Thread: FL-Talented student artist could be deported-Poll too

Talented student artist could be deported

Meynardo Garcia's artwork has won awards, but the Coconut Creek student may be deported.
Posted on Sun, May. 18, 2008Digg del.icio.us AIM reprint print email
BY ANI MARTINEZ
armartinez@MiamiHerald.com



J. ALBERT DIAZ / MIAMI HERALD STAFF
Meynardo Garcia, 18, stands with his Holocaust Documentation and Education Center award-winning artwork. Garcia is a senior at Coconut Creek High School and is in danger of being deported.

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Meynardo Garcia's ambitious dreams of becoming an artist are on hold, while he fights the U.S. government over his mother's decision years ago to break the law.

His mother slipped Meynardo, then age 10, into the United States illegally from Mexico. He's now 18 years old, a senior at Broward's Coconut Creek High School.

Meynardo's saga as an undocumented immigrant would have largely gone unnoticed but for his art teacher, his fellow classmates and his prize-winning artwork.

Nearly 1,000 classmates have signed a petition to allow Meynardo to stay in the country and his art teacher has gotten him an attorney to represent him in his legal battle.

Last month, he won first place in the Holocaust Documentation and Education Center's student art competition, beating out 500 other nationwide contestants.

He produced intricate artwork on a poster board with an airbrush, a technique Meynardo taught himself. It depicts a somber group of Latino boys surrounded by barbed wires and includes words written in Hebrew.

''When I studied about the Holocaust, it reminded me of kids in my neighborhood,'' Meynardo said. ``Those kids didn't have freedom and the kids in Mexico don't either.''

He wasn't able to claim the $250 prize because he doesn't have a social security number.

''He has an innate sense of what a composition needs,'' said his art teacher, Jacqueline Sacs. ``In 2007, he didn't know what the Holocaust was but wanted to participate in the contest. His piece awakened a passion for him about children.''

She hopes his artistic ability will somehow help persuade an immigration judge to allow him to stay.

His interest in art began in high school when he started sketching classmates and participating in art competitions, winning most of them.

Today, he attends school all day and then goes to night school to catch up on credits in order to graduate this summer. He wants to attend college in New York to hone his art skills.

Inspired by such artists as Diego Rivera, Vincent van Gogh and Pablo Picasso, Meynardo eventually wants to open art studios for children around the world to give them the chance to express themselves.

''I want to give children -- especially in Mexico -- what I couldn't have,'' he said. ``Having a place to paint could give them a chance to become something in life.''

Meynardo's immigration quandary is similar to what faces an estimated 65,000 students who graduate each year from U.S. high schools as undocumented immigrants. At least 5,000 live in Florida.

Immigration advocates, who argue that these children are being punished for the wrongs of their parents, have spent years unsuccessfully lobbying Congress to approve the Dream Act. If passed, the bill would grant legal residency to those going to college or joining the military.

''The reality is most of these kids may not even remember their home country,'' said Deborah Lee, staff attorney with the Florida Immigration Advocacy Center. ``They feel more aligned to this country because they are growing and changing here. Emotionally, they are connected.''

Meynardo's story is a modern-day version of John Steinbeck's classic novel The Grapes of Wrath -- with a Mexican twist.

It begins in his hometown of Oaxaca, a city in southern Mexico, one of the country's poorest regions. His father abandoned the family in 1994, when Meynardo was just four years old. Three years later, his mother and her boyfriend left for the United States to pick crops in California, leaving behind the young boy with other relatives. In 2000, she paid a smuggler to sneak him into the United States.

''We had no choice but to come here and make a living,'' Meynardo said.

Today, Meynardo lives in a small home in a poor area of North Lauderdale with his mother, her boyfriend and their two U.S.-born children. Neither the mother or her boyfriend are legal U.S. residents.

His estranged father, who reportedly lives somewhere in South Florida, obtained his U.S. residency or green card but has had no contact with his son in years.

