Daughter's death began dad's quest for immigration reform

[controlledImmigration]

Daughter's death began dad's quest for immigration reform


Virginia Beach resident Ray Tranchant regularly visits the grave of his daughter, Tessa, who was killed along with her friend Allison Kunhardt when a drunken driver plowed into the rear of their car on Virginia Beach Boulevard in March.

By JOHN-HENRY DOUCETTE, The Virginian-Pilot
© September 17, 2007


Tessa Tranchant

VIRGINIA BEACH

Days after his daughter's death, Ray Tranchant sat next to Mayor Meyera Oberndorf and defended his city against what he called mudslinging.

He didn't disagree with points commentators such as Fox News' Bill O'Reilly made - immigration policy is broken and someone needs to be accountable, Tranchant said. However, the tactics of some bothered him.

"I just wanted everyone to calm down," he said recently.

Now he's ready to join the fray, serving notice that he plans to sue the federal government, Chesapeake, Virginia Beach and, possibly, the state for their failure to deal with illegal immigrants.

He said he is not after money.

He wants change.

After his daughter's death, Tranchant, 52, found his grief front and center of a national immigration debate.


Tessa Tranchant's grave at Princess Anne Memorial Park in Virginia Beach is behind a mausoleum, near a statue of an angel.

Tessa was 16. On March 30 she and 17-year-old Alison Kunhardt were stopped at a light at Virginia Beach Boulevard and Kings Grant Road. A man police said had been drinking plowed into the back of their car.

A police chaplain called Tranchant that night and told him to go to the hospital. His ex-wife, Colette Tranchant, called next and told him their daughter was dead.

When he arrived, Tessa had few marks. There was a tiny bruise on her forehead and her toe was bleeding. He could see her eyes, half-open, dilated. Her hair looked beautiful. He held her hand.

Later, he drove to Virginia Beach Boulevard at Kings Grant Road and stopped to see where it happened. He saw his daughter's purse on top of her friend's car. He asked a police officer whether the other driver had survived.

Alfredo Ramos was alive. Soon, Tranchant - and the rest of the world - learned Ramos was an illegal immigrant. He had recent alcohol-related convictions in Chesapeake and at the Beach. He was convicted of DUI and other charges in Chesapeake in February, weeks before the crash.

Each time, Ramos was freed without being referred to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials. It fueled outrage for some residents, national pundits and lawmakers, and began an evolution for Tranchant. Initially, he stood with the city. As time passed - and a policy on asking residency status changed at the Beach - he felt he needed to act.

Ramos should have been deported twice, Tranchant said.


Ray Tranchant – shown in his office at Tidewater Community College – plans to sue the federal government, Chesapeake, Virginia Beach and possibly the state for their failure to deal with illegal immigrants.

Shortly after the crash, Tranchant returned to his duties as operations director of the Advanced Technology Center at the Tidewater Community College campus.

He read up about immigration. He looked over pictures of his family - immigrants who worked to come to America. He keeps copies of some relatives' naturalization papers.

In interviews, Tranchant spoke of helping his Irish mom study for her citizenship test and about the struggles of his French grandfather. He talked about Tessa's Spanish heritage, on her mom's side.

"I believe in a chance here in America," he said.

He said what bothers him about illegal immigration is the "lawlessness" of it.

"My heart goes out to people who are hiding in the shadows," he said. "Imagine living that life. It must be hell for those people, so let's fix it. Let's help them get their citizenship, not give it."

In the months after Tessa's death, Tranchant wanted to do something about illegal immigration, but what?

In May, a meeting was held at an Oceanfront hotel. Scheduled before the girls' deaths, it inspired the formation of a group called Help Save Virginia Beach, akin to grass-roots efforts to crack down on illegal immigration elsewhere in Virginia. Colette Tranchant and David Kunhardt, Alison's dad, attended.

That month, Colette Tranchant, as co-administrator of her daughter's estate, sued Ramos and insurance companies for damages. Through her lawyer, Mike Goodove, Colette Tranchant declined to comment. Goodove said the suit intends to hold Ramos responsible for his actions.

A month later, David Kunhardt sued the restaurant where Ramos is said to have been drinking before the crash for damages. That lawsuit also is pending.

In July, Help Save Virginia Beach held its first public meeting. Ray Tranchant attended. He spoke of disillusionment.

