Immigration Knocks on the Newsroom Door

Immigration Knocks on the Newsroom Door

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“It should do what is, in conscience, needful and right."
-James M. Cox, publisher, politician and entrepreneur, about Journalism.


In journalism, the injustice we report sometimes knocks on our door, or the tragedy we communicate stumbles into our home.

Unfortunately, we are living a similar situation in MundoHispánico, Georgia’s largest and oldest Latino paper.

Other media have exposed dysfunctional systems that impact their journalists. It is now our turn to do the same. And this time it is of one of our colleagues, Mario Guevara.

Mario has a family that loves him, and a circle of friends who support him. He says he loves this country, and contributes to its growth on a daily basis, pays taxes under his work permit, serves his community, and without being a burden.

To my knowledge, his record is impeccable, and I dare to say he is perhaps the most well-known journalist in the Hispanic community we serve. His national awards are representative of that.

He has mainly covered the immigration beat, including the United States-Mexico border and an interview with Maricopa County Sheriff, Joe Arpaio.

His investigations of consulates and governmental entities, including immigration prisons and courts, have served to document irregularities and motivate changes. He has also monitored both pro and anti-immigration actions of organizations and elected officials.

Mario was one of the first to detail the plight of Jessica Cólotl, a Kennesaw State student arrested for driving without a license. The story created a national debate surrounding undocumented students.

But, most of all, his multiple reports have given unprotected Latinos and undocumented immigrants a voice, whether they have faced serious illness, discrimination or other restrictions due to lack of resources, creating various avenues for community support in every case.

By those means, Mario’s story could resemble that of any exemplary citizen. However, the paradox, to paraphrase President Barack Obama, is that he is an American in every single way, except on paper.

Approximately nine years ago, Mario escaped his native country, El Salvador, due to threats against his life and those he loved. Radical groups beat him and harassed him as a result of his public service as a reporter and photojournalist.

Due to that situation, his boss at the time and photography editor for El Salvador’s La Prensa Gráfica, Francisco Campos, declared in a recent affidavit the following:

“I have supervised many photojournalists during my career, and on occasion have heard of threats made from similar groups. Mario’s situation was much more serious in tone, this is why it still fresh in my mind. The threats on his life were real.”

Those reasons made Mario seek asylum here, following the complex protocols of a system which kept him in a type of limbo for almost a decade.

“The system’s inefficiency takes years, and creates uncertainty in those who do not know if they will be able to stay, or if they will be forced to leave, creating an anxiety difficult to endure,” his lawyer, Byron Kirkpatrick, told me.

After seven years of waiting and trials constantly being cancelled, Mario finally received the response to his petition. Contrary to what he had expected, Mario was ordered to return to his country.

The court provided him with a little less than two months to prepare his departure after paying a fine (“as if this honorable father was a criminal,” stated his brother, Eduardo Castro, a soldier of the United States Army in a missive sent to various politicians).

If the order remains as issued, Mario will also have to depart with his wife, Miriam, and his 14-year-old daughter, Katherine. They would also be accompanied by their sons, Jonathan and Oscar, ages one and eight respectively, even though they are citizens of the United States.

“If we have to return to El Salvador, I would not know what to do,” said Miriam in her declaration to the court. “Mario will be kidnapped or killed. The police could not help him.”

Sonia Guevara, Mario’s mother and a US citizen due to Reagan’s amnesty program, is also worried. She states in her declaration:

“Mario and his family have improved their economic situation, and have adapted to the United States. He is very proud of his journalistic profession in Atlanta. If my son were to return to El Salvador, I would fear for his life.”

As a journalist and Mario’s supervisor, his situation also afflicts and concerns me.

One of the saddest things I have had to face during my career was to see this colleague that I admire break down in tears of helplessness, when he is usually determined and in great spirits.

It rips off my heart to think his family might be fragmented or impoverished, trapped in between two systems which have failed them: one being their native country’s judicial system, and the other the immigration system in the country they decided to adopt as their own.

“It is very sad to be in the same shoes as the sources I report,” Mario told me.

“We are going to appeal, and we are going to continue fighting for Mario,” said his lawyer. “I trust that reason will prevail, and he will receive our government’s protection.”

For those reasons, I hope the migratory authorities review his case, and provide him with a favorable response.

Mario deserves to be happy with his family here, and his community also needs to continue being served with his pen and vocation.

I also expect that this case will continue to shape the immigration debate, so that federal and state politicians, Republican and Democrat, can finally bring a fair and comprehensive reform that is long overdue.

