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  1. #1
    Senior Member judyweller's Avatar
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    Another Illegal Immigrant Sob Story -- from IOWA

    December 26, 2009


    Ready for immigration reform? Think about Yadira Montelongo

    LINDA LANTOR FANDEL
    lfandel@dmreg.com

    As the immigration reform debate gets under way once again, keep Yadira Montelongo in mind. The Obama administration recently announced it will push to overhaul the broken system in 2010, including insisting on a path to legal status for the estimated 12 million people in the country without documentation.

    But this effort has been made before without success, despite the shameful consequences of inaction, such as exploitation by employers and hardworking families torn apart when loved ones are caught.

    Montelongo is one of the 12 million. The story of this thoughtful, dignified young woman is an argument for finally passing comprehensive immigration reform. Because the United States has benefited from the presence of people like her, and stands to gain even more in the future.

    But her future right now is in terrifying limbo, as Montelongo waits for next April when she faces a federal administrative court hearing that could lead to deportation.

    She was 13 when she came to the United States with her mother. Like virtually everyone who makes the journey, they sought a better life. In 1989, a bus took them from Monterrey, Mexico, to the border near El Paso, where they crossed a bridge on foot "into the unknown, a new beginning," Montelongo said.

    Soon they ended up in Marshalltown, where Montelongo recalls being the first Hispanic student at the high school. Though she spoke no English at the beginning of ninth grade, she graduated in four years with good grades - a mix of As and Bs - thanks to hard work and the help of a caring teacher.

    What happened in the two decades since, however, shows how much potential is lost when the undocumented are not allowed to fully participate in society - and how this is particularly unfair to those brought here as children with no say in the matter.

    "I wanted to go to college," said Montelongo. "Back then, I wanted to be an architect, but I was shut down right away when I was told if I didn't have a Social Security card, I couldn't go to college."

    Her first job was at a Burger King. Others followed: secretary at the Iowa Department of Transportation, a teacher's aide at a Marshalltown elementary school, and making sure food met USDA requirements at a factory in Georgia. Then she returned to Des Moines. Her last job here was working as a secretary and certified medical interpreter at an Iowa Health Systems clinic where she was known by another name, Montelongo said.

    It ended abruptly on July 16, when a supervisor showed up to escort Montelongo to the human resources office.

    Two law enforcement officers were waiting to question her. "They said, 'Obviously you are not the person you say you are. Tell us who you are.' At that point, I asked for an attorney," she recounted, looking as shocked as she must have felt that day.

    The worst was yet to come.

    Montelongo, who had never been in any trouble, said she was arrested on charges of identity theft. Then she was locked up in the Polk County Jail.

    She had been using a Social Security card with someone else's name of necessity. Otherwise she could not work. But leading a double life had psychological consequences: "I didn't like what I was doing. I wanted to be me."

    She spent about a month and a half at the jail. "It was really a scary experience because I didn't know much about what was going on," said Montelongo. And she worried her 8-year-old daughter would think she had abandoned her. The child was in the care of family members, who explained her mother was on vacation.

    After Montelongo was released on bond on the identify theft charges from the Polk County Jail, she was shackled and sent immediately to the county jail in Eldora - which also serves as a federal immigration holding facility. There, she said, she was asked to sign papers agreeing to be deported. "I was told if I didn't sign, they would put me in a penitentiary for 20 years," but she decided to fight back, and said no.

    Montelongo said she left Eldora on Sept. 28. The identity theft charges have been dropped. It is possible she might be allowed to stay in the United States because she was a victim of domestic violence - under a provision of the federal Violence Against Women Act - but it's far from certain and she is by no means counting on that.

    About the news of Congress trying again for immigration reform, Montelongo said she is taking a wait and see attitude: "I don't get too hopeful because so many times over the years we hear the same thing, that it is really important, and something needs to be done about it, but it doesn't go further than that."

    This time, Congress should make sure reform passes because it is important. The United States needs a pragmatic approach to immigration that welcomes a reasonable number of legal immigrants, to meet employment needs, not one that encourages people to live in the shadows. Let the 12 million undocumented stay, if their only violation is working, because of what they have contributed.

    Start by allowing Yadira Montelongo, and others brought here as children, to move toward citizenship. They grew up here. It's their country, too.

    LINDA LANTOR FANDEL is the Register's editorial page editor.

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    http://www.desmoinesregister.com/articl ... Montelongo

  2. #2
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    What have they contributed? Stealing jobs and identities, violating the border of a sovereign country, burdening us with millions of anchor babies whose education we pay for, overrunning our emergency rooms. Then they whine that we do not respect them enough to make them legal.
    That may be their dream, but for legal immigrants and Americans it is nothing but a nightmare.
    Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)

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    Senior Member miguelina's Avatar
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    Her first job was at a Burger King. Others followed: secretary at the Iowa Department of Transportation, a teacher's aide at a Marshalltown elementary school, and making sure food met USDA requirements at a factory in Georgia. Then she returned to Des Moines. Her last job here was working as a secretary and certified medical interpreter at an Iowa Health Systems clinic where she was known by another name, Montelongo said.
    She was around children using stolen ID. What good are background checks if people use fake/stolen ID?

