Some things just seem morally wrong to me. Heydi Mejia graduated from high school in Chesterfield County with a 99 average. She is #22 in her class. She has to deport before June 20. Heydi Mejia came here when she was 4 years old. She knows nothing of her home country.
From the Washington Post:
“For me, this week feels more like a dead end,” Mejia said.
She would graduate from Meadowbrook High School on Friday, her blue gown decorated with awards from the National Honor Society, the school’s AP program and the Virginia governor.
She was scheduled to be deported to Guatemala a few days later.
In the election-year debate over immigration reform, the situation Mejia is in has become one of the most debated of all. What should the United States do with illegal immigrants who come to the country as children, grow up here, break no laws and want to remain? In Mejia’s case, what should be done with an illegal immigrant who came to the country at age 4; who speaks better English than Spanish; who wants to attend Randolph-Macon College in Virginia and become a nurse; whose knowledge about modern Guatemala comes in part from what she’s read on Wikipedia?
Republicans and Democrats have drafted legislative proposals that would grant permanent residency to top students, but so far no bill has generated enough support to become law. In an attempt at a temporary solution, President Obama has instructed immigration officials to review cases and grant leniency to a small number of the most deserving students. Now a process that was once a simple matter of legal or illegal has become a question of merit.
A salutatorian from Texas was granted a last-minute reprieve after 2,000 people rallied on her behalf. A valedictorian in Miami avoided deportation in March by collecting 100,000 signatures and traveling to Washington for a news conference with a Republican congressman.
But what happens when you’re ranked No. 22 at a suburban high school outside Richmond, where politicians haven’t responded to your calls and school officials aren’t sure whether to spell your name Heydi or Heidi?
Being #22 doesn’t quite get you the notoriety that some potential deportees have gotten so there are no rallies for Heydi Mejia. I would take her into my home and let her stay. She would blend right in with my neighbors. We need hard working decent young people in this country. How stupid to graduate kids who have done well only to ship them out because their number popped up. Meanwhile gang members and riff raff roam all over the place. People like Heydi Mejia and her mother are low hanging fruit. They are easy to find and detect because they are productive and don’t pose any threat. Shame on homeland security for this total stupidity. Shove Rule of Law. That phrase has been cherry picked to death by people who pick and choose which laws they want to rule. In my opinion, Heydi has earned the right to stay. She has performed better than most Americans.
Hopefully, there will be a miracle and Heydi and her mother will get to stay. Heydi is an innocent victim who has blossomed in spite of the system.
Sounds like her parents’ fault. But not even a mention of her parents. They get off scott-free in our little tirade. But in principle, I agree. When I think of laws against rape, murder, etc….I say “shove rule of law!” I want them set aside selectively for me, thank you very much!
Slowpoke, I know how you feel about the young pokie chaps. I think you would do almost anything to see that they had a good life, as I would have to see that the young howlers didn’t grow up in some cesspool. I don’t fault people for bringing their children here.
I fault people for sneaking in here and becoming a problem to our society. These people have not done that. The parents are mentioned in the article. I just didn’t bring them up because I am totally focused on what is happening to this young woman.
When I think of laws against rape and murder I want stiffer penalties. I think very often people convicted of rape and murder get off too easy. However, rape and murder have nothing to do with Heydi, now do they?
Guatemala will gain a good student. Good for them.
How does one get a 99 GPA? Is that a typo?
It was me tired. She has a 99 average. Thanks marin.
No, Guatemala should not be gaining a good student. That young woman has no life there and probably no way to use her acquired skills. Her student days are over. She cannot go to college here unless she finds a private college to take her. I don’t think she could come back on a student visa even because there is that 10 year ban.
Marv, I find your view on these students so strange. I just have to say it. I find it strange that you have no empathy for kids who have done so well and who are now getting kicked in the teeth.
I have seen so many lazy bums in my life, of all ethnicities. When I see kids like this who have worked so hard to be successful and who are now getting screwed, it breaks my heart.
Yet the gangbangers rule the roost. I want THEM deported.
@Moon-howler
She can goto college there and maybe make a great nurse for that country. If she decides that she wants to come back legally – I think she’s the type of person we’d want.
“I want THEM deported.”
If they are illegal I want them deported as well.
“Marv, I find your view on these students so strange.”
Which part is strange? The idea that I want our government to follow its own laws?
We need to revamp our immigration laws. Most people have no idea what is involved. They are changed arbitrarily by half baked policies.
They often punish the good and reward the bad.
