I don't normally read this paper, but heard a local talk radio station talking about it this morning so I looked it up. People calling into the show were basically talking about Miguel like he was some sort of hero. And the judge is advising the illeglas?!! Makes me ill!

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Illegal workers advised: Sit tight
By PATRICK CASSIDY
STAFF WRITER
HYANNIS - Miguel walked for 12 hours to cross from Mexico to Arizona six years ago.

''Very hot,'' he said of the experience.

The 32-year-old chef at two Main Street restaurants also remembers lying down to avoid detection by a helicopter looking for illegal immigrants - and coming face to face with ''a lot of snakes.''

A native of Acapulco, Mexico, Miguel, who is working with a fake Social Security card, could face deportation if he is caught up in a reinvigorated immigration enforcement effort announced by the Department of Homeland Security last week.

The crackdown comes as the U.S. Senate prepares to tackle immigration reform legislation after a two-week recess that ended Monday. The Bay State's senior senator, Edward Kennedy, has helped craft one of the leading reform proposals.

Yesterday, a former Boston immigration judge, William Joyce, warned Miguel and 30 other people who attended a forum on immigration law in Hyannis that lawyers will try to take advantage of confusion surrounding the current push for immigration reform.

''There are lawyers here on Cape Cod who only want to take your money,'' Joyce said.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has issued a similar warning.

''Be wary of persons or organizations that claim they can assist in applying for benefits that do not exist,'' a public notice from the agency says.

The best thing illegal immigrants can do for now is ''sit tight,'' according to Joyce. He expects a reconciliation of Senate and House bills will provide some relief for illegal immigrants now in the U.S.

Kennedy's support for bestowing guest worker status on illegal immigrants drew fire on the Cape over the weekend.

On Sunday, a small group of protesters staked out the Kennedy family compound in Hyannisport and called for strict immigration enforcement measures, such as building a wall along the border with Mexico.

''The first thing to do is close the borders,'' protester Robert Casimiro of East Weymouth said.

Last year, Casimiro spent time stationed as a so-called minuteman along the same border where Miguel snuck across. The Minuteman Project, which uses volunteer U.S. citizens to help monitor the border with Mexico and reports illegal immigrants to the border patrol, was launched last year.

The group is not without compassion, according to Casimiro.

''We carry extra water and food,'' he said. ''A lot of them come up to us tired and thirsty.''

Another protester, Vital Costa of Merrimac, said giving legal status to illegal immigrants doesn't make sense. ''Obviously, we need the work force, but we need the legal work force,'' he said.

Patrick Cassidy can be reached at pcassidy@

capecodonline.com.

(Published: April 26, 2006)

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