Exclusive: Shenandoah Illegal Alien Beating Death

By Wendi Medashefski

Late in the evening of Saturday, July 12, 2008, a 25-year-old illegal alien by the name of Luis Ramirez was involved in a scuffle with several juveniles in Shenandoah, PA, a small town less than 20 miles from Hazleton. The fight ended with Ramirez being beaten so severely that he died two days later from head trauma.

News reports are scarce. From what I can tell, this didn’t hit the AP newswire until July 18, almost a full week after the incident took place. You can make your own conjectures as to why that is. But the few articles I could find are written more like a personal blog special than journalistic reports.

The comments on the news site http://republicanherald.com made me recoil, especially the ones that seem to warn of more violence to come. Most of the comments talk about how this man’s legal status has nothing to do with his death. At the risk of being politically incorrect, I beg to differ. If Luis had stayed in his native country, where he legally belonged, he would not be dead right now. He wouldn’t have been in Shenandoah, PA at 11:30 on a Saturday night when these boys were out. Therefore, his legal status has just about everything to do with this.

Let’s examine the facts, and maybe a few of the rumors.

Fact #1. Luis Ramirez was apparently engaged to a non-Hispanic American citizen by the name of Crystal Dillman, age 24, mother of three children, two of whom were Ramirez’s biological children.

Fact #2. Ramirez worked two jobs, one of which is located in Berwick, PA. Illegal aliens are not permitted to work in the United States. The company he worked for needs to be reported to ICE.

Fact #3. Dillman said that Ramirez was planning on returning to Mexico to take over a business from his aunt. Dillman further states that “the planâ€