Remember also that I have friends that have been married for over 10 years and he cannot get a status adjustment. They missed the cut off by months.
Maybe Heydi doesn’t want to be a nurse. Why should she have to go to school in what is basically a foreign country to her.
I find the there but for the grace of God go I missing in you. I feel it myself….and I guess I fail to see why it doesn’t hit you. Were it not for the actions of my ancestors…Lord knows where I would be or if I would be. Of course I tend to do that more over the atomic bomb….
“We need to revamp our immigration laws.”
I agree.
“They are changed arbitrarily by half baked policies.”
Welcome to the Federale Government
“They often punish the good and reward the bad.
That’s pretty much how are legal system works now a days. We come down like thunder if someone mistakenly takes a gun to an airport but we let the thug that holds up a liquor store get off on a weapons violation. I blame the liberalization of our criminal justice system.
“Maybe Heydi doesn’t want to be a nurse. Why should she have to go to school in what is basically a foreign country to her.”
The article says she wants to be a nurse. Because the law says she can’t stay here.
“I find the there but for the grace of God go I missing in you.”
I’m not without sympathy and feeling. But the law is what it is. Until the law changes our law enforcement officers and the judicial system are to obey those laws. The People, as jurors, are free to nullify.
So, to me the system (broken as it is) is working as intended.
@marinm
I don’t disagree about the legal system.
I missed the nurse part. The absolute stupidity of deporting someone who wants to be a nurse. We are importing people with nursing skills from foreign countries, mostly African countries, because of our own shortages.
I rest my case.
“The absolute stupidity of deporting someone who wants to be a nurse.”
Wanting to be and ‘is’ are two different things.
I doubt today you’d want her to inject you with anything.. haha.
Well, you are right except for the girl has pretty much been focused and goal oriented. She could become an RN through the program at NOVA. That is a do-able situation for her since she doesn’t have to prove status to go to NOVA, or at least you didn’t used to have to do it.
Here is my question for you, would you take her in? I would.
@Moon-howler
I know that if I break the law in order to gain some sort of advantage for my kids, that it will ultimately end poorly. I therefore know I am not actually helping. If we overlook the law so these people can get something better for their kids, then I want laws set aside so I can get more for my kids. We either have laws or we do not.
@Moon-howler
My wife would object to me taking in a nubile that may be seeking a quick and easy solution to her immigration status…………
Let’s just say that even if I were inclined to house an illegal alien I don’t think the conversation would go in my favor after the… Hey honey do you mind if I bring in an 18 year old….. That noise would be the frying pan hitting me upside the head.
I’m sympathetic to her but almost every alien child has a ‘story’. Pulling on my heart strings doesn’t change the fact that the law is still the law. Congress has to fix it.
What if we changed her into a boy and got the wife element out of the picture? I would take in a hard working kid. So many kids need an opportunity.
It just angers me that Congress won’t act on this problem. If deserving people could adjust their status then they wouldn’t be illegal any more. They aren’t illegal because they want to be.
I realize there are problems. I am keenly aware of some of them, especially considering where I live. I just think we try to solve the problems rather than making them worse.
PS Marin, I am glad to hear you admit that you have a heart to attach strings to.
😈
Marinm,
“there but for the grace of G-d go I” is a phrase I find integral in order to live an authentic life. Let me tell you, I have personal experience with young people who are doing NOTHING with their lives but living off their parents with no real long term goals and desire to strive for anything but barely getting by in life. Common sense dictates that this is a waste of precious resources for this country. Have you forgotten that very soon a generation of baby boomers will be retiring. It is fact that this country is not prepared to replace them in the work force. We NEED young people like her.
My question is what happened with Obama’s executive order that allowed special consideration for people caught up in the deportation process that had no criminal background and could demonstrate a worthiness to stay?
For some people who may have been lucky enough to have been born here, but whose parents had no status, they too were one breath away from growing up in an impoverished nation, as would their children.
@Moon-howler
I would be in violation of the trust placed into me (job). But, assuming I didn’t have a position of trust I think my answer would still be no. I’m sympathetic but not such that I would open my home to a stranger.
“It just angers me that Congress won’t act on this problem.”
I think that’s because we elect people only because of the letter behind their name and not the solutions they bring to the table.
“PS Marin, I am glad to hear you admit that you have a heart to attach strings to.”
It was a surprise to me. A bigger surprise that my daughter can tug on them so..
@Elena
Excellent question, Elena. What did happen to that executive order? She also has an immigration attorney in Manassas, according to the article. Johnson-Firth or Erickson?