"My problem," he said, "is that I feel the only way I can get the federal government's attention at this point is to sue them, to sue the state of Virginia and sue the localities here that allow these people to come here and break federal laws, even misdemeanors, and not get deported."

The woman leading the meeting used Tranchant's remarks to bring up her point that everyone who lives in America should speak English.

He interjected, but she continued.

"I'm not on your agenda," he said, finally, and walked out.

Tranchant is sensitive to how some approach the debate. He said he is not trying to single out any ethnic group. Tranchant isn't after Ramos, he said, because Ramos will pay through the criminal justice system.

Tranchant began corresponding with local politicians, including U.S. Rep. Thelma Drake and state Del. John Welch, both Republicans.

"It's unfortunate a citizen has to use his own resources to sue the government he pays to exist," Welch said.

Drake said: "What he's trying to do is prevent this from happening again. He wants to force the federal government into doing something."

Ramos pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated involuntary manslaughter in August and is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 5. When Ramos was convicted, Tranchant was out of the country.

Shortly after his return, Tranchant sent letters to city attorneys in Virginia Beach and Chesapeake. No suits have been filed, but the notices are meant to preserve Tranchant's right to sue by meeting a legal time limit.

Tranchant's letter accuses both cities of allowing Ramos to remain in the country because they failed to determine he was an illegal immigrant and report him to immigration officials.

The letters note that each city changed how its deals with illegal immigrants after the incident. Tranchant commends them for doing so. However, he wrote, such change "reflects the disregard to protect the citizens from this type of incident prior to Tessa's death."

After the teens' deaths, the state formed an illegal immigration task force.

Tranchant said it isn't about money.

"I am not a victim," he said. "This isn't a whiplash case."

Tranchant said sovereign immunity, which means the government can't be sued in some circumstances, is probably the big legal hurdle.

"That would be something we look at if a claim is filed," said Ronald Hallman, Chesapeake's city attorney.

Ken Geroe, a lawyer representing Tranchant regarding Tessa's estate but not the potential lawsuits, said he isn't sure Tranchant can win them.

"What's the proximate cause for Tessa's death?" Geroe said. "Is it that Ramos is an illegal immigrant or that he's a drunk driver? His immigration status is irrelevant to causation of death."

As for suing a government, he added, "Sometimes it's like raging against the ocean." He wondered whether losing in court, should it occur, could hurt Tranchant's cause.


Ray Tranchant sometimes carries Tessa’s badge from her part-time job at a Golden Corral with him. Sometimes he puts it out on his desk at work.

The Friday his daughter died, Tranchant stopped by the officer's club at Oceana Naval Air Station after work. He headed home, ate and watched a British comedy on television. Maybe Tessa heard him laughing. He hopes so.

Their last conversation had been about her habit of text messaging. He thought it was affecting her school work. She was short with him. "Whatever," she said.

Tessa loved comedies. She was a gifted Irish step dancer and a surfer. Her friends meant everything to her, Tranchant said. She hoped to pursue a culinary career.

After she died, Tranchant went into her bedroom. He found her name tags from Golden Corral, not far from where he worked. He used to go get a steak when she was working. She would say, "Dad, what are you doing here?" He just wanted to see her.

During one interview months after Tessa's death, Tranchant was carrying the name tag in his pocket.

Tessa is buried behind a mausoleum, near a statue of an angel, at Princess Anne Memorial Park. On a recent Friday afternoon, Tranchant walked to her grave.

He bent over for a note left by teenagers, a boy and a girl. There was a little heart drawn beneath Tessa's name. He finds notes from time to time.

He walked in the graveyard he has gotten to know so well.

"There's a baby over there who died at birth," Tranchant said.

"That guy was a captain in the Fire Department.... This guy seems like a nice guy. His family is always leaving stuff for him. This girl - 1 year old. I look at the flowers that they leave."

He pointed out a solar-powered cross that is illuminated by night.

"It's eerie."

He usually comes in the afternoon.

"I just sit on a bench, and I talk to Tessa. I'm not talking to Tessa. I'm talking to my soul."

John Doucette, (757) 222-5122, john.doucette@pilotonline.com

http://content.hamptonroads.com/story.c ... 845&tref=y

[PhredE]

controlledImmigration:

Hey, thanks for the update on a rather high-profile and important story. Great find.

...And the needless heartbreaks continue for so many Americans. When will it ever end?

http://www.immigrationshumancost.org - and it doesn't even include the latest couple months worth of misery...