    DEPORT!!!
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    "

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    "I wanted to go to college," said Montelongo. "Back then, I wanted to be an architect, but I was shut down right away when I was told if I didn't have a Social Security card, I couldn't go to college."

    Her first job was at a Burger King. Others followed: secretary at the Iowa Department of Transportation, a teacher's aide at a Marshalltown elementary school, and making sure food met USDA requirements at a factory in Georgia. Then she returned to Des Moines. Her last job here was working as a secretary and certified medical interpreter at an Iowa Health Systems clinic where she was known by another name, Montelongo said.
    What a thief! Lets see... a secretary at the Iowa DOT, a teachers aid, food inspector, and a certified medical interpreter.

    Tell me again how these illegal invader thieves are only doing jobs "Americans will not do!" These people are robbing this country blind!!

    After Montelongo was released on bond on the identify theft charges from the Polk County Jail, she was shackled and sent immediately to the county jail in Eldora - which also serves as a federal immigration holding facility. There, she said, she was asked to sign papers agreeing to be deported. "I was told if I didn't sign, they would put me in a penitentiary for 20 years," but she decided to fight back, and said no.

    Montelongo said she left Eldora on Sept. 28. The identity theft charges have been dropped. It is possible she might be allowed to stay in the United States because she was a victim of domestic violence - under a provision of the federal Violence Against Women Act - but it's far from certain and she is by no means counting on that.
    So she decides to fight back and our spineless government simply drops the charges and lets her go! To boot, she might be allowed to stay because she's conveniently a victim of domestic violence! What the hell is going on here?

    Unbelievable!
    Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)

  5. #5
    Senior Member azwreath's Avatar
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    Re: Another Illegal Immigrant Sob Story -- from IOWA

    Ready for immigration reform? Think about Yadira Montelongo

    Oh trust me....I WILL think of this liar and thief when making sure that none of them ever get amnesty in my country. Count on it
    Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)

  6. #6
    Senior Member Richard's Avatar
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    This case was selected from among many to try to make the argument more presentable yet the example given is as full of holes as a Queso Svizzera. There is not one word here about her doing anything in terms of sustainable development for her community in Mexico. It also seems suspicious for her to have had those jobs with no college education on her resume. There are unemployed Iowans or other US citizens who could have used those jobs. The whole thing is a puff piece for people violating our rights based on the editors false assumption.
    I support enforcement and see its lack as bad for the 3rd World as well. Remittances are now mostly spent on consumption not production assets. Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)

  7. #7
    Senior Member Richard's Avatar
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    Des Moines Register
    Telephone switchboard

    Local: (515) 284-8000
    Iowa: (800) 532-1455
    Outside Iowa: (800) 247-5346
    I support enforcement and see its lack as bad for the 3rd World as well. Remittances are now mostly spent on consumption not production assets. Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)

  8. #8
    Senior Member swatchick's Avatar
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    I don't feel sorry for them. The parent or parents took the chance when they broke the law. Illegals also tend to hang around other illegals who are involved in illegal activity.
    After the murder in Immokalee I looked up the case in the Collier County Jail Records. They call it whose in jail. I looked at the entire month and was disguisted how many of those illegals and possibly their anchor babies have been arrested. A common charge is using fake ID. What is even worse is that when they get an arrest from that county they find a warrant for the same offense from another county. There are men who were arrested for sex with a minor, aggrevated battery where a person was left disfigured, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and even one for resisting arrest with violence. This is what the media does not want you to know.
    Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)

  9. #9
    Senior Member ReggieMay's Avatar
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    The jobs this woman held sure don't sound like jobs Americans won't do. In fact, many citizens would be delighted at a chance for those jobs. What this article, among many, many others, fails to report is the effect this woman had on the person whose identity was stolen. It will undoubtedly take years for the victim of her crime to get her life back in order. What burns my cookies is that the Social Security Administration WILL NOT advise a victim of identity theft that someone is using their SSN. The only way the victim will find out is when the govt tries to collect taxes. Our government in action - helping illegals.
    "A Nation of sheep will beget a government of Wolves" -Edward R. Murrow

    Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)

  10. #10
    Senior Member Ratbstard's Avatar
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    Her family came here illegally in 1989 just 3 years after the "One Time Only Amnesty of 1986". I consider this story to vindicate why AMNESTY is not now or ever was a good idea!
    Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)

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