@marinm
I understand the job restrictions. I no longer have those. In fact, I won’t even get into the advertising business here because I don’t want to answer to anyone.
I expect that you weren’t prepared for those little tuggers and the affect they would have on you. I know I wasn’t prepared for it.
I would take a decent kid in-not a POS or anyone who had any aspect of POS about them.
@Elena
It’s a sad truth that many youth look at their parents or other elders and see people not willing to do anything more than collect a non-earned government check.
That’s the society we live in. Personal responsibility has left the building.
The population of the US is about 311 million people. The population of the world is about 7 billion people, each with their own value as an individual human being and loved by God. According to various surveys and studies about half of the 7 billion people in the world want to live in the US, and I’m sure each has a compelling story as to why they should be here. Solution?
That’s the question (Need to Know’s) I’d like all politicians to answer.
We have large unemployment and a growing disparity in wages between haves and have-nots. How in that context can we possibly justify encouraging tens of millions of unskilled workers to make a go here.
As to the girl … I predict she won’t be deported.
Maybe if I could wave my hand I’d let her stay, maybe not. But i do want to ask :
1. Did her mother pay taxes?
2. Did her mother cut some American out of a job?
3. If her mother didn’t even pay in taxes, much less the amount the American taxpayer paid out to educate her daughter, and possibly any welfare to help raise her, should we expect a thank you card? Or expect her to get a lawyer and sue us?
Crystal clear, NTK…
Interesting article that I know will irk some off.
http://money.cnn.com/2012/06/11/news/economy/citizenship-foreign-investment/index.htm?iid=HP_LN
So, if you are part of the 1% club and want US citizenship… As long as you got some money, you can invest and make/maintain 10 US jobs you can be a citizen in just a few years! 🙂
@Rick Bentley
We were deporting the wrong folks if she does get deported.
As for NTK’s question. Obviously, half the world’s population doesn’t get to live here.
As for God loving them all, I don’t presume to know what God thinks.
@Rick Bentley
How do you live in this country without paying taxes?
She worked in a hair salon so I am assuming yes.
Actually, if I were King of America, I’d let her stay, because I’ll absolutely go along with the fact that we need people like her….achievers…, and deport the parents. Won’t argue that our laws may be flawed. The correct action is to change the law. Until the law is changed, the law is the law, and it is not to be selectively enforced (which is my understanding that the current worthless administration is choosing to do). The problem is that the left will never accept immigration reform that doesn’t offer amnesty to what they see as thousands of undocumented Democrats, and the right won’t accept mass amnesty. So on and on it goes, and people like this girl get caught in the middle.
Can we just do an exchange and deport the non achievers 😉
The cavalry is here!! Hi Elena. Man that is harsh!
I saw her story on at least 2 of the cable channels today so maybe there will be an emergency stop deportation issued. I hope so.
We do need achievers. I can point out some places to go round up some crud in exchange for her if making quota is an issue. Or…they can call Chris and she can run ICE around town on a mini field trip. They could find crud galore.
yeah, common sense has prevailed for now!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/virginia-teen-heydi-mejia-is-a-granted-reprieve-from-deportation/2012/06/11/gJQAbxboVV_story.html?hpid=z5
Marinm,
Not sure what you mean actually regardingkids watching their parents not work. the kids I know have hard working parents, that was my point actually.
@Elena
Elena – good point. Let’s start at the McCoart Building. You could fill up some buses with non-achievers there.
@Elena
I’m not talking about the immigration issue but our food stamp and welfare society in general. People are content staying home, playing Xbox, watching Judge Judy and collecting a govt check every month. Their kids see this and simply repeat.
Do you actually know of someone this description fits? We hear about it all the time but I think a lot of it is urban legend.
The poor kids I have know really don’t want that kind of life. What tethers a kid to that kind of dependency is unwanted, unintended pregnancy which republicans are too cheap to pay for.
Bill Clinton did a lot to tie public assistance to work related programs.
A lot of increased food stamp usage is beause of unemployment. Again, its also tied to young people having kids they can’t afford. You want to cut spending in this area…do something about the birth rate.
“Do you actually know of someone this description fits? We hear about it all the time but I think a lot of it is urban legend.”
I say the same thing about “global warming”.
“The poor kids I have know really don’t want that kind of life.”
Of course they don’t. Everyone wants to be rich. Not everyone wants to work for it.
“What tethers a kid to that kind of dependency is unwanted, unintended pregnancy which republicans are too cheap to pay for.”
I doubt Republicans are in a room encouraging people to have pre-marital sex. If we’re talking about empowered women why don’t women empower themselves to make better decisions on the partners they hook up with?
