llegal immigrant rescues boy

[Lanya]

llegal immigrant rescues boy in desert

By TERRY TANG, Associated Press writer 1 hour, 51 minutes ago

PHOENIX - A 9-year-old boy looking for help after his mother crashed their van in the southern Arizona desert was rescued by a man entering the U.S. illegally, who stayed with him until help arrived the next day, an official said.
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The 45-year-old woman, who eventually died while awaiting help, had been driving on a U.S. Forest Service road in a remote area just north of the Mexican border when she lost control of her van on a curve on Thanksgiving, Santa Cruz County Sheriff Tony Estrada said.

The van vaulted into a canyon and landed 300 feet from the road, he said. The woman, from Rimrock, north of Phoenix, survived the impact but was pinned inside, Estrada said.

Her son, unhurt but disoriented, crawled out to get help and was found about two hours later by Jesus Manuel Cordova, 26, of Magdalena de Kino in the northern Mexican state of Sonora. Unable to pull the mother out, he comforted the boy while they waited for help.

The woman died a short time later.

"He stayed with him, told him that everything was going to be all right," Estrada said.

As temperatures dropped, he gave him a jacket, built a bonfire and stayed with him until about 8 a.m. Friday, when hunters passed by and called authorities, Estrada said. The boy was flown to University Medical Center in Tucson as a precaution but appeared unhurt.

"We suspect that they communicated somehow, but we don't know if he knows Spanish or if the gentleman knew English," Estrada said of the boy.

"For a 9-year-old it has to be completely traumatic, being out there alone with his mother dead," Estrada said. "Fortunately for the kid, (Cordova) was there. That was his angel."

Cordova was taken into custody by Border Patrol agents, who were the first to respond to the call for help. He had been trying to walk into the U.S. when he came across the boy.

The boy and his mother were in the area camping, Estrada said. The woman's husband, the boy's father, had died only two months ago. The names of the woman and her son were not being released until relatives were notified.

Cordova likely saved the boy, Estrada said, and his actions should remind people not to quickly characterize illegal immigrants as criminals.

"They do get demonized for a lot of reasons, and they do a lot of good. Obviously this is one example of what an individual can do," he said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071124/ap_on_re_us/immigrant_rescuer

[hnumpah]

Thank him, then send him back.

[sirs]

Ditto

[Stray Pooch]

Cordova likely saved the boy, Estrada said, and his actions should remind people not to quickly characterize illegal immigrants as criminals.

They are criminals - every one of them.  Entering this country illegally is a criminal act.  This act of kindness doesn't change that.  In fact, even if the guy was coming over here to sells drugs and mug old ladies, he might well have been inclined to assist this boy and his mom.  Even a criminal (unless he is also a sociopath) can have feelings and compassion.

Of course it is entirely possible that this person was just coming over to try to make an otherwise honest living and support his family.  I'd bet the vast majority of illegals are just coming here for the economic oppoprtunity.  That doesn't make their acts legal.  There are some 12 million illegals in this country.  I would be deeply shocked to learn that only a few of them help people in times of crisis.  I'd even go so far as to say that many of them would be MORE helpful if they weren't afraid of accidentally giving away their status and getting deported.  But so what?  A random act of humanity doesn't mean that all illegals should be viewed as angels - though this one can certainly claim the title. 

The fact, PI as it may be, is that anyone here illegally is a criminal by definition.  It is also true, and also PI, that a very large number of these illegals are involved in illegal acts beyond the initial crime.  Had this man been a legal resident, it would have only have been a local interest story.   I could come up with a thousand stories right now that had the headline "Legal Resident saves local child . . ."

So I agree with Hnumpah and Sirs - thank him, then send him back.  Should he ever apply for legal citizenship, this incident might well be worth mentioning during the process.  It certainly makes me inclined to forgive his (literal) trespass.  But in the end, this story is not about illegal immigration, it is about individual kindness. 

[Universe Prince]

The fact, PI as it may be, is that anyone here illegally is a criminal by definition.

Indeed. But the law may be wrong. So I find it a little, ah, unkind to consider this a simple, black-and-white issue.