Meynardo went undetected by U.S. immigration authorities until last August when police stopped him and his friend in their car at a security checkpoint in the Port of Miami. Unable to produce any identification, police contacted U.S. immigration agents who questioned him in a local motel for three days. He was sent to a detention center in New York; his friend was deported.

It's unclear why he was sent to New York, but he remained there for 21 days as U.S. authorities prepared to deport him.

''I thought it was the end of the road for my dreams,'' Meynardo said. ``I grew up here. I belong here. My dreams are possible only here.''

A relative called Meynardo's art teacher and asked her to write and fax a letter to immigration authorities. Days later, he was released from custody in New York and reunited with his family in South Florida.

His immigration status remains far from certain. At a recent court hearing, an immigration judge granted Meynardo a continuance until Sept. 18.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials won't comment on cases because of privacy laws.

Under immigration rules, only an employer or family member can petition on behalf of a foreigner seeking permanent residency.

But with his estranged father unwilling to petition for him, Meynardo's options to obtain U.S. residency are slim, explained Miami immigration attorney Jorge Rivera, who represents the teen pro-bono.

http://www.miamiherald.com/519/story/538338.html

WEB VOTE
Do you think children of undocumented migrants should be given an opportunity to stay in the U.S.?


Yes

No

Variables in each case should be considered

Do you think children of undocumented migrants should be given an opportunity to stay in the U.S.?
Yes 127
35%
No 166
46%
Variables in each case should be considered 69
19%
Total Votes: 362

Do you think children of undocumented migrants should be given an opportunity to stay in the U.S.?

Yes 127 35%
No 167 46%
Variables in each case should be considered 69 19%
Total Votes: 363

WEB VOTE
Do you think children of undocumented migrants should be given an opportunity to stay in the U.S.?
Yes No Variables in each case should be considered
Do you think children of undocumented migrants should be given an opportunity to stay in the U.S.? Yes 127
35%
No 168
46%
Variables in each case should be considered 69
19%
Total Votes: 364

these children can be just as good an artist in their own home country as they can here

So deport them back too Brokassastan and let the painting begin

NO! France has already made this mistake!

I'm not impressed with the artwork either.

Dixie

Do you think children of undocumented migrants should be given an opportunity to stay in the U.S.?
Yes 128 34%
No 175 47%
Variables in each case should be considered
69 19%
Total Votes: 372


''I want to give children -- especially in Mexico -- what I couldn't have,'' he said. ``Having a place to paint could give them a chance to become something in life.''

Well, there ya go.

I am so happy for Mexico, it looks like a great artist is about to come home.


WEB VOTE
Do you think children of undocumented migrants should be given an opportunity to stay in the U.S.?
Yes No Variables in each case should be considered
Do you think children of undocumented migrants should be given an opportunity to stay in the U.S.? Yes 128
34%
No 178
47%
Variables in each case should be considered 69
18%

WEB VOTE




Do you think children of undocumented migrants should be given an opportunity to stay in the U.S.?
Yes 128 34%
No 177 47%
Variables in each case should be considered 69 18%
Total Votes: 374

''He has an innate sense of what a composition needs,'' said his art teacher, Jacqueline Sacs. ``In 2007, he didn't know what the Holocaust was but wanted to participate in the contest. His piece awakened a passion for him about children.''

He's been here for 8 years and never learned about the Holocaust?!?! That's taught in every school in the US!

''I want to give children -- especially in Mexico -- what I couldn't have,'' he said. ``Having a place to paint could give them a chance to become something in life.''

He should do very well in Mexico. He would be a great role model to kids in Mexico and would have a place to paint. He does not need to be in the US to paint.

Do you think children of undocumented migrants should be given an opportunity to stay in the U.S.?
Yes 128
34%
No 179
48%
Variables in each case should be considered 69
18%
Total Votes: 376

Do you think children of undocumented migrants should be given an opportunity to stay in the U.S.?

Yes 128
34%
No 181
48%
Variables in each case should be considered 69
18%