Wanted to share something. I have from time to time shared the goings on around here, sometimes it is just eye rolling ridiculous, sometimes unnerving and sometimes just pathetic.

Todays story is a sad and pathetic example of how being illegal affects these peoples kids.

My 17 year old son has a little "store", call it a concession stand, in the front of our garage. Candy, chips, gum, sodas....all the good kid stuff. Of course he is quite popular with the kids. There is this whole family of kids in one unit that in the beginning were causing problems, but little by little he has groomed them to behave decently.

There is something about these kids parents, we could put our finger on it. After school started, the oldest girl, about 7/8, came over, asking me to fill out a school form for her mother....I looked it over, and it was simply a fill in the blanks with her name and then had to explain it was something the teacher needed with just her information on it. She then began coming over, asking my son to help her with her homework, which he told her no, it was her parents place to do this, and then it evolved into her begging him to sign a permission form for her to go on a field trip she desperately wanted to go on. My son then asked why her parents would not sign it. During these events he saw the mother encouraging her to come over for help from us.

She began telling him that they do not read or speak English, but something did not click. He told her he could not because he was not her guardian and not over 18, and she then asked if I would sign it, he also told her it would be a big no-no for anyone but her parents to sign it and the teacher would not allow her to go without their signature. She claimed it was because they could not read of speak English, but we did not buy that, as if they did not, they could simply have someone at the school translate, but they refuse to have any contact with them.

Obviously we know they are here illegally, but they seem overtly scared of any contact with anyone in authority, an excessive fear it seems, and our manager said recently that a good amount of the people here in this complex are completely illiterate in their own language. This could explain much, plus about their fears beyond what we have met up with before, their complete lack of education leaves them completely in the dark, and they have this excessive fear to ask the schools to help them translate stuff so their kids can enjoy their childhood time in school, and go further (since ma and pa illegal cannot help with their homework). As well, since they are here illegally, they are extremely fearful and it affects their childrens lives.

It is so sad, and we feel bad for the kids. My son told her "I am sorry I can't do this, and sorry your parents are here like this, it makes things really hard on you guys, always will". She just nodded her head. She left, and he turned to me and said "thanks for not ever doing something like this that would have made our lives that difficult".

We feel bad for these kids. Feel sorry for the parents that they never had access in their own nations to enough education, but yet the argument by the OBL still does not stand with us, I cannot see how it is our problem, nor should be thrust upon us, which it actually has been in this case, to take care of these people and their kids, where is their nations or their own personal responsiblilty in this all?

These are adults, and they know their lack of education and illegal status is making their kids lives hard, it seems they did not care, they came here with the intention of simply making more money, they have shown no desire to actually improve their lives for their kids and their own sakes, they are living as they would in their own countries (garbage strewn patios/decks, junk everywhere, and their places are filthy, this verified by the manager), just with more money (although ma and pa illegal do not work that we can see, and she has popped out about 5 kids, and am sure she is getting tons of freebies that support them all).