New Mexico hero: an illegal???
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The man who chased down an alleged child abductor and saved a 6-year-old girl from what could have been a horrible fate will be honored as a hero Friday. But he is also gaining a new kind of celebrity: as a poster child of sorts for immigration rights in state and national immigration debates.
Antonio Diaz Chacon, 23, is a Mexican citizen married to an American and has been in the country for four years. But Chacon says he abandoned attempts to get legal residency because the process was difficult and expensive.Diaz Chacon, who works in Albuquerque as a mechanic, revealed his immigration status to the Spanish-language Univision TV network this week, prompting chatter on the Internet and social networking sites that his case underscored immigrant rights positions in two ongoing political debates.
"I came to work, to work hard," he told Univision. "The only problem is I entered the country illegally and now we can't afford a lawyer to file the immigration papers."
Some argue he is an example of the kind of immigrant the federal government will now largely leave alone. The Department of Homeland Security announced Thursday that deportations would focus on criminals.
"As exceptional as his story is," said Christina Parker, a spokeswoman for Border Network for Human Rights in El Paso, "It points to the fact that most undocumented immigrants living in the United States are not criminals. He's more than not a criminal now. He's a hero."
Others used it to blast New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez's ongoing attempts to repeal a state law that allows foreign nationals, including illegal immigrants, to obtain a driver's license. The governor has put the repeal — which was defeated in the regular session earlier this year — on the agenda for a September special session.
DO YOU GUYS THINK HE DESERVES TO GET THE CITIZENSHIP FOR SAVING THAT LITTLE GIRLS LIFE? please live your comment with your opinion.. thank you