And in the meantime, the fight will not cease. One day, Mario and other immigrants such as him, will reach peace and find the ability to contribute to this society without being persecuted.
 

Comments

 
Anonymous

Posted Jul 7 2012

WHISTLE BLOWER TELLS OF ILLEGAL ALIENS DEFRAUDING TAX PAYERS.

Although the truth seems to remain subdued, the illegal alien child tax credit is ready to resurface. My guess the IRS, the Obama administration prefer the truth not to come out. This however is a very serious situation, especially when Whistle-Blower steps forward and tell the truth about this disgraceful state of affairs. This is an article from the NumbersUSA website, which the open border fanatics would certainly not want you to see:

The Treasury Department’s Inspector General determined that $4.2 billion was paid in 2010, up from less than $1 billion in 2005. Leading Democrats are resisting a bill that would stop future payments. YOU MIGHT DEMAND FROM THE OBAMA INJUSTICE DEPARTMENT, WHY ARETHEY PURSUING ARIZONA, ALABAMA, GEORGIA, UTAH, SOUTH CAROLINA AND SOME OF THE OTHER STATES, WHEN THEY ARE TRYING TO PROTECT THEIR LAWFUL INHABITANTS FROM THE ILLEGAL ALIEN FINANCIAL INVASION?

In WTHR’s latest report on Individual Tax Identification Number (ITIN) abuse and fraud, the Indianapolis NBC affiliate discussed revelations brought forward by an IRS whistleblower - "We were being told by upper management to ignore fraud, to assign ITIN numbers and...Pay out refunds to people who are laying…It's a license to steal when you allow that."

Howard Antelis, a tax examiner at the IRS's ITIN processing center in Texas, contacted WTHR after seeing its series on ITIN fraud. He and other tax examiners said that IRS managers, for years, instructed them to "look the other way" while processing ITIN applications that appear to be fraudulent – even if they contain clear signs of criminal activity.

One time, Howard decided to investigate ITIN applications for dozens of children attending the same school in South Carolina. (Adult tax filers can request an ITIN for a child in order to get child tax credits and a larger tax refund.) He discovered the school didn't exist, but his bosses ordered him to approve the scam applications anyway.

Howard said, "We're tax examiners but the truth is we're not supposed to look into anything…It's like an assembly line…Get it out of here and don't worry about the fraud. Fraud slows us down…We're supposed to protect taxpayers, so somebody had to say something." He decided to call the Inspector General's office in Washington, D.C.

The IG's office sent auditors to interview Howard and other tax examiners. They learned that IRS employees were actually encouraged to ignore signs of fraud. The final report on the investigation, which took over a year, will be released this summer. It's expected to show that millions of illegal aliens can get ITINs by filing fraudulent paperwork.

"It's pure negligence by management and they've been trying to keep it quiet," Howard said. "There is a criminal element that is defrauding the U.S. government by filing mountains and mountains of these fraudulent applications…[The IRS managers] don't want to deal with it. That's where all the fraud is. The fraud is in the fake notary stamps and fake documents which we've been accepting…There is a state-by-state list of notaries that shows which are registered and legitimate, but the IRS won't let us check those registries."

After WTHR first reported on ITIN mismanagement and fraud, the IRS sent senior officials to investigate the ITIN processing center. WTHR says this has led to tax examiners getting more training on identifying fraudulent paperwork and equipment to help them better inspect documents. Also, illegal aliens must now prove their identity through original, certified documents.

Howard’s revelations did not come without a cost to him personally. The IRS dropped his job performance rating, which affects his paycheck. The IRS claimed his job performance dropped from "exceeds fully successful" to "minimally successful." Still, Howard wants to continue his fight for ITIN reform. "I just want to see things fixed. We've been allowing the U.S. taxpayer to get robbed for years now and those days appear to be over."

If we are ever going to get out of this $16 trillion dollar mess, both party incumbents need to be thrown out of office. The only sanity left in Washington is the slow but growing group of Constitutional TEA PARTY leaders, who should replace not only the Democrats, but the majority of Republicans who don’t comply with the ‘Rule of Law’. If we just vote for the same mixture of low key criminals, we will never recover from the issues that plague us? Whether it’s the 20 million illegal aliens and the strong criminal element amongst us, they should not be rewarded for breaking our laws; the law abiding citizen and green card holder are carrying with financial support billions of dollars annually. Nor should we forget the state, county and municipal governments, who are just as guilty in stealing, tax payer’s money, to support the illegal alien invasion. Join the growing millions of TEA PARTY members at your local chapter, as this is the only way America can survive. WELFARE COSTS FOR CHILDREN OF ILLEGAL ALIENS EXCEEDS $646 MILLION IN JUST LOS ANGELES COUNTY ALONE– CAN YOU EVEN COMPREHEND THAT FIGURE?

