with from Central Amercia, and by the same token I know some poor whites and blacks right here in the good ole USA that were sent out to work at very young age in the fields on working on the farm. You reiterated my point of young ones doing this in their country of origin. He might have a much easier job here. However, he was living as a youngster would in his country, in our country. He was not living a life that we would want our teens to do in this country.
Twinad, I concede to you the knowledge of the cultures in which this boy grew up in. But, you must admit, being 13 years old in Central America and working there must be different than being 13 years old and living without family and working in the United States.
I still believe that it was irresponsibile of the parents to send a 13 year old to a Country illegally (which placed him in an even more percarious position) that is thousands of miles away. If they want to send him someplace else in Guatemala to work, that’s different, but to send him where you lose complete parental guidance or contact is, in my opinion, reckless.
Michael,
Just saw your post from earlier about being poor and happy. I think many studies have actually shown that the more money one has, the less likely they are to be happy. That is beside the point, though. I visited my husband’s family alone with my son a few months after he was born since there was no way for him to go and come back and he so much wanted his family to know me and meet his son.
I have to tell you I was ashamed of myself when I sat back and watched his family enjoying a meal together. I looked around at where I was, surrounded by small grass huts with dirt floors, plastic chairs, chickens running by and I couldn’t believe the happiness and sheer joy that was in front of me. I tell you, it really made me open my eyes to what it means to love and to be happy. If someone had told me that people that live in the kind of poverty they live in and still be happy, I would never have believed it unless I had seen it with my own two eyes. Now, don’t get me wrong, just because they can be happy, doesn’t mean they aren’t suffering. My husband wanted more from his life than working in a shoe factory for less than $1/day. And he knew he was capable of it, but not if he stayed there. I am proud of him and I don’t care that he broke our broken immigration law. He is a wonderful man and I don’t know where I would be without him. My son is my greatest joy…he is smart, funny, has his Dad’s curly hair and is just such a great kid. I will never think my husband made a mistake in doing what he did, even if we all move to Central America together because he can’t stay here anymore. Hell, my current retirement money will be well spent in Guatemala! Will last about 50x as long and the good ole USA won’t get any of it if it comes to that.
Lucky Duck,
I do see your pov, but in all honesty, I saw the neighborhood my husband lived in when he was 12! It scared the living daylights out of me! There is NO neighborhood in Manassas (or now that I think about it anywhere that I’ve ever been in the US!) that is even anywhere near close to being as dangerous/rundown/seedy/ downright SCARY as the place I saw where he lived away from his parents. You may think just because they are only living an hour or two from their parents that it’s not as bad, but really, in all honestly, seeing what I saw, I’d send my kid here…1,000 miles away…rather than see him there. There are armed guards outside of the Walmart type stores. My brother in law that sells fruits and vegetables to market vendors was held up at gunpoint with his wife on his weekly trip to Guatemala from El Salvador. It’s absolutely safer to be just about anywhere here than there. Just MHO.
TWINDAD,
It is clear to me that YOUR life has been BLESSED ( in SOOOO many ways) because you know the difference.
to all,
Know this, I have spent weeks taking applications for a school program. Those who could not produce documents required by the school are not the foreign born for the most part. Those who lack birth certificates for their children are US born parents with US born children and the parent “lost” the birth cert somewhere in the past 4 yrs of their child’s life. They may receive TANF, Medicaid, or even Section 8. Yet they still cannot produce a current lease, current address or, birth cert for their child etc., their license might even be years old. They are the last minute applicants. Likewise, foreign parents come to intake with passports, ITIN numbers, current leases, photo IDS, tax returns, physicals, a VA license, Famis information, and some WIC information when applicable. When it comes to paper work most immigrant parents(not all), have it going on.
Chris,
Absolutely agree that no, he was definitely NOT living the life I dream of for my son either or anyone dreams of for their child. It really is a sad story.
TWINDAD,
There are armed guards outside of the Walmart type stores. My brother in law that sells fruits and vegetables to market vendors was held up at gunpoint with his wife on his weekly trip to Guatemala from El Salvador. It’s absolutely safer to be just about anywhere here than there. Just MHO.
What are your thoughts or of your husband to what we in the US are facing now?
There is always a beginning, a market for everything. ( always MONEY to be made)
Thanks, Redawn, I do feel blessed! My “illegal” husband is the best thing that ever happened to me, and I know he feels the same about me! Life doesn’t get better than that!
I had written this statement before I read Twinad’s contribution about how some people live in Central American countries. My words suddenly seem very inadequate, but I am going to post anyway.
Michael, up to a point, you are correct about happiness. But…and this is a big butt, people who do not have enough to eat are not happy. People who live in paper houses and shacks are not happy. When food, shelter and clothing become primary concerns, the lack of these necessities has a tremendous impact on quality of life.
Again, if some of us are assuming, so are you. We need to distinguish between a lean life and not having the essentials. Needed. We have no way of knowing if the Mayans were happy. We assume they were because they were rather culturally advanced for their time. But that is just an assumption.
I truly do not believe our discussion is really about greed and thing that material wealth provides.
Red Dawn,
I’m sorry if I’m having a “brain fart”, but I don’t understand the question! I think I’m about done for the night, but if I get what you are asking, I’ll come back to it. Thanks.
Red Dawn,
I think you mentioned that you used to work in a courthouse. Did they ever talk about the top secret right we have that’s more powerful than voting?
http://www.fija.org/docs/true_or_false_new.pdf
This is from the article on the 17-year old “suicide”:
I wonder what the “peace officers” said to this kid after the “peace officers” beat him black and blue? What thoughts was he left alone with in solitary confinement? Promises of more beatings to come…
Admin,
Could you please change the title of this post to:
Somehow I think the “severe beating” contributed more to the suicide than the arrest.