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Wed01Aug2007

Save Juan (No Save Two or More)

08:22 H | Topics: Controversia - Florida - Immigration - Politics

I think Juan Gomez should be allowed to stay in the U.S. and finish his studies here if he so chooses. But I'm getting a little tired of politicians using poster boy model minority Latinos as a way of avoiding dealing with the real issues surrounding immigration "reform" and yes racism. After all what red-blooded American wouldn't want to call Juan his own. Juan writes:

On the verge of our 2nd and 3rd birthdays, my bother Alejandro Gomez and I, Juan Sebastian Gomez, were brought to a country which symbolized success and the pursuit of happiness. After 17 years, America is all we know. Both of us are fearful of a future in Colombia. Colombia would be as foreign as China to us. Both of us have lost most of our Spanish speaking skills. My brother and I are American no matter what a piece of paper tells us. Our whole family has worked hard in order to better ourselves in the country we call home. Academically, we have both strived and succeeded with hopes that our accomplishments would outshine our immigration status. All of our hard work will hopefully allow us to continue living and contributing to this wonderful country. Our hopes were in the passage of the Dream Act and becoming the first Dream Children.
He can't even speak Spanish! He's almost like you and just look at all the nice white people who defend Juan (video after the jump).

As an educated Latina myself, I can appreciate the need for educated Latinos but I can also appreciate the fact that what is happening with the Juan Gomez case is like when my well meaning white elderly neighbor told me when I was a kid that I was so nice and quiet for a Puerto Rican.

By selectively pushing laws like the DREAM act (look Juan is even on Facebook!) a serious disservice is being done to the entire immigrant community. It makes immigrants of a certain class acceptable, those that are palatable for the masses. I mean look how the DREAM act is being presented:

..."The Dream Act", which is a law that would allow immigrant students who live in the U.S. to stay, based on the premise that, as youngsters, they had no choice but to follow their parents when they made the decision to enter this country.
That's right, blame the parents. Mami y Papi are the real lawbreakers. I'm not like those "other" illegals.

See the danger? I'm not saying that people shouldn't support Juan Gomez. Look how much play he's getting here. What I am saying is that we have to be really careful about how this immigration debate is being played and how Latinos are being played in the process.


Via / CBS4

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