SPEAK UP AND DON’T LET THESE MENTAL INCOMPETENT FOOLS GET AWAY WITH THESE LIES.

E-Verify are still currently voluntary, but if it were made mandatory, illegal migrants and immigrants would be locked out of the mainstream workforce, and change to the Birthright citizenship bill. A simple amendment would halt forever illegal aliens coming here and taking advantage by using their unborn children as a right to citizenship welfare. If E-VERIFY were passed by Washington as permanent and an amendment to the BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP ACT, it would definitely stem the millions of foreign pregnant Mothers who come here draining states and federal treasuries. You the voter have the power to stop the THEFT of your taxes.

I have no sympathy for the population of California, as they keep on voting for the same clowns in Sacramento with the approval of the head Clown Governor Jerry Brown signed what is called the anti-Arizona law. But remember in States where there is little or no enforcement of voting laws such as the Socialist-Marxist –Liberal state of California—ILLEGAL ALIENS ARE VOTING. What is going to happen now with this ‘Sanctuary state’ is millions of illegal alien families are going to converge on California, as its open day for public welfare and other services. In 2006 illegal aliens withdrew $1 billion dollars in state uncompensated assistance and that doesn’t include education.

NO COPYRIGHT. BROADCAST TO THE REST OF AMERICA? ADD TO FACEBOOK & TWITTER.

Anonymous

Posted Jul 8 2012

MARIO, KEEP YOUR FAITH ALIVE. I'M WITH YOU MAN. YOU GONNA PULL THROUGH. JUST DO NOT KNOW WHAT IS WRONG WITH AMERICA WHEN IMMIGRATION ISSUES COME TO THE HILT . JUST GIVES THEM THE TENTERHOOKS, 'COS THE WHOLE SYSTEM IS FLAWED & THOSE WHO KNOW BEST WOULDN'T OWN UP. THE ALMIGHTY IS THE GREATEST. BRO. 5 YRS. AGO THIS OCTOBER 2012, I FOUND MYSELF IN A SIMILAR SITUATION IN DELAWARE, AS A RESIDENT FOR 15 YRS. I'M INTO TELEVISION. TO CUT A LONG STORY SHORT & THE FIGHT THAT I'D PUT UP SINCE 2001, NOT EVEN TO MENTION THE EXPENSES THAT I'D INCURRED & NUMEROUS LETTERS THAT I'D WRITTEN TO MY SENATORS & THE JUSTICES, THE NEAR DEATHS & DEVASTATING SHOCK THAT I'D SUFFERED & INDURED IN THE NAME OF AMERICA, A SITTING JUDGE, A MOTHER, WHOSE PARENTS WERE ALSO IMMIGRANTS, FOUND IT SO COMPELLING SO TO SPEAK TO IMPOSE ON ME VOLUNTARY DEPARTURE, WITH AN OPTION TO APPEAL, WITHIN 30 DAYS, EVEN THOUGH MY ASYLUM CASE THAT THE FORMER I.N.S., HAD MESSED UP, SINCE 1993 SOUNDED VERY VERY VERY CREDIBLE TO HER. THE STATE REPRESENTATIVE OF MARYLAND DIDN'T EVEN CONTEST MY CLAIM. HE ALSO BELIEVED ME INTOTO. THERE WAS NOTHING UNAMERICAN ABOUT ME. I NEEDED THAT DOCUMENT. WHAT IS THIS NONESENSE WHICH HAD ILLUDED BOTH YOU & I. WHILST THE HARD CORE CRIMINALS ROAM FREE IN AMERICA, THOSE OF US WHO UPHOLD THE IMAGE OF AMERICA ABROAD & ITS INCREDIBLE JUSTICE SYSTEM WHICH IS A CYNOSURE & AN ENVY OF THE WHOLE WORLD, RATHER GET THE RAW DEAL. IT IS NOT RIGHT. KEEP FIGHTING IT'LL PAY OFF. GOOD LUCK. I'LL COME LOOKING FOR YOU SOMEDAY FOR US TO PRESENT A PETITION TO CONGRESS SO SOMETHING DRASTIC IS DONE ABOUT THE FLAWS IN THEIR JUSTICE SYSTEM. BYE.

Anonymous

Posted Jul 8 2012

Please. stop pandering to the left. he and millions of others are ILLEGAL and need to go! the vast majority of legal citizens agree.

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