Vega's great immigration story
On August 24, 2006
And now a counterbalance to my last post...
Today's Mercury News has a great article about Hector Vega, a San Jose valedictorian who has come forward as an illegal alien. He came to the US just 5 years ago speaking no English, and not only got out of remedial language classes within a year, he recently graduated with a 4.0.
Kudos to Santa Clara University who grants scholarships to worthy students regardless of immigration status, and to Coca Cola who did not have a standing policy but stood behind their scholarship as well.
While Vega's visibility is building support for his eventually becoming a citizen, it has raised his profile in a country where an Immigration and Customs official will state "Anyone who's in this country illegally is in violation of our immigration laws and is subject to arrest." Meanwhile, it would be nice to see the DREAM Act passed. After all, the contribution one has already made to an adoptive country should be at least as important as having tidy paperwork.
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