“You want to cut spending in this area…do something about the birth rate.”
Birth rate is already low. Too low. Only reason we’re positive here is because of immigration. Poor people are having too many kids and rich people are having too few. Ever seen Idiocracy?
Pack up the kids and take a vacation to Glacier National Park. Tell me there is no climate change.
Maybe poverty works different other places than it does here. How do you make people go out and work? If there are kids involved, that really throws a kink in things. I could starve an adult who refused to work. I couldn’t starve their kids.
You obviously can’t empower women to make better choices. I don’t believe you can empower other people anyway. You empower yourself.
You are in serious denial with your Republican statement.The point is to make sure pregnancy doesn’t happen. People are going to have sex. It is the human thing.
You don’t want a serious conversation. You just want to strut your R.
Marinm,
I am talking about things I actually experience first hand regarding unmotivated well to do kids with all the opportunity in the world but no internal drive to achieve. I don’t presume to know about people that I have not met.
Marinm,
from your comment #34
Marinm, you are aware how contradictory this statement is don’t you? Moon is suggesting those the least prepared to have children are MOST at risk due to poor health care delivery system to young women. You have demonstrated WHY Planned Parenthood is critical to the overall health and well being to our country, thank you! I would also add, you have no evidence that our birth rate boom is due to immmigration, there is a whole socioeconomic group, American born, that falls within the poverty demographic that are at risk due to lack of education opportunities and easy access to womens health centers that include birth control.
@Moon-howler
“Pack up the kids and take a vacation to Glacier National Park. Tell me there is no climate change.”
Again. Even if there “is” something called “climate change”. WHO CARES?? The temperature rises they’ve been talking about are MINOR over 150 years. I was half serious when I said that I don’t need to care unless it’s rising like inflation.
Hell, even the existance of this blog ’causes global warming’. The servers, workstations, infrastructure to support it’s existance.. The iPads, the mobile phones.. I just don’t understand how people can belt all day long about “global warming” and then get into their air conditioned cars and homes and watch tv or play on the internet.
“Maybe poverty works different other places than it does here. How do you make people go out and work? If there are kids involved, that really throws a kink in things. I could starve an adult who refused to work. I couldn’t starve their kids.”
You can’t force someone to work. But, I shouldn’t be forced to feed, clothe or house them either. That goes along with their kids. I feel bad about it but it’s not me starving those kids. Its those parents. If they can’t do it; make the children wards of the state and then lock up the parents in a debtors prison.
“You obviously can’t empower women to make better choices.”
That’s really, really, really funny but in the interest of keeping this conversation above board I will sit mute and smile. 🙂
“You are in serious denial with your Republican statement.”
How is my statement a “Republican” statement? I don’t speak for that party nor do I pay dues to them. You will recall that I was at one time a member of the ACLU.. But they are STUPID DUMB on the 2A.
“The point is to make sure pregnancy doesn’t happen. People are going to have sex. It is the human thing.”
So, its ok for people to make the choice to have sex with one another because it’s the human thing and they can CHOOSE to have sex and CHOOSE to have a baby or not but then you FORCE me to pay for it or the birth control? So, pro-choice when its a choice for the woman but anti-choice with respect to society having to cede to that person………
Which brings me to this sillyness.
“You don’t want a serious conversation. You just want to strut your R.”
I don’t even know how to respond to that. I’m amused is all I can say.
@Elena
I have NO issue with Planned Parenthood Corporation. I just ask that they don’t use MY MONEY to do anything. If they want to provide a service to clients and aren’t using my money to do so – have fun with it and do whatever.
As long as MY MONEY is going into it your darn right I can have a say in what they do or what I don’t want them to do.
“I would also add, you have no evidence that our birth rate boom is due to immmigration, there is a whole socioeconomic group, American born, that falls within the poverty demographic that are at risk due to lack of education opportunities and easy access to womens health centers that include birth control.”
Ok, I’ll bite. Show me your numbers re birth rate.
Marin, what is the question? I have lost touch where we are. Too many threads and no clue who said what. I think I left it somewhere about poor people and unintended pregnancy.
There are 2 main ways to get more poor people. Divorce is one way. Women trying to raise kids on a single income and not getting enough money from the man. Sometimes it works the other way but not as frequently. The other way is for poor people to have more children. It increases the chances if the earlier they start.
A sure fired winner is for poor people to get divorced or to have the partner split and not contribute to the welll-being of the offspring.
That’s all pretty well documented in ever sociology book.