[hnumpah]

But the law may be wrong. So I find it a little, ah, unkind to consider this a simple, black-and-white issue.

The solution is simple, then: change the law.

[Universe Prince]

If I could, I would.

[Xavier_Onassis]

The law that says that people can just stroll into the US without a police record check or anything is wrong?

Can you explain why we should allow this, please?

[Universe Prince]

The law that says that people can just stroll into the US without a police record check or anything is wrong?

Is that what the law says?

Can you explain why we should allow this, please?

I've explained my position on immigration many times over. I'll give you the simple version. I believe the current laws are unjust and infringe on basic rights of people to enter into private labor trade agreements and the on the liberty of people to travel to find the opportunity they desire. We allow it within the U.S. and I am of the opinion that immigrating into the U.S. should not much more difficult than that. I'm not opposed to check points as we have at some places on the border or like we had with Ellis Island, but I see no reason to stop people from coming here to trade their labor for compensation.

[Religious Dick]

The law that says that people can just stroll into the US without a police record check or anything is wrong?

Can you explain why we should allow this, please?

Because freedom means forfeiting any input into whether or not your country and community get turned into a three ring circus.

Are you feeling freer yet? 

I've explained my position on immigration many times over. I'll give you the simple version. I believe the current laws are unjust and infringe on basic rights of people to enter into private labor trade agreements and the on the liberty of people to travel to find the opportunity they desire. We allow it within the U.S. and I am of the opinion that immigrating into the U.S. should not much more difficult than that. I'm not opposed to check points as we have at some places on the border or like we had with Ellis Island, but I see no reason to stop people from coming here to trade their labor for compensation.

Referring to immigration as "free trade" deserves about as much credibility as referring to sex as "co-ed deep-breathing exercises".

Yes, that may be one of the ancillary effects, but anyone trying to tell you that's the only or even the primary effect is either a liar or an idiot.

[Xavier_Onassis]

The law that says that people can just stroll into the US without a police record check or anything is wrong?


Is that what the law says?

==================================
I was asking about the "just" version of the law that you personally favor.

Would you like to admit murderers, con men, rapists, or others who might become a danger to your fellow ciitzens while they are here demonstrating their right to exchange their labor for money? 

How about people with contagious diseases?

I see it this way: we and our ancestors built the house, and we should have the right to decide who will live in it.

 

[Lanya]

I see it as sort of a morality play.
The Good Samaritan sees small boy wandering in desert, disoriented, and stays with him until help arrives. Knowing that the police will send him back (the rest of the story is at the link, it says they took him into custody I think), he still stays with the boy.  That is a good thing to do, no?  I think so, anyway.  That's why I posted it.  It was self-sacrificing of him to do so.  He did the right thing.  If he hadn't been there...would the little boy have been OK?
It is somethign to think about.  I am not for anyone and everyone coming into our country illegally.  I know it's a very big problem.  But this story just grabs me.

[yellow_crane]

But the law may be wrong. So I find it a little, ah, unkind to consider this a simple, black-and-white issue.

The solution is simple, then: change the law.

Change what law?

Are there laws prohibiting American corporations and companies from hiring undocumented Mexicans?

Why is the onus on the workers?   Oh wait.   That is a corporation consideration, never mind.

The laws dealing with hiring undocumented aliens should be immediately enforced, which would end the pourings over over-night, since these impoverished Mexicans are only looking for work, period.  

Nafta launched the Neocon creed that broke America's back and created an overseas (and Mexican) workforce that cost millions of jobs.  Then they went one step further, a reversal for expediency--they simply allowed and encouraged the entrance of out-sourced labor to enter the borders.  That would be an accomodation for corporations that cannot leave the shores in order to avoid paying US taxes, with a glad hand salute from the Neocons.

Now the housing bust has left hundreds of thousands, more like millions of Mexicans unemployed.    

What would the expulsion AFTER THE NEED for these workers mean in a moral sense?

Oh wait . . . we are talking corporate profit here . . . never mind the moral point.

[Amianthus]

Are there laws prohibiting American corporations and companies from hiring undocumented Mexicans?

Yes.

[BT]

neocons are the new jews.

They get blamed for everything.